Scott Kanowsky / KCOU News / August 3, 2010
The Missouri primary race for U.S. Senate heated up after a well-known conservative state senator came onto the scene.
For most of the 20-10 election year, two candidates dominated the race for Kit Bond’s now-vacant U.S. Senate seat:
Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt.
But that was before current Missouri state senator Chuck Purgason entered the race.
A Republican, Purgason brands himself as the far-right alternative to Blunt’s more moderate conservatism.
And in some ways it’s worked.
He has become a champion of the new Tea Party movement and even gained the support of large political figures, like Joe Wurzelbacher—a.k.a. “Joe the Plumber.”
MU Political Science Professor Peverill Squire sees Purgason’s alignment with Tea Partiers as a move to grab a new group of voters.
“I think Purgason has seen Tea Partiers as people he can turn out on a pretty hot day in August when he’s facing pretty long odds,” said Squire.
But Squire says he doesn’t see Purgason winning this primary.
The reason?
Squire says it’s because Purgason lacked financial support from Missouri Tea Partiers.
“Missouri is a fairly large, diverse state. You have deal with…And it’s hard to do that if you don’t have the money to do it,” said Squire
If Blunt wins this primary, Squire says this extreme conservatism will die down and the focus will shift more to the center.
