Former Missouri GOP Gov. Greitens announces bid for state's open Senate seat

Former Missouri GOP Gov. Eric Greitens on Monday announced his bid for the state's open Senate seat.

Greitens returns to running for elected office nearly three years after resigning as Missouri governor. He is running an America First campaign for the seat being left open by fellow Republican and Missouri senior Sen. Roy Blunt, who earlier this month said that he would not seek reelection. 

Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, made his announcement Monday on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier."

He told Just the News earlier in the day, "As governor, I fought for Missourians. Now the people deserve to have a fighter in the Senate."

Greitens was host from October 2020 to February 2021 on the Just the News TV show "Actionable Intelligence."  

Greitens was governor from 2017 to 2018. Blunt is a two-term senator and considered an establishment Republican who like other GOP members of Congress was facing reelection in a political party still significantly influenced by former President Trump. 

Trump won Missouri in 2016 and 2020. Blunt won reelection in 2016 with less than 50% of the vote, in a race with five candidates. 

The 46-year-old Greitens told Just the News his campaign will roll out a series of endorsements this week from members of the 2020 Trump campaign.

Greitens said he has not sought an endorsement from Trump but would be "honored" to have it as he "continues to put forth America First policies." 

Baier pressed Greitens on Monday about his resignation as governor while embroiled in alleged scandals. Greitens replied that he had been "completely exonerated" by a Missouri ethics committee that found no evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He also pointed out that an investigator for the prosecutor in his case has now been charged with seven felonies for perjury and evidence tampering for manufacturing a false case against him.

He said he resigned, despite knowing the truth, "because at the time it was what I needed to do for the people who I love the most. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do because I knew that all of these accusations were false."