Busch beer heiress joins US Senate race in Missouri

An heiress from the Anheuser-Busch brewing company’s founding family announced on Tuesday that she will be joining the U.S. Senate race in Missouri to replace outgoing Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

“I’m a nurse & lifelong advocate for children. I was raised to care for others & serve my community. Today, our politics are broken. Washington isn’t delivering. I’m running for Senate because Missouri deserves leadership that puts people first,” Trudy Busch Valentine (D) tweeted.

In a campaign ad posted to her website, she touted her ties to her parents, who grew Anheuser-Busch; her nursing career; and the establishment of the Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing at Saint Louis University. 

She also mentioned some of the tragedies she has encountered, including the death of her husband to cancer and the death of her son, Matthew, due to an opioid overdose. 

Valentine joins an already crowded candidate field. Other Democrats running in the race include veterans Lucas Kunce, Jewel Kelly and startup owner Spencer Toder, while Republican candidates for the seat include Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (Mo.), former Gov. Eric Greitens, attorney Mark McCloskey and Rep. Billy Long (Mo.).

In an affidavit made public last week, Greitens’s ex-wife Sheena Greitens alleged that her husband had been physically violent toward their children and her, including “cuffing” one of their sons and “yanking him around by his hair.”

Greitens has not yet dropped out of the Missouri Senate race, despite calls from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Republican challengers for him to do so. Blunt, who has not yet made an endorsement in the Republican primary, said earlier this month that if the allegations made in the affidavit are true, Greitens should drop out. 

The former Missouri governor, who stepped down in 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and an extramarital affair, denied the allegations from his ex-wife and said he would be seeking full custody of their children.