This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 15, 2012 - Missouri state Auditor Tom Schweich says he’s focusing for the next few days on helping Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.
But Schweich acknowledges that he has a looming decision of his own to make: Does he jump into Missouri’s U.S. Senate contest?
“It’s a very personal process I’m going through,’’ said Schweich, during a brief interview Wednesday as he and his wife left Romney’s campaign headquarters in Clayton.
Schweich is getting a lot of encouragement from a number of high-profile Republicans, led by former Sen. John C. Danforth, R-Mo., who see the auditor as the only candidate with a chance of defeating U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
Although their open letter -- made public a few days ago -- doesn’t mention names, their inference is that they don’t have confidence in the chances of the current three major Republican contenders – former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, St. Louis businessman John Brunner and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Wildwood.
Akin has lambasted Danforth over the letter.
Schweich declined comment about the furor, saying only that he has a limited time to make his decision: “Filing closes in 12 days.”
By 5 p.m. on March 27, Schweich will have had to make up his mind.
