GOP lawyer Hawley to run for Missouri attorney general

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican lawyer and University of Missouri School of Law associate professor Josh Hawley announced plans Thursday to run for state attorney general.

The 35-year-old from Columbia, Missouri, said in an online video he's running on a conservative platform and planned to "stand up for the Constitution, to stand up for our liberties and stand up for the values of Missourians" if he's elected. Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster has said he plans to run for Missouri governor in 2016.

Hawley faces a likely primary with Republican state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, another Columbia lawyer. Democrats Sen. Scott Sifton of Affton, Missouri, and St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman also are running for attorney general.

Hawley, who never before has run for elected office, touted himself as a political outsider.

"If you want a schmoozer and a back-slapper, then elect another politician to be attorney general," Hawley said in an interview with The Associated Press in advance of his official announcement. "But if you want someone who has the expertise to stand up in the Supreme Court of the United States and defend our liberties and defend our values, then elect a constitutional lawyer."

Schaefer, who previously worked as assistant state attorney general and special prosecutor, in a Thursday statement cited his record prosecuting criminals.

"I know that conservatives in Missouri will demand an attorney general who doesn't need training wheels," Schaefer said. "I will be ready from day one."

Schaefer also already has about $1.38 million to spend on a campaign. Hawley starts with nothing.

Hawley previously served as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. He also was part of a team of about 15 lawyers in a U.S. Supreme Court case in which Hobby Lobby and other businesses challenged a federal requirement to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives for employees. The high court ultimately ruled corporations can hold religious objections that allow them to opt of the birth-control requirement of the Affordable Care Act enacted under President Barack Obama.

Attorney General Chris Koster's spokeswoman Nanci Gonder said while most death-penalty cases are appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the attorney general rarely argues other cases in the high court. She said she recalls Koster representing the state in only one such case since he was elected in 2008.

The attorney general's office focuses on consumer-protection cases, represents the state in criminal appeals such as death-penalty cases and defends state laws and agencies against lawsuits. The attorney general also can enforce Missouri's open meetings and records law and can sue or take other action to protect the state's rights.