JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Former U.S. attorney John Wood, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri who is seeking to appeal to moderate Republicans, said he collected 22,000 signatures to get his name on the November ballot.
Wood and his campaign team delivered three boxes of signed petitions to the Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office in Jefferson City Monday morning — one day before voters head to the polls for the Aug. 2 primary election.
“Our first goal when we kicked off this campaign was to secure our place on the November ballot so Missourians who are sick and tired of the extremism in our politics would have a common sense, independent choice to support in November,” Wood said.
Ashcroft’s office has until Aug. 30 to verify the signatures, said spokesperson JoDonn Chaney. If Wood has at least 10,000 petitions, he’ll be on the ballot.
Wood most recently served as a senior investigative counsel for the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. He started his campaign in late June in response to a campaign video released by former Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican Senate candidate, that showed Greitens carrying a shotgun and hunting his perceived political enemies.
As an independent, Wood is unlikely to win the seat. Missouri has never sent an independent candidate to the Senate. For example, Craig O’Dear, who ran as an independent against Josh Hawley and Claire McCaskill in 2018, received only 1.4% of the vote in the general election.
However, Wood could have an impact if the upcoming U.S. Senate race is close. He could pull voters away from both the Republican and Democratic nominees.
The former U.S. attorney’s campaign is backed by former U.S. Sen. John Danforth. Wood has centered his campaign around the idea that both the Republican and Democratic candidates seeking to replace U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt in the Senate are too extreme and divisive.
“Missouri voters want an alternative to the extremes and the divisiveness that they’re getting from candidates of both major parties,” Wood told reporters Monday. “So no matter who the nominees are, our message is still going to be the same, which is one of helping heal our country, to unite Missourians and to provide a common sense mainstream conservative alternative.”
The three candidates leading the Republican field to fill the seat are Greitens, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler.
Three recent polls show Schmitt surging in the primary while support for Greitens appears to have fallen amid allegations of physical abuse and sexual assault against him.
Wood has also said he doesn’t want Missourians to elect a Democrat that would vote for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and support President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Throughout the campaign, Danforth has been running a pro-Wood super PAC called Missouri Stands United. The PAC began running an ad in late June where Danforth spoke to the camera about how the country was too divided.
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