Mark McCloskey, who along with his wife Patricia pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters as they marched past their St. Louis home in June of 2020, suffered a heavy defeat in Missouri’s Republican primary for the Senate, Newsweek reports.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt won the race with more votes combined than his nearest two opponents, U.S. Representative Vicky Hartzler and former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens. McCloskey ended up in 5th place with just 3 percent of the vote.
As Newsweek points out, the entire field of 21 Republicans running for GOP Senator Roy Blunt’s seat were Donald Trump supporters and 2020 election deniers. McCloskey claimed he was the only “genuine MAGA” candidate after the former President Donald Trump endorsed Greitens.
“…my name is Mark McCloskey, and I can tell you one thing, there’s one genuine MAGA, America first, strong border, law and order, real American patriot in this race, and that’s me,” McCloskey said in a video posted to Twitter.
On June 28, 2020, McCloskey was captured in photos and news footage holding an AR-15-style rifle, while his wife waved a semi-automatic pistol at protesters marching past their home in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
The pair, who are both lawyers, said they felt threatened by the protesters. Both pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, but Missouri’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, pardoned them last year.
