BOONVILLE — Josh Hawley is no stranger to attention. The first-term Republican U.S. senator from Missouri has made headlines on Capitol Hill, objecting to the certification of the 2020 election results and, more recently, questioning the deputy director of the Secret Service over the attempt to assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Now the title he needs most is “elected for a second term.”

“What I want is support from the blue-collar workers who actually make this country run, who are actually the backbone of the state, and I think we’re getting that,” Hawley told the exterior of a campaign rally at the Route B Café. in Boonville in October.

Hawley grew up in Lexington, Missouri, before attending high school at Rockhurst High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Kansas City. He went on to earn a degree in history from Stanford University before earning a law degree from Yale University.

He returned to teach constitutional law at the University of Missouri.

Just down the highway from MU in Jefferson City, Hawley said what Missourians want from a U.S. senator right now is to examine issues that extend beyond state lines and to the borders of the country.

“First, they need the border closed,” Hawley said. “I mean, right now we have 15 million illegal immigrants coming into this country, coming into the state and committing crimes. I just spoke to a Kansas City cop who was assaulted, a cop from St. Louis who was murdered, a young boy in St. Louis who was murdered.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that the number of undocumented immigrants living in the United States in 2022 was 11 million, and the Pew Research Center estimates that 70,000 undocumented immigrants live in Missouri, representing 1. 1% of the state’s population.

KOMU 8 reported in September that there is no evidence to suggest Crimes committed by illegal immigrants are a systemic problem in Missouri.

Hawley has made no secret of who he blames for the problems he believes Missourians are currently facing.

“We also need the price of gas to come down so that people can actually afford to put gas in their car, to buy groceries, to pay their rent…we can do it, but we cannot continue as we have under Kamala,” he said.

Hawley is sometimes a difficult man to define through his laws. THE Conservative Political Action Conference ranks him, along with fellow Missouri Republican Eric Schmitt, among the 10 most conservative members of the Senate. However, he has legislation sponsored with Bernie Sanders and also openly opposed the Republican leadership of Senator Mitch McConnell.

“People like Mitch McConnell in my own party, if they do things that are bad for Missouri, I’m not going to support them,” Hawley said. “I will not support sending hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine, for example, when right here in this state we have victims of nuclear radiation who cannot be compensated. I will not support sending hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine while our border is wide open and illegal immigrants are pouring into Missouri, pumping drugs into all of our schools, I mean, it’s not crazy. .

He continued: “So listen, I will work with anyone, any party, I will cross the aisle, if it’s good for Missouri. If it’s not, I will oppose to anyone, including my own leaders.”

At 43, Hawley is the fourth youngest U.S. senator. When asked if he had ambitions to run for higher office, Hawley said his goal was to find out where he was currently.

“Now look, my ambition is to get re-elected and represent Missouri in the Senate for as long as I think I can do good there and as long as the people of Missouri will have me,” he said. “And look, we have an awful lot of work to do.”

Hawley will face Democrat Lucas Kunce in the Nov. 5 general election.