After only four short years in Washington, Josh Hawley has drifted away from Missouri — raising questions on where he actually lives
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Kansas City Star published a new report exposing Josh Hawley’s hypocrisy and evasion of Missouri election law. Shortly after becoming a U.S. Senator in 2019, Hawley sold his Missouri home to move full-time to a $1.3 million mansion outside of Washington, D.C. He has been registered to vote at his sister’s home ever since, and voted from that address in this month’s election — a potential violation of Missouri state law.
The Star’s reporting is based in part on a recently published report from the Congressional Integrity Project, which details self-dealing and corruption among members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Hawley has repeatedly maligned “coastal elites” and made his opponent’s D.C. apartment a centerpiece of his campaign for Senate.
Congressional Integrity Project Executive Director, Kyle Herrig, released the following statement:
“You shouldn’t need a fancy degree from Yale to answer a simple question: Where does Josh Hawley live?
“We hope Hawley takes a break from spreading unfounded conspiracy theories on election fraud and explains how moving out of the state he represents and registering to vote at an address where he does not reside aligns with the letter and spirit of Missouri law.”
Below please find key excerpts from the Congressional Integrity Project’s recent research report:
After getting elected to the Senate in November 2018, Josh Hawley immediately went full Washington, selling his Missouri residence and moving his family to Vienna, Virginia — a suburb 15 miles from his office on Capitol Hill. Hawley and his wife Erin bought the property for over $1.3 million in January 2019.
The Fairfax County Real Property Database, which would normally indicate homeownership in Vienna, does not reflect the Hawleys’ purchase. That could be a maneuver designed to shield them from political criticism back in Missouri. After all, Hawley claims he still lives in Missouri on his website, where he describes a home life “with his wife, Erin, their two boys, Elijah and Blaise, and their horse, Snap.” Hawley also promised constituents he would maintain a residence in Springfield, MO, which he sold earlier this year.
Along with misleading his constituents about where he really lives, Hawley is possibly breaking the law. After moving to Virginia, Hawley registered to vote at his sister’s home address in Missouri, which does not have enough bedrooms to accommodate his family. That is a potential violation of Missouri’s voter registration laws, which require voters to have residency in Missouri and be “registered to vote in the jurisdiction of the person’s domicile prior to the election.”
The Congressional Integrity Project is calling on Hawley to explain to Missourians how moving out of the state he represents and registering to vote at an address where he does not reside aligns with Missouri law. This is not the first time Hawley has gotten caught playing fast and loose with residency requirements for public officials. In 2017, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that he “decided he doesn’t have to live in the capital city. That decision comes despite a law that says the state’s top legal officer ‘shall reside at the seat of government.’”
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