Key facts
- In January 2019, weeks after being sworn in, Josh Hawley bought a five-bedroom house in Vienna, Virginia, now valued at around $1.7 million.
- That spring he sold his home in Columbia, Missouri, and registered to vote at his sister’s house in Ozark.
- His Missouri property came later: a Christian County house finished in 2021, and a second house bought in late 2023.
The $1.7 million house in Vienna, Virginia
In January 2019, weeks after being sworn in, Hawley bought a five-bedroom house in Vienna, Virginia, a Washington suburb. It is now valued at around $1.7 million. That spring he sold his home in Columbia, Missouri.
When the Hawley family was home during a protest in January 2021, the house they were in was the one in Vienna.
A Missouri address borrowed from his sister
So what did Missouri’s “man of the people” list as his Missouri home? His sister’s house in Ozark. The Kansas City Star reported in 2020 that Hawley was registered to vote at his sister’s place, and used it for his Missouri Bar registration too, while he and his family lived full time in Virginia.
Try registering to vote at your sister’s house while you live in a mansion two states away. See how that goes for you. For Josh Hawley, it went fine for years.
The Missouri paper trail, built late
Only after years of getting caught did he bother building a Missouri paper trail. A house in Christian County that his parents bought land for, with Hawley on the deed, was finished in 2021. In late 2023, heading into a re-election year, he bought a second house nearby.
What Hawley says
His defense: he now owns property in Christian County, one house finished in 2021 and another bought in late 2023, just in time for re-election, and he filed from a Missouri address. The law only requires senators to be “inhabitants” when elected. Legal? Sure. A Missourian? You decide.
For how this fits his habit of using one office to reach the next, read how Hawley ran against “ladder climbers” and then climbed. For what his Washington life means for Missouri’s hospitals, see his vote for the Medicaid cuts.
Sources
- Kansas City Star via AOL: “Sen. Josh Hawley once faced questions about living in Missouri”
- Columbia Missourian editorial: Hawley pretends his lack of a Missouri address is an elitist attack
- Hannibal Courier-Post editorial: Hawley scoffs at Missouri residency requirements
- WJLA: protest at Hawley’s Virginia home, January 2021