2016–2018: Attorney general, then Senate candidate
2016: The “Ladders” ad
Running for Missouri attorney general, Hawley stars in a TV ad attacking “career politicians just climbing the ladder, using one office to get another.” (University News)
January 2017: Sworn in as attorney general
Political consultants who later run his Senate campaign begin directing taxpayer-paid staff in the AG’s office the same month, a state audit later finds. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
October 10, 2017: Announces Senate run
Ten months into his first elected office. (Roll Call) Details: the ladder climber.
November 2018: Elected to the U.S. Senate
Defeats Sen. Claire McCaskill. (PBS NewsHour) In December, he’s under investigation over his conduct as AG. (KCUR) Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft closes the case in 2019, finding no evidence he broke election law.
2019–2020: The move to Virginia
January 2019: Buys a house in Vienna, Virginia
Weeks after being sworn in; now valued at around $1.7 million. That spring he sells his Columbia, Missouri home and registers to vote at his sister’s house in Ozark. (Kansas City Star via AOL)
2020: The Kansas City Star reports on his residency
Missouri editorial boards pile on. (Columbia Missourian) Details: where Josh Hawley lives.
2021–2022: January 6 and after
January 6, 2021: The fist pump, the objection, the run
Raises a fist to the crowd outside the Capitol, objects to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes (rejected 92–7), and is later filmed fleeing the mob. (Ballotpedia, NBC News) Details: January 6.
January 2021: “Blood on his hands”
The Kansas City Star editorial board blames him for the violence; Simon & Schuster drops his book deal, and he calls it a First Amendment violation. (The Hill, NPR)
2021: A Christian County, Missouri house is finished
Built on land his parents bought, with Hawley on the deed. (Kansas City Star via AOL)
March 2022: The Jackson smear, and the mugs
Claims Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson went soft on child pornography offenders; PolitiFact finds he cherry-picked. His campaign refuses to stop selling Jan. 6 fist-pump mugs. (PolitiFact, KCUR)
June–August 2022: The PACT Act flip-flop
Yes on burn-pit care in June, no in July, yes again in August after veterans protest. (Missouri Independent, Missouri Independent) Details: the PACT Act.
July 2022: The running video airs
The January 6 committee plays footage of Hawley fleeing; the Kansas City Star calls him a “laughingstock.” (Common Dreams)
2023–2024: Re-election
May 2023: Publishes Manhood
Late 2023: Buys a second Christian County house
Heading into his re-election year. (Kansas City Star via AOL)
October 2024: The “stolen valor” attack
Accuses Marine veteran Lucas Kunce of “stolen valor”; Border Patrol confirms Kunce’s training. (Kunce campaign, partisan source)
November 5, 2024: Re-elected; Missouri passes Amendment 3
Hawley wins 55.6% against Kunce. The same day, voters put abortion rights in the state constitution with 51.7%. (Missouri Independent, Missouri Independent)
2025–2026: Medicaid and the abortion rematch
February 2025: One vote for burn-pit veterans
The only Republican to back a resolution protecting burn-pit veterans’ benefits. (Task & Purpose)
May 2025: “We must ignore calls to cut Medicaid”
His New York Times op-ed calls cuts “morally wrong.” (MSNBC)
July 1, 2025: Votes for the Medicaid cuts
The One Big Beautiful Bill passes the Senate 51–50. (KCUR) Details: the Medicaid vote.
July 15, 2025: Files a bill to undo some of them
S. 2279 is referred to the Finance Committee and never moves. (GovInfo)
February 2026: “I absolutely am going to be involved”
Commits to campaigning for the 2026 Amendment 3 abortion ban. (KCUR)
September 2026: The “Declaration for Life”
Launches a national push to ban mifepristone; the same week, rules out a 2028 presidential run. (Hawley’s Senate office, Political Wire)
September 29, 2026: The Jack Smith mix-up
After Jack Smith’s Senate testimony, Hawley tells Fox News that Smith went through Melania Trump’s “personal drawers,” in a search that happened three months before Smith was appointed. (HuffPost) Details: the Fox News error, explained.
November 3, 2026: Missouri votes on Amendment 3 again
Details: the Amendment 3 rematch.