Josh Hawley
RepublicanU.S. Senator, MO| Age | 46 (b. 1979-12-31) |
| Gender | Male |
| In office since | 2019-01-03 (~7 yrs) |
| Race / ethnicity | White |
| Religion | Christian (Evangelical Presbyterian) |
| Education | Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO), 1998; B.A. in History, Stanford University, 2002 (highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa); J.D., Yale Law School, 2006 |
| Prior occupation | Attorney/appellate litigator and constitutional law professor. Law clerk to Judge Michael McConnell (10th Cir.) and Chief Justice John Roberts; appellate litigator at Hogan & Hartson; senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law; author. |
| Military service | No |
| Birthplace | Springdale, Arkansas |
| Marital status | Married — Erin Morrow Hawley |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Ozark, Missouri (and Vienna, Virginia area) |
| Notable relatives | Wife Erin Morrow Hawley is a constitutional lawyer and senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom who argued before the U.S. Supreme Court; she also was a law professor. No other family members in elected politics. |
Pending research: languages · openly lgbtq.
Career & politics
| First elected | 2016 |
| Previous offices | Attorney General of Missouri (2017-2019) |
| Committees | Committee on the Judiciary · Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship |
| Leadership | Chairman, Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism (119th Congress) |
| Ideology | Conservative Republican; described as a populist/national conservative. Voted to object to certification of 2020 electoral votes for Arizona and Pennsylvania. |
| Signature legislation | PELOSI Act (ban congressional stock trading) - introduced · Social media age-verification / MATURE Act - introduced · Pregnancy Center Security Act (co-sponsored) - introduced · National Security and Personal Data Protection Act - introduced |
Financial
Net worth: disclosed $315,044–$2,690,999 (2018) · estimate
| Vanguard Aggressive Growth Portfolio | fund · $100,001–$250,000 · 2018 |
| Fidelity Contrafund | fund · $50,001–$100,000 · 2018 |
| Fidelity Freedom 2045 | fund · $15,001–$100,000 · 2018 |
| Columbia Dividend Income Fund Institutional Class | fund · $15,001–$50,000 · 2018 |
| Dodge & Cox Stock Fund | fund · $15,001–$50,000 · 2018 |
Top donors: David Humphreys (Tamko Building Products) (~$2,880,400 (pre-2020, various committees)) · Smead Capital Management ($49,525 (Josh Hawley Victory Cmte, 2024))
Top industries: Republican/Conservative · Retired · Securities & Investment · Lawyers/Law Firms
Scandals & crimes ledger
resolved — Missouri Attorney General's office found to have knowingly violated Sunshine Law under Hawley business
While Josh Hawley was Missouri Attorney General (2017-2019), his office responded to records requests from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during his 2018 U.S. Senate campaign. In November 2022, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled the Attorney General's office (a governmental entity Hawley led, not Hawley personally) 'knowingly and purposefully' violated the Sunshine Law by withholding emails between taxpayer-funded staff and Hawley's political consultants, finding the withholding was motivated by concern the records could harm Hawley's campaign. The office was fined the maximum $12,000 civil penalty, and in June 2023 was ordered to pay $242,385 in the plaintiffs' attorney fees. The judgment was against the Attorney General's office; the state did not appeal. The penalties and fees were borne by Missouri taxpayers.