Josh Hawley

Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American attorney and politician who serves as the 42nd and current Attorney General of Missouri.

Education

Hawley grew up in Lexington, Missouri, and graduated from Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He went on to graduate with highest honors from Stanford University with an A.B. in History. He attended Yale Law School, where he led the conservative Yale Federalist Society^[1].

After attending Yale Law School, Josh was selected to be a judicial clerk for the Hon. Michael W. McConnell of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He subsequently earned a clerkship at the U.S. Supreme Court with Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. During this time, Hawley met his wife, a fellow Supreme Court clerk, Erin Morrow Hawley.^[2]

Legal career

After Hawley’s clerkships, he worked as an appellate litigator at Hogan Lovells US LLP in Washington D.C.

Hawley has served as Senior Counsel to The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. With the Becket Fund, Josh litigated First Amendment cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, in the federal circuit courts and state courts of last resort. These cases most notably included Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC in 2012.

During his campaign for Missouri State Attorney General, Hawley's website and campaign advertisements indicated that he presented arguments in the Sebelius vs Hobby Lobby Stores case. However, the case was argued in March of 2014 and a decision was handed down on June 30, 2014. Hawley was not admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States until May 26, 2015 and as such, would not have been legally permitted to present arguments in this case or even to have been seated at the table with the attorneys who argued the case. His experience with this case appears to have been limited to filing briefs as a lawyer with The Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty. ^[3]

Hawley has also served as an Associate Professor at the University of Missouri Law School. At the University of Missouri, Hawley taught Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Legislation, and Torts.^[4]

Public Office

Attorney General of Missouri (2017-present)

2016 Election

In 2016, Hawley ran for Attorney General of Missouri. On August 2, he defeated Kurt Schafer in the Republican primary 64-36%.^[5] He faced Democrat Teresa Hensley in the general election on November 8. Hawley won 58.50% of the vote to Hensley's 41.50%.^[6]

Selected Publications

• Wall Street Journal review of Justice Scalia biography, 2014^[7]
• Wall Street Journal review of Justice Holmes on Free Speech, 2013^[8]
• Return to Political Theology, 90 NOTRE DAME LAW REVIEW 1631 (2015)^[9]
• The Intellectual Origins of (Modern) Substantive Due Process, 93 TEXAS LAW REVIEW 275 (2014)^[10]
• The Transformative Twelfth Amendment, 55 WILLIAM AND MARY LAW REVIEW 1501 (2014)^[11]
• The Beginning of the End?: Horne v. Department of Agriculture and the Future of Williamson County, 2013 CATO SUPREME COURT REVIEW 245 (2013)^[12]
• Roosevelt's Republic: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Presidency, in A COMPANION TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011)^[13]

Electoral History

Personal life

Josh and his wife, Erin, live in Columbia, Missouri with their two young sons.

Campaign Endorsements

• National Review^[16]
• Family Research Council^[17]
• Former US Senator John Danforth

References

External links

Official campaign website

• Josh Hawley for Attorney General

Attorneys General of Missouri
Bates Easton Wells Napton Bay Stringfellow Robards Gardenhire E. Ewing Knott Welch Crittenden Wingate Johnson Baker H. Ewing Hockaday Smith McIntyre Boone Wood Walker Crow Hadley Major Barker McAllister Barrett Otto Gentry Shartel McKittrick Taylor Dalton Eagleton Anderson Danforth Ashcroft Webster Nixon Koster Hawley

Current statewide political officials of Missouri
U.S. Senators	Claire McCaskill Roy Blunt
State government	Eric Greitens, Governor Mike Parson, Lieutenant Governor Jay Ashcroft, Secretary of State Josh Hawley, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Treasurer Nicole Galloway, Auditor
Senate	Peter Kinder, President Tom Dempsey, President pro tempore Ron Richard, Majority Leader Joseph Keaveny, Minority Leader
House	John Diehl, Speaker Denny Hoskins, Speaker pro tempore Todd Richardson, Majority Leader Jacob Hummel, Minority Leader
Supreme Court	Laura Stith Vacant Mary Russell Patricia Breckenridge Zel Fischer George Draper Paul Wilson Chief Justice title rotated among the judges