Billy Long birthday invite lists Hawley, Blunt, Parson. They say they haven’t endorsed

Rep. Billy Long’s newly-launched Senate campaign to succeed retiring Sen. Roy Blunt sent invitations for a celebration of the congressman’s birthday next week that lists Blunt, Sen. Josh Hawley and Gov. Mike Parson as honorary co-chairs, though none of the men have endorsed Long.

Hawley has now gotten his name removed. And spokeswomen for Blunt and Parson reiterated they haven’t endorsed anyone in the growing Republican primary field.

A copy of the invitation for “Billy Long’s Birthday Celebration” seen by The Star lists Kellyanne Conway, who advised former President Donald Trump, as a special guest. The event is set for Aug. 11, Long’s 66th birthday.

The invitation also lists a who’s who of Missouri GOP leadership as honorary co-chairs, including Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick.

The invitation bears Long’s Senate campaign logo. A disclosure says “Paid for by Billy Long for Senate.” Sponsorships for the Springfield event begin at $1,000 per couple.

“Congressman Long asked Josh to be a host of this event, but as a congressional candidate and before he was a Senate candidate. Josh is no longer a host and he hasn’t endorsed anyone,” Hawley chief of staff Kyle Plotkin said.

Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones said the governor “has not endorsed anyone for this race.” Blunt spokeswoman Katie Boyd said the senator hasn’t endorsed anyone “at this time.”

Politico reported July 29 that Long had sent out an invitation for a birthday bash, several days before he announced his Senate campaign on Tuesday. Before jumping into the race during a Fox News appearance, Long had been openly weighing a Senate run for months.

Long’s campaign said Thursday that the inclusion of Hawley, Parson and others wasn’t done at the staff level.

“Congressman Long spoke to every Honorary Co-Chair personally and they agreed be listed as Honorary Co-Chairs for his Birthday party celebration where he planned to announce his run for Senate. No endorsement was expressed or implied,” the campaign said in a statement.

The Republican field includes Attorney General Eric Schmiit, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, former Gov. Eric Greitens and St. Louis attorney Mark McCloskey. Long’s entry may not be the last, as Rep. Jason Smith is also a possible contender.

Long enjoys a solid grip over his southwest Missouri district. If the birthday celebration had been an event for his congressional campaign, it likely wouldn’t pose any political complications.

The primary election remains a year away and many leading state GOP figures are so far staying neutral or have only gone so far as to indicate they don’t support Greitens, who resigned as governor in 2018 amid multiple scandals and allegations of violent sexual misconduct.

“A lot of our statewide Republicans were on it as being co-hosts. As you can imagine, Mike is not participating in the primary and not endorsing anyone,” said Mike Hafner, a spokesman for Kehoe who is also advising Hartzler’s campaign.

Miles Ross, a spokesman for Ashcroft, said the secretary, who isn’t on the ballot this year, agreed to be listed as an honorary co-chair as part of his effort to offer general support Republican candidates.

“He’s just trying to help all Republicans,” Ross said.