Josh Hawley is the junior Senator from Missouri. He was first elected to Congress during the 2018 midterm elections when he defeated the incumbent, Democrat Claire McCaskill.
Hawley, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, made headlines by announcing he would object when Congress met to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Several other Senate Republicans criticized Hawley’s plan and as Politico reported, the push to reject state-certified votes had been expected to fail by a wide margin. Congress finished certifying Biden’s victory early in the morning on January 7 following the Capitol riot, as CNN reported. Images of the chaos can be seen here.
Here’s what you need to know about Hawley’s family:
1. Hawley Met His Wife, Erin Morrow, at Yale Law School
Getty Josh Hawley and wife Erin smile at the crowd of supporters after delivering his victory speech on November 6, 2018 in Springfield, Missouri.
Erin Morrow Hawley grew up on a ranch in New Mexico, according to the Washington Post. As Heavy previously reported, she graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in animal science before shifting her focus to the law.
Morrow moved to the east coast to attend law school at Yale, which is where she met her future husband. The Post reported that Morrow and Hawley served as clerks for Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. at the same time.
Morrow practiced law in Washington, D.C. after earning her law degree. According to her bio with the Independent Women’s Law Center, she worked at King & Spalding LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Morrow also worked as counsel for Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served as AG from 2007 until 2009.
After relocating to Hawley’s home state of Missouri, Morrow got into teaching. Her Independent Women’s Law Center bio notes Morrow used to teach constitutional litigation, federal income tax, tax policy and agricultural law as an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri. It’s unclear exactly when Morrow stopped working at the university.
Morrow was authorized to practice law in Missouri in August 2012. According to the lawyer directory on the Missouri Bar website, Morrow practices in Ozark and is in “good standing” with the bar. Morrow is not licensed to practice law in Virginia, where the Hawleys also own a home, according to the Virginia State Bar.
2. Hawley & Morrow Have 2 Sons & 1 Daughter
Hawley and Morrow are the proud parents of three young children. According to Hawley’s Senate biography, they named their sons Elijah and Blaise. Elijah was born in November 2012. Younger son Blaise arrived in late December 2014, according to Hawley’s Facebook page.
Their only daughter, Abigail, was born on November 9, 2020. Hawley shared the news on Facebook.
Hawley often shares photo of his children on Instagram, such as this adorable picture of one of his sons cuddling with baby Abigail on Thanksgiving.
In addition to time spent in Virginia and Missouri, the Hawley boys appear to enjoy visits to Morrow’s parents’ ranch. Hawley shared pictures of his sons spending time around the animals during a visit in June 2020.
3. Hawley is the Son of a Banker & a Teacher
Hawley’s father is Ronald Kim Hawley, a career banker. Ron Hawley discussed his professional career in a 2008 interview with the Springfield Business Journal. According to the piece, the elder Hawley started his career in Springdale, Arkansas, which is where Josh Hawley was born in 1979.
Ron Hawley moved the family to Lexington, Missouri, in 1981, where he served as the president of Boatmen’s Bank for 12 years. Ron Hawley said he worked for Bank of America in Springfield after Boatmen’s Bank was purchased. He moved on to Regions Bank in 2004 as a senior credit officer, where he managed up to $2 billion worth of loans, he told the Springfield News Journal. By the time of the 2008 interview, Ron Hawley had been promoted to president of the central and southwest markets, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.
Josh Hawley’s mother, Virginia Marie, worked as a teacher, according to the National Review. In May 2018, Hawley posted a photo of her on Instagram and wrote, ” Not only are you a spectacular mom, but you’re an even better Grandma to my boys! We love you!”
4. Hawley’s Sister Is a Dermatologist & Navy Veteran
Hawley grew up in the small town of Lexington, Missouri, according to his Senate website. He graduated from Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, an all-boys Catholic school. He has one younger sister named Lesley Hawley, who was born in 1982.
Lesley pursued a career in the medical field. According to her profile with Ozarks Dermatology Specialists, Lesley graduated from Washington University before earning her medical degree from Creighton University in Nebraska. She currently specializes in “medical dermatology and laser surgery for scars, burns and vascular anomalies.”
Before moving back to Missouri, Lesley spent nine years as a physician and dermatologist in the U.S. Navy. Her profile includes that she completed her residency program at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. According to her Facebook page, she also lived in Portsmouth, Virginia, during her time with the Navy.
A search of online records suggests Lesley Hawley purchased her house in Ozark, Missouri, in June 2018.
5. Hawley Owns a $1.3 Million House in Virginia & Is Building a New House in Ozark, Missouri
Getty Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and wife Erin Morrow Hawley.
Hawley and his wife are raising their three children primarily in a suburb of Washington, D.C., at least for the time being. The Hawleys own a house in Vienna, Virginia, where activists gathered to protest on January 4 against Hawley’s plan to object to the electoral college vote certification. Hawley wasn’t there but his wife and youngest child were home; police said the protest was peaceful, WJLA-TV reported.
Hawley and Morrow bought the home for more than $1.3 million in January 2019, according to a search of online records and Fairfax County property records. The single-family home was built in 2018 and has nearly 4,000 square feet of living space.
Hawley has faced questions from critics about his living arrangements because as a member of Congress, he needs to live within the state he is representing. The Kansas City Star reported in November 2020 that Hawley had sold his home in Springfield earlier that year and that the family was in the process of building a new house in Ozark. The newspaper added that Hawley had listed his sister Lesley’s address on his voter registration.
Hawley shared a photo of the new house on Instagram along with a message to his critics: “One day after I exposed more liberal #BigTech censorship, some George Soros Democrat group is attacking me for – wait for it – building a new home in Ozark, MO. 🤣 House is coming along great! We love Ozark. Dem losers, thanks for playing.”
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