Current:Home > InvestShowdowns for the GOP nominations for Missouri governor and attorney general begin -WealthEngine
Showdowns for the GOP nominations for Missouri governor and attorney general begin
View
Date:2025-04-12 07:07:35
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri voters are set to nominate a Republican candidate for governor and other statewide offices, likely deciding the next leaders of a strongly conservative state currently without any Democratic statewide officials.
GOP gubernatorial candidates include Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and state Sen. Bill Eigel. Former President Donald Trump endorsed all three.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson is barred from seeking reelection by term limits.
Here’s a breakdown of Missouri’s top statewide Republican primaries:
Governor
The GOP fight for the governorship appears to be between Ashcroft, who comes from a Missouri political dynasty, and Kehoe, a powerhouse in fundraising who was endorsed by Parson to be his successor.
Ashcroft has considerable name recognition after serving as secretary of state since 2017. Ashcroft’s father, John Ashcroft, served as Missouri governor, a U.S. senator and U.S. attorney general under former President George W. Bush.
As secretary of state, Ashcroft withdrew Missouri last year from a bipartisan, multistate effort aimed at ensuring the accuracy of voter rolls that has found itself in the crosshairs of conspiracy theories fueled by Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election. Ashcroft has also long advocated for Missouri’s photo identification requirement for voters as a way to prevent voter fraud, although he has also maintained Missouri already had secure elections.
He’s also played a sometimes contentious role in ballot measures. Most recently, he sought to describe an abortion rights amendment that will be on November’s ballot as allowing “dangerous and unregulated abortions until live birth.” Appeals court judges ruled Ashcroft’s language was politically partisan and rewrote the summary of the ballot measure that will appear before voters.
Kehoe and his supporters have been pouring money into his campaign and advertisements to make up for Ashcroft’s lead in name recognition. Roughly a week before Tuesday’s primary, his campaign reported raising $4.2 million over the election cycle, more than three times what Ashcroft raised.
Pro-Kehoe political action committee American Dream PAC also brought in more than $7 million, more than double the close to $3 million raised by Committee 4 Liberty, which backs Ashcroft.
Kehoe assumed the lieutenant governor’s seat in 2018. He was appointed to the position following a government reshuffling when former Gov. Eric Greitens resigned in the face of potential impeachment that year. Mike Parson was serving as lieutenant governor but ascended to the governor’s office when Greitens left. Parson then tapped Kehoe to replace him as lieutenant governor. Kehoe had been serving as the second-highest ranking state senator at the time.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Democracy: American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. More challenges lie ahead in 2024.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
- Stay informed. Keep your pulse on the news with breaking news email alerts. Sign up here.
Kehoe was first elected to the state Senate in 2010 after years as a car dealership owner. As majority floor leader, he oversaw legislation that restricted unions and that Republicans said would help local businesses.
Eigel is the dark horse of the Republican gubernatorial primary. Although both his official campaign and the pro-Eigel PAC outraised Ashcroft, he’s still significantly behind Kehoe in fundraising. He also lacks the name identification both Ashcroft and Kehoe built as statewide elected officials. Eigel has only ever won election to the state Senate to represent his suburban St. Louis district. His strategy appears to be marketing himself as the most conservative candidate, at one point using a flamethrower to light a pile of boxes on fire that he later was a metaphor for how he would attack the “woke liberal agenda.”
Attorney general and other statewide seats
Current Attorney General Andrew Bailey is in a fierce fight with Trump lawyer Will Scharf to be the Republican nominee for the position and, presumably, retain his seat. This will be voters’ first chance to weigh in on Bailey, another Parson appointee named to the position after Eric Schmitt resigned to become a U.S. senator in 2022.
Big money groups with connections to key Republican campaign financier Leonard Leo are backing Scharf. Both candidates take conservative positions, but Bailey has gone through the Missouri political system while much of Scharf’s career has been in Washington.
Secretary of State Ashcroft’s and Lt. Gov. Kehoe’s political ambitions leave their seats open and have drawn super-sized fields of Republican hopefuls.
GOP secretary of state candidates include: state Sens. Mary Elizabeth Coleman and Denny Hoskins, state Reps. House Speaker Dean Plocher and Adam Schwadron, Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller, and political newcomers Jamie Corley and Valentina Gomez. The depth of the primary field means a winner could emerge with a small fraction of the vote.
The lieutenant governor’s GOP primary is less crowded, with state Sens. Lincoln Hough and Holly Thompson Rehder, as well as Dave Wasinger, a certified public accountant and attorney at St. Louis law firm Wasinger Daming.
veryGood! (85667)
Related
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- A US officiant marries 10 same-sex couples in Hong Kong via video chat
- Masked intruder pleads guilty to 2007 attack on Connecticut arts patron and fake virus threat
- Explosion at homeless encampment injures, hospitalizes LA firefighter responding to flames
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- 'The Notebook' actress Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer's disease, son says
- Florida man kills mother and 2 other women before dying in gunfight with deputies, sheriff says
- Hooters closes underperforming restaurants around US: See list of closing locations
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Star witness in Holly Bobo murder trial gets 19 years in federal prison in unrelated case
Ranking
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- Detroit is banning gas stations from locking customers inside, a year after a fatal shooting
- Justin Timberlake's arrest, statement elicited a cruel response. Why?
- Rip currents have turned deadly this summer. Here's how to spot them and what to do if you're caught in one.
- Trump's 'stop
- Athing Mu's appeal denied in 800 after fall at Olympic trials
- States fail to track abuses in foster care facilities housing thousands of children, US says
- Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox Are True Twin Flames for Summer Solstice Date Night
Recommendation
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
Supporters of a proposed voter ID amendment in Nevada turn in thousands of signatures for review
New Jersey man flew to Florida to kill fellow gamer after online dispute, police say
Why are the Texas Rangers the only MLB team without a Pride Night?
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
Scarlett Johansson Shares Why She Loves Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz's Relationship
World War II POW from Louisiana accounted for 82 years after Bataan Death March
E! Staff Tries Juliette Has A Gun: Is This the Brand’s Best Perfume?