The Campaign Digest is a weekly roundup of news related to the Aug. 6 statewide primary races in Missouri.
ANALYSIS
State Sen. Bill Eigel brought his campaign for Missouri governor to Springfield last week and promised a packed-house crowd he would lead “a reckoning that is going to transform this state to the Missouri that I know that you want.”
With an enthusiastic crowd egging him on, Eigel, a two-term Republican senator from St. Charles County, painted himself as the anti-establishment candidate. “Because Jefferson City is so preoccupied with the status quo. Jefferson City is so preoccupied with what Donald J. Trump calls the swamp. And they can't imagine Missouri actually doing all the ‘big red' things we always seem to promise in campaign season.
“I'm here to tell you those days are over,” Eigel said.
The July 2 event at The Barley House had many of the trappings of a campaign rally for former President Trump, complete with people adorning red “Make America Great Again” hats, and a smattering of “Never Surrender” T-shirts featuring the Aug. 2023 mugshot of Trump when he was booked into the Fulton County Jail in Georgia.
Among the warm-up speakers were Republican U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, as well as state Sen. Mike Moon of Ash Grove, and Will Scharf, a candidate for Missouri attorney general.
A couple of recent polls, including one from a PAC supporting Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, suggest Eigel is closing the gap with his better-known rivals, Kehoe and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. A separate poll by ARW Strategies, a national polling firm that says it is not affiliated with any candidate, found Kehoe was leading the race by 4 points, and that Eigel and Ashcroft were in a virtual tie, with 38% of voters still undecided.
The primary election is Aug. 6, and the GOP nominee will be the heavy favorite going into the general election Nov. 5.
In his Springfield rally attended by about 250 people, Eigel was quick to point out the positive polling. “The status quo has been listening to me for eight years, but in a few short weeks, they're gonna hear your voice because you're gonna show up on Aug. 6 and do something they didn’t expect.”
In interview, Eigel says ‘Missouri is plagued by soft, moderate Republicans'
In an interview with the Hauxeda, Eigel said he would be the “disrupter of the swamp and the status quo that we have in Jefferson City.”
“You know, Missouri is plagued by soft, moderate Republicans that really aren't delivering the big Republican wins that we're seeing happening in other states. So we're missing an opportunity for Missouri to be a leader in this country. We thought if we could pass initiative petition reform, if we could pass major tax reform tax cuts, if we could get our budget under control. That's not what's happening in Jefferson City.”
Eigel continued: “It is fracturing our party because we've got statewide leaders like Mike Kehoe, quite frankly, and (Governor) Mike Parson, that are calling on Republicans to do non-Republican things. So I think it's, there's a real appetite for somebody that's going to be willing to go down there and confront the status quo and confront the swamp and tell them that which they don't know.”
The General Assembly is dominated by Republicans, as are all of the statewide offices in Missouri. Yet, recent legislative sessions have been largely unproductive due to divisions within the GOP majorities — and Eigel readily acknowledges he has been one of the vocal minority within his own party leading to deadlock.
How would he heal the division within his own party?
“Great question. Because especially number one, I'm kind of an aggressive guy,” Eigel said. “The answer is really simple. And that is, I'm going to call on Republicans to do Republican things.”
Eigel continued: “I mean, look at those other states that I just mentioned, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. It's not that those other states don't have RINOs (a derogatory term standing for Republicans In Name Only). It's not that those other states don't have moderate Republicans that have betrayed the brand as soon as they get the opportunity to do so. ... But what separates those states and the state of Missouri, that most states also have a bold, conservative leader in the governor's mansion, that’s uniting their party by calling on those legislators to do Republican things —and if they don't, holding them accountable to the people. That's what's not happening under Mike Parson. It's what would not happen under Mike Kehoe because it's a continuation of those things.”
Eigel shows little interest in working with Democrats. “The Democrats will only have power with what we allow them to have, which quite frankly, if you look at the direction of their national party and the state party, it's pretty out of step of what Missourians want to see as far as governance in the state of Missouri.”
Priorities include tax cuts and rounding up illegal immigrants
In the interview, and in his later remarks to the crowd, Eigel talked about voter “disappointment, frustration, and even anger with these go-along, get-along Republicans in Jefferson City.”
He listed several priorities he would tackle if elected governor, including:
- Eliminating the personal property tax on vehicles. “We've got plenty of money down in Jefferson City to get rid of that tax, and still make sure we're keeping all the local services.”
- Eliminating the state income tax, as nine other states have done.
- Rounding up an estimated 70,000 illegal immigrants who he says have “invaded” the state. Eigel says he would use powers granted to the governor under Article Four of the state Constitution, including the power to “call out the militia to execute the laws, suppress actual and prevent threatened insurrection, and repel invasion.” Eigel says law enforcement agencies know where to find illegal immigrants, but “what they lack is the authority to do anything about it.”
- Ending foreign ownership of Missouri farmland.
- Promising to dismantle the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and firing state employees involved in so-called “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs. “Right now, instead of teaching our children reading, writing and arithmetic, we're teaching them to despise one another based on the color of their skin. We're teaching them DEI, and CRT and this transgender crap that needs to be out of our schools.”
Eigel concluded: “I have put forth a vision of Missouri that, as you can see, we're getting a lot of people to buy into. So we're excited. We're moving up in the polls … Nobody in Jefferson City said that we can be this close. And we're excited to continue surprising everybody down in the Capitol.”
Ashcroft pledges to phase out income tax
From St. Louis Public Radio (free access): Republican gubernatorial hopeful Jay Ashcroft wants to phase out Missouri’s income tax:
Jay Ashcroft has been on an electoral winning streak since he rolled to victory in a contentious primary for Missouri secretary of state in 2016, and now he’s hoping to extend it in the GOP primary for governor.
The two-term statewide official is facing stiff competition from Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and state Sen. Bill Eigel. On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, Ashcroft said neither of his opponents could bring about the type of policy change Republicans want since they took control of state government in 2017.
“I've actually been moving conservative policy forward to increase the opportunity for all Missourians,” Ashcroft said. “My competitors have been selling Missouri for their own political and personal gain.”
Dueling PAC ads paint negative pictures of Ashcroft, Kehoe
Committee for Liberty, which is the PAC supporting Jay Ashcroft, released this ad June 25 with the summary: “Record tax hikes. Selling out to China. Supporting cop haters. It's not just old Joe. It's Mike Kehoe.”
American Dream PAC, which is supporting Mike Kehoe, began airing a new ad during the week of the 4th of July, playing off comments Ashcroft made about benefits for veterans — and referencing reporting by Politico that Ashcroft “was effectively kicked out of the Merchant Marine Academy” for poor academic performance:
Other headlines in the race for governor
From the Missouri Independent (free access): Appeals court dashes Missouri GOP hopes of blocking ‘honorary KKK member’ from ballot: An “honorary KKK member” will lead the list of Republicans on the ballot for Missouri governor in the Aug. 6 primary, in part because it is too late for an appeal court to hear a case seeking to remove his name. The state party doesn’t want Darrell McClanahan III on the ballot because he admitted being an “honorary member” of the Ku Klux Klan in a lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League. McClanahan also faces felony property damage and stealing charges in a case being heard in Wright County.
Attorney General
Will Scharf, who is challenging incumbent Andrew Bailey for the GOP nomination for Missouri attorney general, also spoke at the July 2 rally in Springfield hosted by the Eigel campaign.
In addition to touting his work as one of the attorneys for Trump, Scharf shared his concerns about what he views as the moderate Republicans who have been in charge in Missouri.
“Jefferson City is an abysmal failure at its most basic responsibilities,” Scharf said. “And if we keep putting the same people back in charge of Jefferson City, we're going to keep getting more of the same, which is special interests and lobbyists captured our government, which is the government where we the people don't have the voice that we deserve in the corridors of power in the state.”
He pledged that on Day 1 in the job, he would investigate the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education — while offering no specifics for the reasons or what he expected to find. “And all of the corruption in all of our departments and agencies in Jefferson City, needs to be investigated. Someone needs to be holding the people in power in this state accountable.”
KC Star: Missouri AG candidate played key role in winning Trump’s immunity case at Supreme Court
A Republican candidate for Missouri attorney general played a major role in former President Donald Trump’s aggressive fight to shield himself from criminal prosecution, an effort that led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Monday that former presidents enjoy presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken in office.
The candidate, Will Scharf, and another Missouri lawyer, former Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer, were part of Trump’s legal team in the case. Both argued Trump should be shielded from prosecution as he faces a series of indictments, including federal charges over his role in trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations he illegally retained classified documents after leaving office.
Read the full Kansas City Star story (subscription required).
Other headlines in the race for attorney general
From St. Louis Public Radio (free access): Missouri AG candidate Scharf says he’s the conservative outsider for the job
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (subscription required): Missouri AG accuses New York of election interference, asks for Trump sentencing delay
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Wednesday (July 3) made it official: he went to court to accuse the State of New York of interfering in the 2024 presidential election.
The Republican attorney general, who is attempting to secure a four-year term in office, filed the bill of complaint with the U.S. Supreme Court.
The filing, which cites federal law giving the high court “original and exclusive jurisdiction of all controversies between two or more States,” asks that the sentencing of former President Donald Trump be delayed until after the November general election.
