Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey emerged victorious in the Republican primary Tuesday, cementing his candidacy for his first full term in office in the November election.
In other statewide races, Denny Hoskins won the Republican nomination for secretary of state, Vivek Malek for treasurer and Dave Wasinger for lieutenant governor.
Attorney General
At his victory celebration Tuesday night, Bailey said: "Tomorrow, when 'Reveille' sounds, Andrew Bailey will grab his rucksack and his rifle and will stand in formation with other conservative leaders as we March on to victory in November."
Bailey's opponent, Will Scharf, conceded the race Tuesday evening as preliminary election results came in.
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“We were up against the entire Jefferson City establishment … and I'm proud that in light of those headwinds, we've still garnered the support of thousands and thousands and thousands of Missourians who dare to dream for a better future,” Scharf said, according to the Missouri Independent.
Bailey won the primary over Scharf with 63% of ballots cast.
The attorney general was locked in a contentious campaign with Scharf, who previously served as former Gov. Eric Greitens' policy director and currently works as a lawyer for former President Donald Trump.
Scharf criticized Bailey’s tenure as attorney general as one filled with legal fights that ended in losses for the Republican party.
Bailey was originally appointed by Gov. Mike Parson in 2022 after Eric Schmitt’s election to the U.S. Senate, and the primary was his first attempt at a full term.
Bailey previously served as the former assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as assistant attorney general under Schmitt. He received endorsements from Parson, Schmitt and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.
From early in his tenure, Bailey made headlines filing lawsuits on national issues on behalf of the state, following in the footsteps of his predecessor. He also attempted to enact rules prohibiting providers from offering gender-affirming treatment to transgender people.
More recently, Bailey worked to halt the release of Christopher Dunn, a man whose murder conviction was overturned. Dunn was released July 30 after Missouri’s Supreme Court lifted an emergency order it issued last week that paused his release.
It is the second time in recent months Bailey blocked the release of an individual whose murder conviction had been overturned by a judge citing evidence that proved “actual innocence.”
Bailey had criticized Scharf as a servant of special interests in Washington, D.C.
“This is home for me, this is where I'm raising my kids, where he showed up here with a bag full of money in order to buy a political office,” Bailey said.
Bailey will face St. Louis-based attorney Elad Gross, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for attorney general, and Libertarian nominee Ryan Munro.
The November general election will mark Bailey’s first for office.
Secretary of State
Denny Hoskins will be the Republican on the ballot for Secretary of State in November.
Hoskins won the crowded primary Tuesday, earning 24% of the vote.
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Hoskins has served in the Missouri legislature the past 16 years. He was in the House from 2009 to 2016 and in the Senate starting in 2017.
Due to term limits, he cannot serve in the legislature after his final Senate term ends this year.
A member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, Hoskins has clashed with Republican Senate leadership the past few sessions.
Hoskins said he wanted to be Secretary of State because of the responsibility of running Missouri’s elections.
“If we don't have trust, we don't trust our election process, then nothing else matters,” Hoskins said.
He beat out seven other candidates in the primary. The candidate who came closest to Hoskins was Shane Schoeller with 17% of the vote, as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Treasurer
Vivek Malek won the Republican nomination for state treasurer with 41% of the vote. Andrew Koenig finished second with 20%.
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Parson appointed him as treasurer last year after Scott Fitzpatrick became state auditor. Malek is the first person of color to hold statewide office in Missouri. He is running for his first full four-year term.
Malek raised the most money by far for a statewide contest that typically flies under the radar.
Malek said on an episode of the Politically Speaking podcast that he will continue to be aggressive at getting unclaimed property returned as long as he’s state treasurer.
Malek said he successfully pushed for Missouri’s pension board to divest from Chinese companies. He said that because China has become more adversarial with the United States, it doesn’t make sense for Missouri to invest in companies there.
Lt. Governor
Dave Wasinger came out on top of a crowded Republican primary to run as the party’s pick for lieutenant governor.
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He battled against four other Republican hopefuls for the nomination, defeating Lincoln Hough, Paul Berry III, Tim Baker and Holly Thompson Rehder.
Wasinger is an attorney in St. Louis for a firm he owns. He is also a certified public accountant. He put more than $2 million of his own money into his campaign.
“Missourians want change,” Wasinger told KCUR public radio. “I'll use the lieutenant governor’s office as a bully pulpit to expose the corruption and insider deals taking place in Jefferson City.”
Trump repeated his past tactic of endorsing several candidates running against each other in the Republican primaries, endorsing both Holly Rehder and Wasinger, calling them “highly respected America first patriots.”
“Either one would be an incredible Lieutenant Governor,” Trump said on his social media site Truth Social late Monday.
Lincoln Hough captured roughly 30% of the vote in the primary race.
The lieutenant governor is next in line if the governor resigns or cannot fulfill their duty. Missouri is one of the few states where the lieutenant governor doesn’t run alongside the governor of the state.
The lieutenant governor also may break ties in the Senate when needed and sits on several boards, such as the Missouri Tourism Commission, Development Finance Board and Housing Development Commission.
Wasinger will take on Democrat State Rep. Richard Brown of Kansas City and libertarian Ken Iverson of Lake St. Louis in the November general election.
