COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri’s top election official Jay Ashcroft on Thursday announced he's running for governor as a Republican.
The secretary of state is campaigning to replace GOP Gov. Mike Parson, who is prohibited by term limits from running again in 2024.
Ashcroft’s candidacy has been widely expected. A political action committee supporting him has already raised $1.3 million, and Ashcroft said he has raised about $700,000.
He enters the race with considerable name recognition after serving as secretary of state since 2017, and the Ashcroft family is a political legacy in Missouri. Ashcroft's father, John Ashcroft, served as Missouri governor, a U.S. senator and U.S. attorney general under former President George W. Bush.
Other gubernatorial hopefuls include Republican state Sen. Bill Eigel, who is considering entering the race.
Ashcroft said Missouri Republicans have not done enough despite controlling both the governor's office and both the Missouri House and Senate.
“Red states like Florida, Texas, Tennessee, even Indiana and Arkansas, have become examples of conservative leadership while Missouri Republicans, who control every statewide office and have supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature, have failed to deliver,” Ashcroft said in a statement. "I’m running to change that.”
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade called Ashcroft an extremist in response to his announcement.
"From the time he was defeated for state Senate a decade ago, it’s been clear Jay Ashroft feels holding office is his birthright based on his father’s accomplishments instead of a sacred duty to serve the citizens of Missouri," Quade said in a statement. "Missourians deserve a governor who is dedicated to them, not an extremist who thinks he’s entitled to the People’s Mansion because of his last name."
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