These 8 Republicans are running for Missouri Secretary of State in August primary
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Editor's note: A previous edition of this story erroneously stated how long Rep. Dean Plocher has been Missouri Speaker of the House.
Missouri's primary election is less than one month away and candidates for several statewide races are working quickly to wrap up last-minute campaign strategies before appearing on the ballot. One of these races is Missouri Secretary of State.
Missouri's current Secretary of State is Jay Ashcroft, who is running for Missouri Governor.
The Secretary of State is the chief elections official in Missouri, administering statewide elections involving individuals and issues and overseeing local verification of signatures for initiative petitions.
The Office of the Secretary of State serves as a clearinghouse of information in Missouri. The State Archives and Missouri State Library both fall under the jurisdiction of this office.
The Secretary of State also oversees the registration of businesses in Missouri, can authenticate official acts of the governor and has the authority to appoint and commission notaries public.
Missouri's primary election is Tuesday, Aug 6. This election narrows down the candidates to determine who appears as each party's nominee in November's general election.
Ahead of the election, there are 12 people running for Missouri Secretary of State, including eight Republicans, three Democrats and one Libertarian. The News-Leader was able to speak with 10 of the candidates about their backgrounds, campaigns and desires for the position, including six Republicans.
More: What's on the ballot in Springfield and Greene County in the August primary elections
Shane Schoeller
Serving as the Greene County Clerk since 2015, Republican Shane Schoeller is running for Missouri Secretary of State for the second time this year. He first ran for the position in 2012. He won the Republican nomination but was defeated in the general election. He announced his campaign for this year's election back in February 2023.
A Branson native, Schoeller's career in politics began during his final semester at Southwest Baptist University. In 1994, Schoeller worked on the campaign of John Ashcroft, who, at the time, was running for U.S. Senate.
Post-graduation, Schoeller spent two years working for Ashcroft and Senator Kit Bond as a listening post, driving a van throughout the state speaking with Missourians about their concerns. He later worked under Roy Blunt as a legislative assistant on Capital Hill in Washington D.C. and as a chief administrative aide to former Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt.
Before serving as Greene County Clerk, Schoeller was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, representing Springfield and northern Greene County. He served as Speaker Pro Tem and briefly as interim Speaker of the House, following the resignation of Speaker Steve Tilley in 2011.
As Greene County Clerk, Schoeller is responsible for managing local elections, maintaining records for local governing body transactions, and keeping records of deeds, marriage licenses and most other public records.
As a candidate for Secretary of State, Schoeller's main points of interest are election integrity, increased business services and resources, and the protection of Missouri investors from fraudulent behavior.
When it comes to election integrity, Schoeller said one area he would like to focus on is "election judges being bipartisan." Specifically, he would like to build upon House Bill 1878, commonly referred to as the Election Integrity Bill. The bill modified several provisions relating to elections, including the requirements for election officials.
"Before 2022 when the Election Integrity Bill passed, if somebody in Greene County wanted to go serve in another country, they had to get my permission to go be an election judge in another county. Regardless of county, it was that way across in every county across the state. I don't believe that it's necessary, as long as they meet the qualifications. One of the things we did in the election integrity bill ... was we were able to remove that barrier when it comes to election authority having to get a voter permission to go to another county."
As for increasing business services and resources, Schoeller said he would like to create a list of financial literacy tools and resources that could be available on the Missouri Secretary of State website for new business owners. He would also like to work with public libraries to host in-person events for new business owners and investors.
As of July 3, Schoeller was endorsed by the Missouri Republican Assembly. He also received an A-rating from the National Rifle Association.
Mike Carter
A self-described "marketing expert," Republican Mike Carter's campaign for Secretary of State is his second for a statewide office. In 2020, he ran for Missouri Lieutenant Governor but was beat by Mike Kehoe in the primary election. In an interview with the News-Leader, Carter said he was deterred from running for Lieutenant Governor this year because of Lincoln Hough, who he said has an upper hand as a current state senator.
Born and raised in North County St. Louis, Carter attending the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the University of Missouri in Columbia. Today, he is the municipal judge of Wentzville, which he has served as since 2009, and president of Carter Business Law Firm. He is also on the general counsel for CarShield, an auto protection company, and is the host of "Justice and Journalism with Mike Carter," a weekly television show that airs on ABC affiliates.
As a candidate, one of Carter's main points of interest is petition initiative reform. Carter described the current process of getting a state constitutional amendment on the ballot as a "monumental, Herculean task." He would like to make it easier to get amendments on the ballot, followed with more criteria set during the legislative process.
Additionally, Carter said he is interested in "looking into" how Missouri's public libraries are funded.
"The money that is allocated, can it be loosened to where the leader of the Secretary of State Office, which would be me, can dictate and channel those monies in a more meaningful way, pile them up, aggregate them and then give them to certain libraries that are behaving the way that maybe the public wants them to?" Carter asked hypothetically in an interview with the News-Leader.
More: Access news, today's paper anywhere you go with the Springfield News-Leader app
"The pennies in thousands that they give at the state level to the libraries is not really enough to effectuate and moderate behavior, but I may look into that. It seems like there is a crying out by some folks, at least in the Republican party, to put those under closer lock and key ... just to the extent that the constituents are actually worried about that."
Ultimately, Carter said there is not a lot of "ground-shaking" work he would like to do as Missouri Secretary of State. Rather, he'd like to continue the work carried out by Ashcroft.
As far as campaigning, Carter has been busy traveling around the state speaking with "Republican-leaning voting citizens." He also has a text and robocall system set up for his campaign. Ahead of the primaries, Carter will visit with Johnny Morris at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield on Aug. 1.
Mary Elizabeth Coleman
Republican Mary Elizabeth Coleman describes herself as a "mom on a mission."
An eighth-generation Jefferson County native, Coleman resides in Arnold, Missouri. She is an alumna of both St. Louis University and St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. Coleman's career in politics began in 2013 when she began serving on Arnold City Council. Today, she is a Missouri senator representing District 22, which includes Jefferson County. Previously, she served in the Missouri House of Representatives.
Coleman is also a constitutional lawyer for the Thomas More Society, a conservative public-interest law firm based in Chicago. Most notably, the Thomas More Society defends right to life and election integrity cases.
As a representative and senator, Coleman helped pass House Bill 126 in 2019, which is more commonly known as the "Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act." This bill placed new limitations on abortions in the state. Coleman has also been active in "welfare reform" and the defunding of Planned Parenthood in Missouri.
In an interview with the News-Leader, Coleman said the most important issue to her as a candidate is ensuring that illegal immigrants cannot vote in the state of Missouri, a topic she is "laser-focused" on.
"We would make sure that not only do you have to have a voter ID to vote, but you'd have to have a voter ID registration to vote and we would be checking the voter rolls to make sure that they have integrity and that we don't have people diluting your vote and my vote by voting illegally," Coleman said.
As of June 27, Coleman was endorsed by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. She also received an A-rating from the National Rifle Association.
Coleman will attend an ice cream social event, open to the public, at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park on July 31 from 6:30-8 p.m.
Jamie Corley
Republican Jamie Corley is looking to re-enter the political sphere.
Corley is a St. Louis native and alumna of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Currently, she is the executive director of the Missouri Women and Family Research Fund, a St. Louis-based organization dedicated to advocating for and restoring access to comprehensive women's healthcare.
Ahead of her time with MWFRF, Corley worked on Capital Hill for about seven years as a deputy press secretary and legislative correspondent for former Congressman Sam Johnson, communications director for Congressman Shelley Moore Capito and press security for former Senator Bob Corker. She then moved to California, where she worked at a conservative think tank.
Speaking with the News-Leader, Corley said as Secretary of State she would focus on "simple voting," meaning easier voter registration, access to the Secretary of State website and in-person and absentee voting. She would also like to oversee more "secure elections" by establishing "top-notch cyber security" and ensuring that non-citizens are not voting in Missouri elections.
Corley said she would also like to make it easier to "do business" in Missouri by "cutting red tape."
"As a business owner, I know what it's like to deal with clunky government systems like LLC registrations," Corley said. "The Secretary of State Office is not the most glamorous job, but it can really make a difference in a small business owner's life if it's easy to use and update the Secretary of State's website when you're registration, uploading articles ... when you're going to the website to get a certificate of good standing."
As of July 5, Corley was endorsed by the founders of Square Jim McKelvey and Build-A-Bear Workshop Maxine Clark.
"I think (these endorsements) demonstrate that I'm going to be ... someone who really focuses on the business side of this office and making sure that we are doing everything we can at the Secretary of State's Office to grow the Missouri economy," Corley said.
Valentina Gomez
Republican Valentina Gomez has made national headlines in recent months for burning library books and encouraging voters to "don't be weak and gay" in various social media videos.
Gomez is an alumna of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a real estate investor, financer and strategist. Most recently, she worked for Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, according to her LinkedIn profile.
More: Republican candidate burns LGBTQ books in video. Did they come from Springfield library?
The News-Leader was unsuccessful in connecting with Gomez by press deadline, but she did complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023.
As indicated by her public survey responses, Gomez is interested in establishing budget control, prioritizing economic growth by incentivizing investment, reducing red tape and removing income tax, removing gender ideologies from libraries and school curriculums, and modernizes the Secretary of State website.
Denny Hoskins
Republican Denny Hoskins is a Missouri Senator looking to serve the state in a new capacity.
A mid-Missouri native, Hoskins lives and works in Warrensburg. He is an alumnus from the University of Central Missouri and holds a Certified Public Accountant license. Currently, Hoskins is a Missouri Senator representing District 21, which includes Cooper, Howard, Lafayette, Ray, Saline and part of Clay Counties. He has also worked at and owned a CPA firm and served as a tax manager for EisnerAmper, a national accounting, tax and business advisory firm.
One of Hoskins' main points of interest is "safe and secure" elections.
Specifically, Hoskins said he would like to create an Office of Election Integrity with existing staff of the Office of the Secretary of State. This office would serve as an "on-call" resource at the four Secretary of State offices in Missouri. The main purpose of this office would be to office a "whistleblower hotline" that folks could call into if they notice anything "nefarious" at a polling place. Hoskins said he would also like to install security cameras inside all polling places throughout the state.
Additionally, Hoskins said, in an interview with the News-Leader, that he would like to eliminate the use of voting machines at polling places, as he does not trust them, and work to create clearer ballots for Missourians.
Hoskins' other main point of interest is public libraries. In an interview with the News-Leader, Hoskins said he would like to "withhold any funds going to a public library if they have X-rated materials in kids sections or are sponsoring drag show story hour for kids."
More: MO libraries set to make book challenges public, Greene County has fielded 23 since 2019
Hoskins said he has made about 10 trips to Springfield during his campaign, including for the Greene County Republican Women's Republican Candidate Forum in late June. As of June 28, Hoskins was endorsed by Missouri Right to Life, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell and gubernatorial candidate Bill Eigel. He also received an A-rating from the National Rifle Association.
Dean Plocher
The current Missouri Speaker of the House, Plocher is interested in moving into a new role within state politics.
A St. Louis native, Plocher serves in the Missouri House of Representatives for District 89, which encompasses St. Louis County. He is also the Speaker of the House, a role he was elected to in 2015.
Plocher is an alumnus of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont and St. Louis University. He's worked as a lawyer and served as a municipal judge in the St. Louis County Circuit Court.
As a candidate, Plocher's main points of interest are "fair and transparent elections," initiative petitions and public libraries.
As a part of strengthening "election integrity," Plocher said, in an interview with the News-Leader, that he would like to see illegal immigrant voting in the state of Missouri taken more seriously.
When it comes to initiative petitions, Plocher said he would like to make the process of amending the state constitution stricter.
"I certainly want the constitution protected; I think it's a sacred document," Plocher said. I don't think you should (be able to) amend it with a simple vote being bought and paid for by out-of-state interests."
And like several of his opponents, Plocher said he is interested in "withholding any funding" from "deviant" libraries that display "explicit information" to minors.
Plocher attended the Greene County Republican Women's Republican Candidate Forum in late June and Republic Women of Jasper County Ice Cream Social in early July. As of July 12, he was endorsed by the Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters.
Adam Schwadron
Republican Adam Schwadron serves in the Missouri House of Representatives, representing District 105, which encompasses St. Charles County.
A St. Louis native, Schwadron is an alumnus of St. Louis Community College and University of Missouri-St. Louis. In addition to his work in the House, Schwadron is the owner of The Clean Carpet Company in St. Louis and an accredited LEED Green Associate.
The News-Leader was unsuccessful in connecting with Schwadron by press deadline. Per former News-Leader reporting, Schwadron wants to keep federal government out of the administration of Missouri’s elections, enact signature verification and ensure only citizens vote in elections.
Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from Ozarks history to Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@news-leader.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 8 Republicans running in Missouri Secretary of State primary
