St. Louis-area Republican lawmaker announces primary campaign for state auditor

St. Louis County state Rep. David Gregory officially announced he’s running for state auditor Wednesday, entering the GOP primary against State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick.

The race is for Republican control of the last statewide office still held by a Democrat. Auditor Nicole Galloway announced earlier this year she will not be running for re-election or any other office in 2022, after losing the governor’s race to Mike Parson last fall.

An attorney and accountant, Gregory made his announcement paired with an endorsement from the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police and touted his support of law enforcement.

He touched on several hot political issues for the right, promising to use the auditor’s office to investigate government entities that cut police budgets. Gregory also pledged to scrutinize school systems that use taxpayer dollars to teach critical race theory, an academic concept examining how social and legal institutions promote racial inequality that’s been a recent target for conservatives.

“We need a tough, loyal conservative who will relentlessly investigate fraud, abuse, and corruption,” he said.

He promised to look into local governments that are “using your money to harass churches,” and referred to a lawsuit he filed against the St. Louis County executive over COVID-19 restrictions that applied to churches.

Gregory was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2016 and chairs the Special Committee on Government Accountability, a committee that did not exist last year.

His run is supported by a political action committee that received $200,000 from a dark-money group run by longtime GOP operative Gregg Keller, the Missouri Independent reported, while Fitzpatrick appears to be self-financing his campaign.