Denny Hoskins wins GOP primary for Missouri secretary of state in crowded field
Missouri Sen. Denny Hoskins won the Republican primary for Missouri secretary of state on Tuesday, fighting through a crowded GOP field by focusing on his hard-right voting record in the General Assembly.
Hoskins, from Warrensburg, was elected to the state Senate in 2016 after previously serving in the House. In the Senate, Hoskins was a founding member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, a hard-right group of senators who frequently sparred with GOP leadership.
He built his campaign on his legislative experience and a push for “election integrity,” which includes in-person voting on paper ballots.
Hoskins also faces an ongoing lawsuit for sharing social media posts that wrongfully accused a Kansas man of being a shooter in the February mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Barbara Phifer from Kirkwood was leading in the Democratic primary as of 10:30 p.m.
The Associated Press called the race for Hoskins at 10:15 p.m. He received 24.3% of the vote, defeating seven other candidates. The next closest candidate, Green County Clerk Shane Schoeller, received 17% of the vote. Mike Carter, a Wentzville judge, was in third, receiving 14.2%.
“I am honored by the support I have received from conservative voters across the state who agree with me that election integrity is of the utmost importance,” Hoskins said in a statement. “I am running because I believe Missouri needs secure elections.”
Focus on illegal immigration
The Republican primary for secretary of state was one of the state’s most crowded, and intense, statewide races this year.
Eight Republicans filed to run for the office and a lack of public polling made discerning a likely winner difficult in the lead up to Tuesday. Each of the candidates tried to tap into a Missouri electorate that has grown staunchly Republican over the past decade.
The position has historically been ministerial, serving as the state’s chief election official. It’s also in charge of certifying measures for statewide ballots and storing state documents.
Before term limits, Democrat James Kirkpatrick held the office for 20 years, from 1965 to 1985. In recent decades, the role has served as a stepping stone – former U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, former Gov. Matt Blunt and Jason Kander, who ran for U.S. Senate, all took turns in the office. The current secretary of state, Republican Jay Ashcroft, is running for governor.
But the GOP’s focus on elections and false claims about rampant voter fraud have raised the profile of secretary of states across the nation. Several of the Missouri Republican candidates promised sweeping changes to elections in their campaigns, sparking concerns from local election officials.
Many of the campaigns also centered on baseless fears about migrant voting, playing into the lingering distrust of elections among conservative voters as former President Donald Trump continues to falsely deny he lost the 2020 presidential election.
With such a crowded field, many of the candidates attempted to out-flank the others in their appeals to GOP voters.
“The most conservative voters are the ones who are most likely to turn out and vote in the primary,” Jean Evans, a former executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, previously told The Star. “Those are the people you want to appeal to.”
The race also featured some of the state’s more controversial candidates.
It included House Speaker Dean Plocher, a top state lawmaker who weathered a slew of ethics scandals; Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a staunch anti-abortion state senator; Valentina Gomez, a political newcomer who made headlines for her anti-LGBTQ social media posts, including a video of her burning books with a flamethrower; and Jamie Corley, the leader of an abandoned campaign to overturn the state’s abortion ban.
The Republican and Democratic nominees will face off in the general election in November.
