State Rep. Jay Barnes remains unhappy with Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office over an initiative petition seeking Missouri voters' support for a new renewable energy law.
Barnes noted in a news release Friday he had "blasted the Secretary of State's office ... for unfair ballot language tilted in favor of a Missouri industry dominated by the Secretary of State's own brother."
Carnahan's brother, Tom Carnahan, is founder and board chairman of Wind Capital Group, a private company that develops and builds wind farms in the Midwest.
But Ryan Hobart, Robin Carnahan's spokesman, said Carnahan "recused herself from this process to remove even the appearance of a conflict of interest," and had the deputy secretary of state deal with all parts of the process involving the renewable energy petitions.
Barnes told a reporter that wasn't good enough, because "the deputy serves at the pleasure of" the secretary of state.