Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has had a frequent presence at legislative proceedings in the first month of the General Assembly's 2023 session.
The Republican's advocacy on a number of controversial issues in House hearings has some lawmakers questioning if he's campaigning for governor.
"The simple fact that you're here testifying on this, as the only bill I've seen you in here on other than election-related bills, suggests to me that this is really about political purposes more than anything," Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, told Ashcroft during a hearing on a bill to prohibit transgender athletes from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
"This is not in the realm of what your office does and here you are anyway ..." Meredith continued. "I'm seeing you here, and that suggests maybe it's actually about the fact that you're running for governor."
Ashcroft has been floated as a potential contender for the 2024 race to replace term-limited Gov. Mike Parson. Other Republican candidates include Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, the only formally announced candidate who has been racking up endorsements for months, and state Sen. Bill Eigel, a conservative who hails from St. Charles County and announced an exploratory committee in September 2022.
No Democrats have thrown their hat into the ring yet.
When asked in an interview if he's running for governor in 2024, Ashcroft said, "I'm not right now. I've got a job to do, and I'm trying to concentrate on that."
But he said the state needs a leader on a range of issues, from curbing crime to foreign ownership of Missouri farmland.
"How many other statewides do we see doing that?" he asked. Asked if he thinks he could be the state leader on those fronts, he said: "I think I could, yeah."
"I work the Capitol," Ashcroft said. "I don't think there's any statewide (official) that pushes as much legislation as our office does. I don't think there's a statewide (official) that's as vocal in pushing it. And I think that's what we need."
Ashcroft, the son of former Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft, who also served as a U.S. senator and U.S. attorney general under George W. Bush, has recently spoken out to align himself with a number of issues pushed by conservatives throughout the nation.
He proposed a controversial rule to cut state funding to libraries that make "age-inappropriate materials" available to children, a move panned as book-banning by opponents. He also penned a letter urging former U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt to vote against federal same-sex marriage protections.
Ashcroft, whose primary office is in the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center, said he either has or plans on testifying on about half a dozen bills before the General Assembly this session. Even bills he's not testifying on, he's been seen mingling with Republican legislators.
He voiced support for bills that include legislation on libraries similar to his proposed rule, regulations on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing similar to another proposed rule from his office, limits on foreign ownership of farmland, the use of a special prosecutor in St. Louis, school choice and preventing athletes from joining a school sports team that doesn't correspond with their sex at birth. He said he worked with bill sponsors to craft the language in many of them.
Ashcroft said he has consistently testified in favor of bills his office has pushed lawmakers to enact. Those efforts were primarily concentrated around a sweeping election bill last year, he said, creating a "down year."
The secretary of state said there "hasn't really been anything on elections," except proposals to make Missouri's initiative petition process more difficult, which he supports. There's a bipartisan push to reinstate Missouri's presidential primary, removed by the omnibus election law last year, but the House bills haven't been referred to a committee and Ashcroft didn't mention his opinion on them.
Ashcroft said he decided to push bills on special prosecutors and foreign ownership of farmland because "it's not getting done" despite the Republican supermajority and statewide officeholders frequently talking about it. He said he tries to provide leadership to Missouri and move the state forward in ways that create opportunity for its residents.
"I'd at least like to be someone that people say, 'You know what, he gets stuff done. He doesn't just stick his finger up in the air, he actually leads. He explains what the problem is, and he gets people to follow him, and he makes a difference.'" Ashcroft said. "That's sorely lacking in politics."
"We seem to be a follower state," he said.
Ashcroft, a father of four, said the "Save Women's Sports Act" was the only bill he testified on outside of his capacity as a statewide elected official.
HB 170, sponsored by Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson, requires high school and college athletes or their parents to sign an affidavit acknowledging the student's sex at birth and prevents students who are not biological females from joining teams designated for females.
Ashcroft was among the first to testify on the bill during a recent marathon hearing that lasted nearly 10 hours. The bill has garnered 457 witness forms expressing support or opposition.
Ashcroft, who has visited every county in the state since he was elected in 2016, testified people have different takes on the legislation throughout the state but most seem to support it. Women are "qualitatively different" than men, he said, so they should play their own sports.
House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, said she was surprised to see the secretary of state testifying on the bill.
In previous years, he has typically testified on election bills and his department's budget. She asked if it was normal for a secretary of state to testify on a bill that doesn't relate to responsibilities of his office.
"In the last six years it has been the norm to have a secretary of state that would try to do the best he could for the people of the state," Ashcroft responded. Only he has served in the role for the past six years.
Quade asked him to commit to not using his testimony in any future campaigns.
"What I can commit to you is that this is always the way I've felt about it, and we wouldn't even be here talking about it if people on your side of the aisle weren't using it for political purposes, lady," Ashcroft responded.
All of the bills have been filed by Republicans, Quade shot back.
Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee's Summit, asked Ashcroft to define his responsibilities as secretary of state and what about the role made him an expert on sports, transgender people or medical treatments.
Merideth, the St. Louis Democrat, questioned if Ashcroft had ever testified on bills seeking to address sexual assault or sex trafficking, suggesting they are more critical safety concerns for women.
"It's just interesting to me where your priorities seem to be," he said.
Responding to the criticism, Ashcroft said every Missourian has the right to gripe about their government, and he was using the same channel as everyone else. He said it's "rank hypocrisy" Democrats haven't voiced concern about Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas testifying earlier in the session.
Rep. Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said it was insulting that Ashcroft testified in the hearing when he could see there was great interest from the public. She said he has other avenues to voice his opinion to lawmakers.
"Generally speaking, I think that he is way outside his purview as secretary of state, and it's very clear that he's using his platform and his position to campaign for governor," Aune, the House minority whip, said in an interview, calling it frustrating and concerning.
She said she can see why he would voice his opinion on issues that affect his office, like the foreign ownership of farmland bill that would give his office some jurisdiction in that area.
"It really is the wedge issues, the anti-LGBT issues, that he showed up for and, in my opinion, jumped the line for," she said.
Aune said the secretary of state's desire to provide his party leadership on the issues is not a good reason to testify when Missourians without as much access to the Capital City were waiting. Legislators can't testify in a committee hearing, she noted, because they have other methods of voicing their opinion or can do it when the bill goes to the floor.
"His platform is plenty big to provide leadership on an issue without coming in and disrupting the legislative process," she said.