Missouri auditor is Democrats’ sole statewide office. Will one of these Republicans flip it?

In two weeks, Missouri primary voters will decide between two Republicans who are competing to succeed state Auditor Nicole Galloway — Missouri’s lone Democratic statewide officeholder.

Republican state Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, who was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson in 2018 before winning election in 2020, is running against state Rep. David Gregory, a St. Louis Republican, in the Aug. 2 GOP primary.

With Galloway announcing last year that she will not seek reelection after her unsuccessful run for governor, the upcoming state auditor race represents an opening for Republicans to take back the position that Democrats have held since 2015. It comes as Missouri has experienced a seismic shift from bellwether to deep red in the last 10 years, particularly in rural parts of the state.

The winner of the Republican primary will likely face two opponents in November. Former state Rep. Alan Green of Florissant is running as a Democrat, while John Hartwig Jr., a certified public accountant from St. Charles, is running as a Libertarian.

On their campaign websites, both Republican candidates have touted their political and financial backgrounds in the state legislature. They have promised to get rid of wasteful spending and root out financial fraud. They have also promoted rhetoric around conservative social issues like plans to audit school districts to combat “Critical Race Theory” — a college and law school-level concept that examines the role of institutions in perpetuating racism that is not widely taught in Missouri’s K-12 system.

But, recently, Fitzpatrick and Gregory, neither of whom are certified public accountants, have traded barbs about whether their opponent is experienced enough for the position. While being an accountant is not a requirement, Galloway, the incumbent state auditor, is a CPA.

The auditor’s office serves as Missouri’s top financial watchdog agency in charge of conducting financial and performance audits of state agencies, boards and commissions and the state’s court systems. The audits look for waste, fraud and financial accountability.

The office has at times been used as a launching pad for politicians seeking higher office. For example, Democrat Claire McCaskill used her two terms as auditor as pathway to the U.S. Senate in the 2006 election.

Gregory, in a campaign video released last week, promoted himself as “the only auditor running for auditor.” The video criticized Fitzpatrick as “not even an accountant.” Gregory told The Star that he was an auditor because he was previously hired as a risk recovery auditor at Protiviti, a management consultant firm. He said he now works as a a litigator and “investigative attorney” in Clayton.

Asked how long he worked at Protiviti, Gregory said he couldn’t remember. A representative from Protiviti did not immediately return a call and email to confirm Gregory’s employment and position.

Fitzpatrick, in an interview with The Star, said Gregory was being dishonest about his background as an auditor.

“The reality is, David’s an attorney who has been focused on personal injury law,” he said. “I mean, he’s not a CPA. He’s not a certified auditor of any kind. And so I don’t think it’s honest for him to bill himself as an auditor, or, you know, he’s not currently practicing as an auditor and, you know, I think that’s just kind of a dishonest way to present himself.”

Asked about this, Gregory said Fitzpatrick was “obviously clueless about what an auditor is and does, which ought to disqualify someone from running for auditor.”

Political experience

Fitzpatrick, in the interview with The Star, touted his experience in the state treasurer’s office and his role as House Budget Committee chairman in the legislature. He also trumpeted his entrepreneurial experience as the CEO of MariCorp, a marine construction company based in Shell Knob that he started while in high school.

Fitzpatrick was elected to the Missouri House in 2012 before Parson appointed him treasurer in 2018 after Eric Schmitt was appointed attorney general. He won a full term in 2020, defeating former state Rep. Vicki Englund, a St. Louis Democrat.

As treasurer, Fitzpatrick serves as Missouri’s chief financial officer and is in charge of managing state revenues, disbursing public money and balancing state accounts. Last year, Fitzpatrick’s office trumpeted that it had returned a record amount of unclaimed property to Missourians.

Fitzpatrick told The Star that one of his main priorities as auditor would be to increase oversight of how federal COVID-19 money is allocated and spent and holding people accountable when it’s misused. He also said he would conduct audits of under-performing schools to figure out how to fund them so students can be successful.

As auditor, Fitzpatrick said he thinks he would have the power to make sure school curriculum is not “racially-charged” — a reference to critical race theory which conservatives have adopted to cover objections to a range of classroom materials touching on race, diversity or context to dark chapters in the nation’s history such as slavery and Japanese internment.

“I think the auditor has a role to play to make sure that kids aren’t being indoctrinated with the curriculum that they’re being taught,” he said.

Gregory was first elected to the Missouri House in 2016. Since then, he’s served on several committees including the budget and government accountability.

“I’m tired of politicians saying we’re going to root out waste, fraud and abuse and doing nothing about it,” he said. “With both my accounting background, my auditing experience and legal experience, I’m very well-equipped to actually root out waste, fraud and abuse.”

In an interview with The Star, Gregory touted his job as an investigative attorney at The Injury Counsel, a Clayton personal injury law firm. Asked what this meant, Gregory said he conducts financial investigations for his clients to uncover fraud. If fraud or wrongdoing is uncovered, he said he files lawsuits for those clients to recover stolen money.

He said that while he’s running for multiple reasons, his biggest message in his campaign is that the auditor’s office “has the authority to investigate pretty much anything related to state and federal spending” in Missouri.

He said he would use the office to investigate conservative issues like school curriculum, government spending on abortion (which is banned in Missouri) and illegal immigration.

“Parents deserve to know how much of their money is being spent on curriculum like critical race theory. The Auditor’s Office can investigate that,” he said. “Now, with Roe v. Wade being overturned, it’s going to become a major issue to make sure that monies are not being spent or appropriated inappropriately on abortion or abortion services.”