After Schmitt’s Senate election, Gov. Parson will launch political career of new Missouri AG

After Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson will soon have the power to jumpstart the political career of another attorney general.

The upcoming appointment is widely viewed as a political golden ticket for whomever the Republican governor picks. The attorney general’s office has long been a political stepping stone in Missouri.

Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate just four years after Parson appointed him as attorney general. His immediate predecessor, Republican Josh Hawley, began his successful Senate campaign less than a year after being sworn into the office.

And before them, attorneys general John Danforth, John Ashcroft and Jay Nixon all used the office as a pathway to higher office.

“Clearly the track record is excellent for future success,” said Danforth, a Republican who served seven years as attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 1976. “As far as the state is concerned, I think it’s an important office. It’s a law office, really, and it should be a very good law office. It should be an office that has a high quality of people working there.”

Jeremy Cady, the director of the influential conservative group Americans for Property-Missouri, said the attorney general position in Missouri is one of the state’s biggest political springboards — more so than lieutenant governor.

“Whoever does become our next attorney general, and who he does appoint, I think becomes well positioned for potentially even becoming our next governor,” he said.

Attorneys general serve as Missouri’s top lawyer, bringing and defending lawsuits on behalf of the state. The office also provides legal advice to most state agencies and enforces the state’s civil laws.

Gregg Keller, a GOP strategist who was a consultant to Schmitt’s PAC, said the attorney general position wields “tremendous authority” and is the second most powerful position in Missouri government behind governor.

“It’s a career maker,” he said. “This could either kick off a long-term political career for a younger person or it could be a tremendous capstone to an older man or woman’s career.”

Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City-based attorney who was Nixon’s chief of staff when he was attorney general, said that AG sometimes means “aspiring governor” in Missouri. Nixon used the office as a pathway to becoming governor.

“It’s really code for — AG is a stepping stone to something else. Lately, it’s been U.S. Senate,” he said. “It is a very important political job because you get a lot of exposure, you get a lot of press coverage, you get to interact with a lot of important issues and powerful people.”

State Sen. Barbara Washington, a Kansas City Democrat and attorney, said she hopes Parson picks someone who wants to be attorney general and not use the position to climb to a higher office.

“If he picks someone that is more MAGA, then he is happy with wasting resources to sue school districts and sue China,” she said, referring to a barrage of attention-grabbing lawsuits Schmitt filed as attorney general. “But if he picks someone whose job is what we understand the attorney general to do, that means that we’re back on the right track.”

The upcoming pick will be a feather in the cap of Parson, who was elevated to his position after the resignation of former Gov. Eric Greitens in 2018. The Republican governor will also be tasked with appointing the state’s next treasurer — another political stepping stone — after voters elected his previous appointee Scott Fitzpatrick as auditor.

Both picks will be sworn into office in early January.

“He’ll have made a very significant impact in the statewide offices — more so than a lot of governors have had the opportunity to do so,” Cady said.

Parson interviews contenders for AG

Two sources familiar with the appointment process said Parson has interviewed five potential candidates for the attorney general position. One said Andrew Bailey, Parson’s general counsel, is viewed as the likely front-runner.

Kelli Jones, Parson’s spokesperson, did not answer Wednesday when The Star asked to confirm whether Bailey was the front-runner. In a text Thursday, she said Parson’s office had not decided when to announce the pick.

But Bailey isn’t the only person being considered for the position. The other names that have been floated in Republican circles as potential appointments include former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, a Columbia Republican, Tim Garrison, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican, and Christopher Limbaugh, who Parson appointed as associate circuit judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit, which serves Cole County.

Bailey, who is from Rhineland, has never held an elected office. He was hired as Parson’s general counsel last year after serving as deputy since 2019. Before working in the governor’s office, he was the general counsel for the Missouri Department of Corrections.

An Army veteran, Bailey also worked as assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as an assistant attorney general.

While working as Parson’s general counsel, records revealed that Bailey helped draft talking points that Parson used to argue that a St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist should be prosecuted for uncovering a security flaw on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

The Cole County prosecutor declined to pursue charges against the journalist in February.

Schaefer, who is now a lobbyist and lawyer, ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 2016. He did not respond to an email asking whether he was seeking the appointment.

Garrison, the former U.S. Attorney, is now an attorney in Springfield. He did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Luetkemeyer, an attorney who was elected to the Senate in 2018, made headlines this year when he successfully passed legislation that forced Kansas City to spend more on its police force. He did not respond to a text for comment.

Limbaugh, the associate circuit judge, had previously served as Parson’s general counsel. Before that, he was the elected prosecuting attorney of Cape Girardeau County.

The Missouri Times, a Jefferson City-based publication, also floated the name of Kansas City attorney Edward Greim as a possible candidate in August. But Greim, in an email to The Star this week, said he was not seeking the appointment.

“Friends and others have apparently suggested me as a candidate to fill Attorney General Schmitt’s shoes, which is an honor, but I am not seeking the appointment,” the email said.