Breaking down the Missouri secretary of state and treasurer races

With just over a month until Election Day, Missourians will select five of the six statewide officeholders this year, including secretary of state and treasurer.

As it's been in recent history, Democrats have an uphill climb to win any of those races.

According to the August SLU/YouGov poll , Republicans are leading in each of the statewide races. The largest gap between statewide candidates is in the secretary of state race.

That race is between Republican state Sen. Denny Hoskins and Democratic state Rep. Barbara Phifer.

In the SLU/YouGov Poll, Hoskins is leading with 54%. Phifer has 36%, while 9% of those polled are undecided.

Steven Rogers, director of the SLU/YouGov poll, said for Phifer to win based on this poll, she would have to secure all the undecided votes and then some.

Hoskins was the winner of an eight-person Republican primary, in which he captured 24% of the vote.

The Warrensburg Republican, who is term limited from running for the state legislature again, said he was interested in running for secretary of state to make sure Missourians trusted state elections.

"If we don't trust the election process, we don't trust how people were elected. And so that's been the biggest thing," Hoskins said.

One area of policy that sets Hoskins apart is his desire to hand count paper ballots to tally election results rather than using machines. This past session, he filed a bill that would make that switch.

"Would it require some more manpower in order for us to do that? Most certainly. But I think overall it would be safer," Hoskins said.

Many election officials are opposed to this proposal, including the Republican and Democratic election directors for St. Louis County .

Election security has been top of mind the past few election cycles. That is in part due to former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Rogers said other than the gubernatorial race, the secretary of state race is likely to get the most attention, in part because of Hoskins' stance on hand counting ballots.

"If we actually look to experts a little bit, this actually is not going to increase election security all that much, if any at all. But this is going to probably make for some more national headlines or state headlines," Rogers said.

In Missouri, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has vouched for the security of state elections. He said in 2020 that Missouri's elections were safe and secure.

Another change Hoskins would like to see regarding elections would be to eliminate the current no-excuse absentee voting period.

An expansive law on elections passed by Missouri voters in 2022 included language establishing a two-week, no-excuse absentee voting period.

"The most secure elections are in person on Election Day with voter ID and a paper ballot. So what I want to see is us try and go back to that," Hoskins said.

He said his conservative background was a distinguishing factor during the primary.

"I'm also a founding member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus. So, I think as far as being the conservative fighter in this race, that that is definitely my lane, and one that I will continue to expand on," Hoskins said.

Phifer, who has served the past four years in the Missouri House, said she intended to retire from politics but was concerned with the secretary of state's race this year.

She said her experience in the legislature helps qualify her for the position, among other strengths.

"Administrative skills, competence, professionalism, honesty, willing to be transparent. Leadership at the top really sets the tone for any kind of administration, and I think I would be excellent at that," Phifer said.

The Kirkwood Democrat disagrees with Hoskins on hand counting ballots.

"How quickly is an election determined between machine tabulation and hand counting, all the evidence I've seen would say that machine counting is far more rapid statistically," Phifer said.

A responsibility of the secretary of state's office is to coordinate with local election officials. Earlier this year, a report found the turnover rate for election officials was nearly 40%.

"I believe that the secretary of state's office can do a lot to help people feel supported, let them know that they're not alone, develop a sense of community. And that's really important to me. That would be the first step," Phifer said.

The office is also responsible for allocating some funding for the state's public libraries.

The connection between libraries and the secretary of state's office was highlighted when Ashcroft issued rules barring libraries from buying materials deemed obscene and from having certain displays in children's areas

Phifer said she plans to leave libraries alone.

"Communities know what they need, and library boards come from the local community. I also am absolutely convinced that the secretary of state can't know what children should be reading or not reading," Phifer said.

Both Phifer and Hoskins have discussed their candidacies on the Politically Speaking podcast.

Unlike in the secretary of state race, neither candidate running for treasurer has served in the legislature.

Incumbent Vivek Malek, a Republican, and Democrat Mark Osmack are seeking the job.

The SLU/YouGov poll put Malek in the lead with 52%, while Osmack had 38%. Of the voters surveyed, 10% were undecided.

"This could be another race where the Democrat at least, within our poll, is going to not only have to convince all 'not sure' voters to come their way, but then also maybe persuade some voters who are already in the Malek camp to come over to the Osmack camp," Rogers said.

Although he is the current treasurer, this is the first time Malek is running an election campaign. He was appointed to the position by Gov. Mike Parson in December 2022.

Malek, who is an attorney, began serving as treasurer in January 2023, becoming the first person of color to serve in a statewide elected position.

"My record clearly shows what I have done in the last one and a half years, and I think that's what Missourians should vote for," Malek said.

Since his appointment, Malek has advocated for Missouri divesting some of its investments from Chinese companies. He said now is not the time to be investing in China, in part because it has become more adversarial.

"I believe we don't want to be in a situation just like it was with Russia, where all the investments in Russia basically became zero, and went into the hole when Russia invaded Ukraine," Malek said.

One of the treasurer's responsibilities is overseeing the state's Educational Savings Account program, which allows families to get funding to send their children to the school of their choice, including private schools.

The account is funded by private donors, who then receive tax credits from the state.

This past session, the legislature passed an education bill that expanded the program. Malek said he is a proponent of it.

"For those kids to have a choice, for those parents to have a choice to send their kids, for them to be successful, I think that is the key. It is just giving the options," Malek said.

Malek stirred controversy earlier this year. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers berated him for placing advertisements about the state's unclaimed property program on unregulated gaming machines in the state.

He took the advertisements down and said that though his action was legal, it was a mistake.

"If I'm looking back, I would say, 'Yes, I am a political novice.' I am not that savvy, and maybe I did not make a very good political decision," Malek said.

Malek also said he believes it's time for the legislature to make a decision on the gaming machines, which are commonly found in gas stations.

Malek won his primary with almost 42% of the vote.

Osmack did not have an opponent in the Democratic primary.

The Army veteran said he was approached by Russ Carnahan, chair of the state Democratic Party, to run for the position.

"People might think, it's just an automatic green light for a purse for the State of Missouri, it is not. There's a lot of decision-making and processing and evaluation that goes into it, which is something I am very passionate and interested in," Osmack said.

Currently, Osmack serves as director of government relations for the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.

Prior to this campaign, Osmack had run for Congress and a Missouri Senate seat.

He's also worked in Washington for former Missouri U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who was in the U.S. House at the time.

On the idea of pulling back state investments to China, Osmack said if that were to happen, it would have to be done carefully so as to not damage Missouri agriculture.

"I think there's a way to make this work to where we are not supporting communist nations to the detriment of the United States or our allies, while also maintaining strong economic ties that benefit Missouri farmers," Osmack said.

While Osmack agrees that the treasurer's office needs to better advertise Missouri's unclaimed property program, he did not agree with Malek's decision to place ads on the unregulated gaming machines.

"I think anybody with any decent, common sense would know you don't do that, especially on something that is unlicensed or gray, which is just a polite way of saying illegal," Osmack said.

Unlike his opponent, Osmack is opposed to the Educational Savings Account program.

"By and large, taking money away from public schools, taking money away from I think what is rightfully every single Missourian's is wrong," Osmack said.