Advertisement

Andrew Bailey will be Missouri’s next attorney general. Will he be like his predecessors?

When Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson appointed his general counsel Andrew Bailey as the state’s next attorney general last week, the 41-year-old lawyer gave little indication of what he plans to do in the office.

Standing in front of reporters and TV cameras in Jefferson City, Bailey said broadly that it would take some time to review the state’s ongoing cases before he made a decision on the direction his office will take. He also touted the work of his predecessors, Senator-elect Eric Schmitt and Sen. Josh Hawley.

But Bailey took a more aggressive stance when asked by The Star this week whether he would continue to deploy the office to take on the federal government like Schmitt, who largely built his reputation through a barrage of legal challenges as attorney general.

“President Biden is using the administrative state in unprecedented ways to enact a radical social agenda that exceeds the statutory authority of the agencies tasked with enforcing his mandates and undermines our Constitutional system of federalism,” Bailey said in an emailed statement.

“As Missouri’s Attorney General, I am going to fight for the people of this State to be free from pernicious federal overreach.”

Bailey, who has never held elected office, will be sworn in as the state’s attorney general in early January when Schmitt officially resigns from the role to take his seat in the U.S. Senate. In interviews with The Star, state lawmakers, lawyers and political strategists said it remains unclear how Bailey will use the office.

Many wonder whether he will follow in the footsteps of Schmitt and Hawley, who both built their statewide profile with high-profile lawsuits that pleased their Republican base and used the position to climb to higher office.

Some have tried to predict whether Bailey plans to stay in office as attorney general or if he has greater political plans.

“I think it’s too early to tell,” said James Harris, a Jefferson City-based GOP strategist. “I think for any attorney, they really want to probably get up to speed on the office before they really make decisions on litigation and big picture plans.”

Republican state lawmakers touted Bailey’s work in the governor’s office and his knowledge of the legal system. They view Bailey, who started working as Parson’s deputy general counsel in 2019 before Parson hired him to the top position last year, as someone who will approach the position with integrity.

“I think most people think he’s one of the smartest guys in that building,” said Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican. “Schmitt’s going to be gone. Hawley has clearly moved on. I think it’s a little bit unfair to Andrew to compare him to anybody, you know. I hope he takes that office and makes it what it’s supposed to be, which is, you know, really looking out for the people of the state as the chief law enforcement officer.”

State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, said he expects Bailey to be a mix of Schmitt and previous attorneys general. He said much of Schmitt’s focus as attorney general was centered around pushing back on COVID-19 mandates, which probably won’t be at the forefront of Bailey’s tenure.

But he said Critical Race Theory — a college and law school level concept that is not widely taught in Missouri K-12 schools — could be another focus. The phrase has become a shorthand among conservatives for any lesson that delves into systemic racism’s role in U.S. history or politics.

“I think Andrew will be involved with the thing with CRT and some of those things in schools once he gets up to speed,” he said. “I think he’ll be a very active attorney general. I think he’ll be a good one.”

Democrats hope Bailey will be pragmatic

Democrats have frequently criticized Schmitt and Hawley for using the attorney general’s office to launch headline-grabbing lawsuits to appeal to the Republican base and build their political brands. They remain cautiously hopeful that Bailey will take a more pragmatic approach to the office than his predecessors.

One regular criticism of Bailey during his time in Parson’s office was his role in helping draft talking points that the governor used to argue that St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist Josh Renaud should be prosecuted for uncovering a security flaw on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Parson’s effort to prosecute the journalist was roundly criticized by free press advocates and the Cole County prosecutor declined to pursue charges against Renaud in February.

“I’m hopeful and trying to keep an open mind that he’ll bring some integrity back to that office,” said House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat who last week called on Bailey to dismiss Schmitt’s ongoing lawsuits. “But TBD on whether or not he will.”

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announces the selection of Andrew Bailey, the governor’s general counsel, as the state’s next attorney general. Bailey will take over for Senator-elect Eric Schmitt.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announces the selection of Andrew Bailey, the governor’s general counsel, as the state’s next attorney general. Bailey will take over for Senator-elect Eric Schmitt.

If Bailey tones down the public posture of the office, it would mark a departure from the dominant trend among state attorneys general across the country, said Paul Nolette, a political science professor at Marquette University who has researched the position nationally.

State attorneys general have been moving away from an older model in which they focus on “bread and butter” cases — consumer protection, for example — and stay under the radar, he said.

“It kind of depends on what his goals are, his political goals and career goals,” Nolette said.

In Washington on Wednesday, Hawley said Bailey took his constitutional law class while at the University of Missouri-Columbia and then went on to take a class taught by his wife, Erin Hawley.

“I think he’s a good guy. I’m sure he’ll be a great AG and I look forward to working with him,” Hawley said.

Hawley said he didn’t want to give Bailey advice, but that he expected his former student to continue to use the office to weigh in on federal issues, similar to how he and Schmitt used the office.

“I think it’s important to defend Missourians, defend Missouri’s interests, defend Missouri’s rights,” Hawley said. “And you know, I bet he will continue to do that.”

Will Bailey seek higher office?

The attorney general is widely viewed as the second most powerful state-level office in Missouri and serves as the state’s top lawyer, bringing and defending lawsuits on behalf of the state. But it’s also often been used as a political stepping stone and helped launch several political careers.

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

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

“With both Schmitt and Hawley administrations, you had ambitious politicians who were using the office to advance their own careers. So that’s sort of the big question I have with Bailey, is what does he see in his future?” said Peverill Squire, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

During last week’s press conference, Parson said he picked Bailey to bring stability to the office, which has seen four different attorneys general since 2017.

“Over the course of the past few years, Missouri has had several Attorney Generals,” Parson spokesperson Kelli Jones said in an email to The Star. “Governor Parson would like to see Andrew Bailey finish this term and be re-elected for another full term.”

Some lawmakers view the governor’s statements as a sign that Bailey will remain in the position instead of immediately seeking higher office.

“I would be surprised if he made the jump that quickly,” Rowden said. “It’s hard to say anything definitively, but I do think he is excited about the chance to be the attorney general and not use the attorney general’s office for anything else.”

Asked whether he planned to seek higher office, Bailey told The Star that he is “focused on being the kind of Attorney General that Missourians deserve and that is my driving motivation.”

Still, some Democrats worry that Bailey may use the office — and lawsuits — to promote partisan politics if he has future political plans. They also are concerned that a primary challenger in 2024 may cause him to prioritize campaigning over his job as attorney general.

“I think my big question is, does he just want to stay attorney general, in which case, I’m actually pretty optimistic that he’ll focus on doing the job,” said state Rep. Peter Merideth, a St. Louis Democrat.

“If, instead, like Hawley and Eric Schmitt, he starts looking to climb the ladder, I worry he may jump on the bandwagon of using the office for politics. But I’m hopeful — I am cautiously optimistic.”

The Star’s Daniel Desrochers contributed reporting.