Missouri treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announces campaign for state auditor

Missouri’s Republican state treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announced Thursday that will run for state auditor next year, vying for the post Democrat Nicole Galloway will vacate in early 2023.

Galloway, the lone Democrat holding statewide office, lost the gubernatorial race to Gov. Mike Parson in November. She announced last month she will not be a candidate for office in 2022 in order to spend more time with her family.

State Rep. David Gregory, of St. Louis, also is expected to run for the GOP nomination.

The open seat gives Missouri Republicans a likely chance to secure every statewide office for the first time in decades.

The auditor’s seat has been held by Republicans for just one term since 1999. In that time, Democratic power in Missouri has declined precipitously.

Fitzpatrick ran a manufacturing and construction company in his hometown of Shell Knob before he became one of the youngest state representatives, entering the House in 2012 at the age of 25.

He chaired the powerful House Budget Committee in 2017 and 2018, during which the state legislature included lines in the budget that cut off Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood. The Missouri Supreme Court last year struck down those provisions.

Gov. Mike Parson appointed him treasurer in late 2018 to replace Eric Schmitt, who replaced now-U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley as attorney general. Schmitt is now running for Senate.

Fitzpatrick, now 33, touted his efforts as treasurer to return unclaimed property to Missourians and improve the state’s savings programs for students and people with disabilities.

“I will continue to serve with the same conservative values I learned in business and have applied to my public service,” Fitzpatrick said on his website. “Protecting taxpayers will be my top priority.”

In recent months, he has used his seat on the Missouri Housing Development Commission to push for changes to the state’s low-income housing tax credit program.

The commission revived issuance of the tax credits last fall after it had been zeroed out by former Gov. Eric Greitens, who criticized the program for inefficiencies.

Fitzpatrick has advocated for the program to allow a greater share of the credits to be redeemed sooner, as opposed to having them evenly distributed across their 10-year lifespan, arguing it would allow low-income housing developers to fetch a higher value for the credits on the market.

The commission was hearing public comments on the proposal Thursday during Fitzpatrick’s campaign announcement.