Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel exchanged sharp attacks on each other and absent opponent Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe at one of the rare debates in the GOP gubernatorial primary Thursday night. 

Ashcroft and Eigel were joined on stage at Parkway West High School in Chesterfield by Chris Wright, a Joplin veteran who lags far behind them in funding and has not registered much support in polls. Kehoe, who has used a campaign war chest of more than $10 million to leap ahead of Ashcroft and Eigel in public polling, has not participated in any debates this summer as the Aug. 6 primary approaches.

The forum was sponsored jointly by Missouri Young Republicans, the St. Louis County Republican Central Committee and the Jefferson County Republican Club and moderated by Annie Frey of 97.1-FM St. Louis.

With more undecided voters than any candidate can claim in supporters — and platforms that are similar in their hard-right conservative proposals — Ashcroft and Eigel tried hard to show they have the bonafide credentials.

Ashcroft and Eigel both want to repeal a gas tax increase passed in 2021 with Kehoe’s backing. Eigel, who has led a GOP state Senate faction in repeated filibusters, should have prevented the tax from passing in the first place, Ashcroft said.

“I would not have sat down,” Ashcfoft said. “It’s unfortunate that we have so many people in the Senate that can filibuster for all sorts of reasons, but when it comes to protecting your pocketbook, they fell silent.”

Eigel responded that he did filibuster the bill for five hours but was told that if he did not relent, a bill seeking to nullify federal gun regulations in Missouri, known as  the Second Amendment Protection Act, would not come to a vote.

“That was the kind of choice that senators would have to make,” he said.

Eigel got a chance to throw an elbow at Ashcroft by using his political pedigree against him. Ashcroft’s father, John, was state auditor, attorney general, governor and U.S. Senator between 1973 and 2001. 

Ashcroft had just invoked his father’s legacy. Overspending is why he opposes any taxpayer financing for professional sports stadiums he said, adding “my dad wasn’t really happy about it” because the elder Ashcroft signed the bill financing the St. Louis domed stadium in 1989.

 “Jay, be a little easy on your dad, you need that last name,” Eigel quipped.

Kehoe is one of three officeholders appointed to their jobs by Gov. Mike Parson because of vacancies and on the ballot in this year’s GOP primary.

The barbs at Kehoe focused on his absence and backing from major donors with interests before state government. Eigel included Parson in his attacks, accusing him of growing the state budget “more in six years than every Democratic governor combined, going back to the founding of the state.”

Ashcroft, Eigel and Wright all endorsed proposals to ban foreign ownership of farmland, with Ashcroft specifying his support for banning ownership by “hostile” powers. Kehoe in 2013 supported a bill allowing 1% of farmland in the state to be foreign owned, ending a total ban, and voted to override a veto by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.

“What we’re lacking on this is, really, action by the two individuals that are most responsible for this mess, that voted for it as state senators, Mike Parson and Mike Kehoe,” Eigel said. “Both of those guys not only voted for it as state senators, they overrode the governor at the time to ensure that it became law.”

When asked by the moderator if Jefferson City was corrupt, all three candidates said it was.

“I sure looks like there are a lot of people making decisions based on who’s funding their campaigns,” Ashcroft said. “And you know, there’s probably a reason why there’s someone missing.”

Wright agreed.

“Absolutely it is corrupt,” he said. “We’ve got to do something with the money and how it’s so easy to fund these PACs with $10 million. What are you going to do with $10 million? You know who I’m talking about.”

Kehoe wasn’t far away. He posted a photo on social media showing him at a backyard fundraising event in Jefferson County with Attorney General Andrew Bailey, another Parson appointee.

Great event in Jefferson County tonight with @AndrewBaileyMO & @SheriffMarshak. pic.twitter.com/MshPBMNrQA

— Mike Kehoe (@MikeLKehoe) July 12, 2024

The three candidates on stage had few significant differences in policies they would pursue. Both Eigel and Ashcroft have pledged to eliminate the state income tax, and Wright said he has been pushing to eliminate the personal property tax his entire campaign. That is one of Eigel’s pet issues.

All three criticized public education and the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 

“The problem with public education right now is government being involved,” Ashcroft said.

Eigel wants to eliminate the department.

“We’ll go after and dismantle DESE so that we can get our schools back,” he said.

Wright said money should be the stick to make local schools do better.

“If you’re not performing as a school, then you should have that threat of money being taken away,” Wright said. 

One of the current debates in the campaign is whether Ashcroft can use his education and experience to claim he is an engineer. Ashcroft received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology, worked for four years in a defense firm and taught engineering courses at St. Louis Community College.

When challenged on whether that qualifies him to claim the title, even though he has never been a licensed engineer, Ashcroft said it does.

And as he defended his use of the title, Ashcroft suggested that licensing was government overreach.

“Why in the world are Republicans asking whether or not the government has to give us permission to go out and work legally?” Ashcroft said. “I’m an engineer, but it’s none of the government’s business. We need to get rid of this red tape. We need to allow people to live their lives the way they see fit, instead of kowtowing to faceless bureaucrats.”