JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s new Attorney General Andrew Bailey pledged to run his office with a “steady hand, and unyielding pursuit of victory†in his first speech as the state’s top law enforcement official.
Bailey, who took his oath of office Tuesday, succeeds U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt as attorney general; Schmitt was sworn in Tuesday as one of five new Republican members of the U.S. Senate. Schmitt replaced Roy Blunt, who retired.
After Schmitt’s election, Republican Gov. Mike Parson announced in November that Bailey, his general counsel, would lead the attorney general’s office.
“The very structure of our government is intended to provide a bulwark against centralized power and tyranny,†Bailey, a Republican, said in his speech. “Ours is not a government of special interests, or of cultural elites.
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“Ours is a government of people like me, who understand the blessings of freedom,†Bailey said, adding his “personal history guides me, and it shapes who I am.â€
Bailey said he was a Army combat veteran who led soldiers in combat. “I paid for my college in blood, sweat and tears,†Bailey said.
Bailey said he participated in an offensive operation in Iraq in the fall of 2015.
“My vehicle struck a roadside bomb,†Bailey said. “Within moments, I checked on my vehicle crew to ensure there were no serious injuries.
“We identified the trigger man and my platoon and I engaged the enemy and fought through the ambush,†Bailey said. “This experience reaffirmed the value of training and the need to lead with authority.â€
“Our law, our freedoms are worth fighting for,†Bailey said in his speech.
Bailey becomes the third person to serve as attorney general during Parson’s tenure as governor. Josh Hawley, elected attorney general in 2016, ran for and won a Senate seat two years later. Schmitt, named by Parson to replace Hawley in 2019, announced he was running for U.S. Senate in early 2021, just months after winning a full term as attorney general.
Parson, in comments to a crowd gathered in the Supreme Court building for Bailey’s swearing in, said he and Bailey “did do this private blood oath ... he cannot run for any other office for a while.â€
“I really want some stability in the attorney general’s office,†Parson said.
In comments to reporters, Bailey said he wouldn’t take direction from the governor’s office, saying Parson wouldn’t have picked a “lackey†for the job.
Bailey, 41, of Rhineland, was hired as Parson’s general counsel in 2021 after serving in a deputy role for two years. Before joining the governor’s office, he was the top attorney at the Missouri Department of Corrections.
An Army veteran who was deployed twice following the 9/11 attacks, Bailey also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as an assistant attorney general.
Bailey has not previously held elected office. In taking the job, he will inherit a 380-employee, $27 million legal operation for a salary of about $121,000. Records show he was paid $119,600 last year.
He’ll oversee an office Schmitt used to showcase his political opposition to President Joe Biden. In addition to involving the state in a lawsuit over the outcome of the 2020 election, Schmitt sued Missouri school districts over policies designed to protect students and teachers from the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Bailey’s swearing-in came as opponents of the death penalty protested on the sidewalk outside of the Supreme Court building, which houses the attorney general’s office.
The protesters urged officials to stop Tuesday’s scheduled execution of Scott McLaughlin, 49, who was convicted of stabbing, strangling and raping an ex-girlfriend in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County.
McLaughlin has been held in recent months in protective custody at the men’s prison in Potosi, living as a transgender woman, Amber.
Parson has pledged his full support to Bailey’s run for a full term in 2024.
In addition to touting Bailey’s legal credentials and experience in the Army, Parson said he wanted stability in the office after the last two attorneys general — Schmitt and Hawley — announced their Senate campaigns shortly after clinching the attorney general post.
Bailey is likely to face a challenge in the 2024 Republican primary.
Last month, Clayton attorney Will Scharf, 36, filed to run for an unspecified statewide office. He is a former assistant U.S. attorney in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and served as policy director under former Gov. Eric Greitens.