JEFFERSON CITY — Minutes after Andrew Bailey was sworn in as Missouri attorney general in January, he stepped up to a microphone inside the Missouri Supreme Court and talked about war.
Bailey, an Army combat veteran, told the crowd in his first speech as the state’s top lawyer that leading troops through the deserts of Iraq shaped him as a person. He paid for college at the University of Missouri-Columbia in “blood, sweat and tears,†he said.
In the fall of 2015, he said, his vehicle struck a roadside bomb.
“We identified the triggerman 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€
The 42-year-old lawyer has never held an elected office. Republican Gov. Mike Parson appointed Bailey, his general counsel, to the position. Republicans, including Parson, viewed Bailey as someone who would bring stability to the position — which has seen four attorneys general since 2017.
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Others hoped that he would take a more pragmatic approach than his predecessors Sens. Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley, both Republicans who built their statewide profiles with highly publicized lawsuits against the federal government.
But, nearly six months after that fiery speech invoking his combat experience, Bailey has shaped the attorney general’s office into his own battleground in the conservative culture wars.
The unelected Republican has pushed the boundaries of the office, attempting to use state law to effectively ban gender-affirming care for both adults and kids in April. He deployed a rarely used legal maneuver in an effort to take down the top elected prosecutor in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. He tried to circumvent Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick to inflate the cost of a ballot measure to restore abortion rights. And he’s wielded the office to take on President Joe Biden and the federal government, although he has not led many of the lawsuits championed by his office.
As Bailey faces what is expected to be a hotly contested Republican primary in 2024, The Star spoke with more than a dozen lawmakers, lawyers, consultants and advocates about his approach to the position. What emerged from those interviews is a portrait of a man who has used his appointed position as a weapon, aggressively pushing to expand the powers of his office.
“It’s really impressive the way that he has tried to really burst the boundaries of the restrictions that Missouri law and the Missouri Constitution puts on his office,†said Tony Rothert, the director of integrated advocacy for the ACLU of Missouri. “He’s trying to meddle in individuals’ lives with the trans rules, meddle in local government with his behavior towards the KCPD or meddle with fellow state officeholders the way he’s doing with the auditor. He’s just continually out of his lane.â€
Others pointed to the fact that Bailey has been aggressive in attempting to expand his powers while serving as an unelected attorney general.
Some said he has engaged in hot-button issues just to elevate his conservative brand.
“I’ll say out loud what Republicans whisper to me behind his back — as attorney general, Andrew Bailey has not proven he is a serious person capable of holding such an important office,†said Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat.
Still, Bailey’s supporters tout him as a bright and hard-working legal mind who’s dedicated to the office.
“He’s got a profound sense of right and wrong coupled with a deep sense of duty,†said John Hancock, a former chair of the Missouri Republican Party. “Every case he has pursued and every decision he’s made has been born out of those two attributes.â€
State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, pushed back on criticism of Bailey, saying that he has a bright future and has surrounded himself with a good staff.
“He’s doing a really good job,†he said. “I’m excited for him.â€
Bailey’s office did not make him available for an interview for this story. His spokesperson Madeline Sieren responded to a series of emailed questions from The Star defending his time in office.
Asked to respond to criticism that Bailey had overstepped his authority as attorney general, Sieren said that the Republican “works to maximize the legal authority granted to the AG’s office to protect the people of Missouri and their constitutional rights.â€
‘That’s not democracy’
One of Bailey’s main targets has been Missouri’s transgender community.
In April, he attempted to use the state’s emergency rule-making process to effectively ban gender-affirming care for adults as well as kids.
In a lawsuit against the restrictions, the ACLU of Missouri and LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal said the rule was an unprecedented interpretation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, the state’s consumer protection law which historically has not been applied to health care.
“The emergency rule is an improper, extra-legislative overreach by an un-elected political appointee, who purports to distort and weaponize the MMPA, an act purposed on making sure that cars are sold with titles and that hardware stores abide by a warranty on a vacuum, in order to dictate what medical care is available to adults Missourians,†the lawsuit said.
The rule followed an investigation Bailey launched into a ºüÀêÊÓƵ center that provides transgender health care. He sent a flurry of investigative documents to other clinics across the state.
On a far-right Newsmax show, Bailey referred to clinics providing care to transgender people as “a bloody scourge intended to defile innocents.†He ultimately withdrew the rule after lawmakers approved a ban on transgender health care for minors in May.
For Heidi Schultz, a transgender woman from Kansas City, Bailey’s attempt to use state law to target the trans community was dangerous and showed a lack of compassion. It’s caused her nonstop stress and suffering, she said.
She fears what Bailey could try to target next.
“I just wish that there was a way to show these people that are doing these things what effect it does actually have on people,†she said. “Having somebody that is unelected that is deciding what laws or what things should be, that’s not democracy.â€
Shortly after lawmakers passed the ban on gender-affirming care, Bailey threatened legal action against the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners if they did not enforce it — despite the fact that it did not include any criminal provisions and had not yet been signed into law.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, in an interview with The Star, said the letter Bailey sent “wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.â€
But, he said, he’s tried not to engage with what he views as a politician seeking to elevate himself in an election.
“I would hope that we get back to substantive conversations and discourse,†Lucas said. “What I’m not doing, and what I don’t think people in Kansas City are interested in, is just playing cultural wars with Andrew Bailey.â€
While several lawmakers poked fun at Bailey for his letter, others said his demand for police to enforce a law with only civil penalties set a dangerous precedent.
“Everyone having comical fun at the expense of AG Bailey about not knowing what police do but I’m much more concerned with the actual ask,†state Rep. Jamie Johnson, a Kansas City Democrat, posted on Twitter. “Having police enforce laws to actively restrict people’s freedom is a place we’ve been in not only in this country but others with dark pasts.â€
Bailey’s decision to include adults in his restrictions on gender-affirming care sharply divided Republicans, even some hard-right conservatives who are otherwise supportive of Bailey.
State Sen. Denny Hoskins, a hard-right Warrensburg Republican who is running for secretary of state in 2024, said he has confidence in Bailey’s legal knowledge and pointed to his military career as a sign of his leadership.
“I think he’s taken a principled, conservative approach to the office,†he said. “Everything he’s done has been measured and calculated.â€
But Hoskins did not specifically answer when asked twice whether he disagreed with Bailey extending his transgender health care restrictions to adults. Hoskins ultimately said he thought adults should be able to access gender-affirming care as long as they pay for it out of pocket.
Bailey establishes conservative credentials
Bailey faces a Republican primary challenger in former Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Scharf, who served as policy director in former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ brief administration. Scharf is expected to try to run a campaign appealing to the right wing of the Republican Party.
Scharf, in an interview with The Star, attacked Bailey for not being conservative or aggressive enough. He also criticized Bailey for withdrawing his restrictions on transgender health care.
Bailey’s restrictions had been temporarily blocked from taking effect until July after a hearing in a lawsuit against the rule was delayed. Bailey ultimately said he withdrew it after lawmakers passed the ban on trans care for minors.
“We saw Bailey thrust himself into the limelight with this regulation, kind of gobble up press attention, and then meekly back away after he was smacked down in both federal and state court,†Scharf said.
In interviews with The Star, some said they viewed Bailey’s aggressive posture as a way to elevate himself in front of conservative voters in his campaign for a full term.
“He’s been very aggressive in terms of interpreting the powers of the office in the most expansive fashion and he’s done it mostly to generate attention — to appeal to what he assumes will be a majority of Republican voters in his 2024 primary,†said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. “It’s a way of establishing himself as a political figure and making sure that he doesn’t get outflanked on the right.â€
State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, said she had hoped that Bailey would use the office to do important work. Instead, she said, he’s made a mockery of it.
“I don’t know if that is incompetence or nefariousness. I think you just have to view every decision through the lens of a political campaign,†she said.
When asked about criticism that Bailey was using the office to elevate himself in the primary, Sieren defended the Republican attorney general.
“Attorney General Bailey is focused on the mission of his official office: protecting Missourians,†Sieren said in an email.
Andrew Bailey’s background
Stephen Webber, a former chair of the Missouri Democratic Party who is running for a Boone County-based seat in the Missouri Senate, grew up across the street from Bailey in Columbia.
Webber, who is three years younger, said Bailey was always vocal about his political views even as a teenager. He saw Bailey as an “absolute gun rights person.â€
“He’s extremely conservative — one of the most conservative people we’ve seen in Missouri politics,†he said.
Webber, who also later served in Iraq, said he remembers playing basketball in his neighborhood cul-de-sac as a teenager when Bailey, also a teenager at the time, walked out of his house hoisting an assault rifle on the way to the rifle range. He said he watched as Bailey loaded the gun in his car.
It was shocking, he said. “I was like, wow, this guy is really into guns.â€
Sieren, in an email, did not refute Webber’s story.
“Attorney General Bailey has been an avid firearms proponent and shooter since his youth, and regularly went to the shooting range as a recreational activity,†she said.
While Bailey’s conservative views were always known, Webber said he’s been surprised at how aggressive he’s been as attorney general. It’s made him dangerous, he said.
“He’s shown that he’s willing to use the office to push extreme conservative priorities and I think he needs to be stopped,†he said.
Before working in Parson’s office, Bailey had stints working in the Warren County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and in the Missouri Department of Corrections. He also worked as an assistant attorney general under former Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster.
Warren County Prosecutor Kelly King, in an interview with The Star, spoke highly of Bailey’s work in her office where he maintained strong relationships with law enforcement and victims of crimes.
“He’s definitely a public servant at heart. As an attorney, I think he’s got a brilliant legal mind,†she said. “His understanding of the law and his ability to interpret it and apply it to different sets of facts or different situations — he’s hands down one of the hardest working people I’ve ever come in contact with.â€
But some argue that while Bailey has been a hard-charging conservative while in office, he does not have the political background or experience to deliver on some of his goals.
“He has proceeded very aggressively on many fronts and I think it’s harder to succeed at that when you don’t really have the background that others might have,†said Chuck Hatfield, a longtime Jefferson City attorney who worked in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office under Democrat Jay Nixon.
Hatfield pointed specifically at Bailey’s attempt to use the emergency rule to restrict gender-affirming care and letters floating potential legal action that Bailey drafted to Columbia leaders after students were reportedly in attendance at a drag show performance in January.
“You have to be pretty confident in your understanding of how the law works, and of your politics, to know when to say, ‘I’m going to get involved in this’ and when to say, ‘I don’t really have any authority there,’†he said.
Similar to Schmitt, who sued school districts for enacting COVID-19 mask mandates, Bailey has tested the boundaries of his office. But he’s doing that while serving as an unelected appointee, critics say.
“I think Bailey’s kind of, you know, continued and in some cases expanded the reach of the attorney general,†Hatfield said. “And, you know, I think he might be getting a little far afield sometimes.â€
Some of Bailey’s aggressiveness has drawn criticism from fellow Republicans, who feel he’s overstepped his authority. This spring, he attempted to use his office to reject the estimated cost of a ballot measure to restore abortion rights, arguing that it should include a projected loss of $12.5 billion in Medicaid dollars.
Fitzpatrick, the state auditor, has said that Bailey’s projections, pushed by anti-abortion groups, were inaccurate. A Cole County judge ruled last week that Bailey overstepped.
But Hancock and some Republicans who spoke with The Star defended Bailey’s actions as attorney general.
“He’s an attorney and a good one,†Hancock said. “He’s got a deep and abiding commitment to the rule of law and law and order.â€
Hoskins, the Warrensburg Republican, painted Bailey as an attorney general aggressively pursuing his priorities.
“He’s got his list of priorities. They’re different from the last attorney general, Schmitt, which was different than Hawley, which was different than (Jay) Nixon,†he said. “They all have different things that they’re passionate about and want to have as their priorities.â€
Bailey’s role in Kim Gardner’s resignation
Just more than a month into his tenure as attorney general, Bailey became the face of a sustained mission to remove ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from office.
Bailey filed a legal motion, known as a writ of quo warranto, after a driver who repeatedly violated his bond allegedly injured a 16-year-old volleyball player from Tennessee, resulting in both of her legs being amputated. Bailey and others accused Gardner of neglecting her duties because the driver had violated his bond.
At the same time, Missouri Republican lawmakers were aggressively pushing legislation that would give Gov. Mike Parson the power to appoint a special prosecutor to prosecute crimes in ºüÀêÊÓƵ — a move designed to limit Gardner’s authority.
Gardner, a former Democratic state lawmaker, had long been a target of conservatives and repeatedly clashed with Republican lawmakers in Jefferson City during her tenure.
In the face of those efforts, Gardner ultimately agreed to resign last month. Bailey has since touted her resignation as a result of his efforts to remove her from office.
But, behind the scenes, Bailey was a roadblock to Gardner’s resignation, said Rizzo, the Independence Democrat who was directly involved in negotiating Gardner’s decision to step down.
Rizzo, in a statement to The Star, pointed to a news conference Bailey called in early May as Gardner was on the verge of announcing her resignation. He painted the last-minute press gathering as Bailey’s attempt to “either take credit for something that was already in motion or to antagonize her into staying.â€
“There were Republicans directly involved in negotiating Gardner’s resignation, Andrew Bailey was not one of them,†Rizzo said. “For Andrew Bailey, it’s all about optics and not about outcomes.â€
Sieren pushed back, saying Bailey “dedicated himself†to removing Gardner through his legal challenge.
“He accomplished exactly what he set out to do: force her to leave office because of her refusal to do her job,†she said in an email.
State Rep. Bill Allen, a Kansas City Republican, said he supported Bailey’s efforts to remove Gardner from office.
“He was absolutely fighting for the people of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, to keep them safe, and I support that,†he said.
Missouri AG’s office fights culture wars
Allen, a freshman lawmaker, pointed to the judge’s ruling on the abortion rights initiative petition as evidence that Bailey is pushing the boundaries of his office.
But, he said Bailey is fighting for what he and many Republicans think are the right issues for Missouri families.
“The fact that a couple of things have been overturned out of the many things he’s initiated is evidence that I think he’s doing the right things,†he said. “He’s doing what he thinks is right for the people of Missouri and he’s doing it, for the most part, in conjunction with the legislature.â€
Michael Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court chief justice, said that when Bailey was first appointed, many lawyers touted him as a reasonable and smart attorney.
He said he hasn’t seen that so far during his first months in office.
“He’s become a warrior in the culture wars,†said Wolff, who was on the court from 1998 to 2011 and was the chief justice from 2005 to 2007. “And that may or may not be consistent with the legal interests of the state of Missouri.â€
For Elad Gross, a former assistant attorney general who is running against Bailey as a Democrat in 2024, Bailey has attempted to expand the powers of his office beyond what the law allows. At the same time, Gross said, Bailey has neglected the day-to-day responsibilities of his office, such as responding to public records requests in a timely fashion.
“It’s a pretty scary expansion of powers,†said Gross, who worked in the attorney general’s office under Koster from 2014 to 2016.
In front of the crowd inside the Missouri Supreme Court last January, Bailey’s speech about his experience in Iraq offered a preview of the mission he planned to embark on as the state’s top lawyer.
Bailey said he would lead the office the same way that he did in combat.
With, he said, “the same steady hand and unyielding pursuit of victory.â€
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