JEFFERSON CITY — A state representative from St. Charles has joined the growing list of Missouri Republicans vying for secretary of state in 2024.
State Rep. Adam Schwadron, first elected to the House in 2020 from a competitive district and reelected last year, announced his bid Thursday. He joins state Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg and Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller in the race.
“Everywhere I look, I see our elections, our values and our businesses under attack,” Schwadron told the Post-Dispatch on Friday.
“To me, elections are the bedrock of our republic. Without them, our state and our nation flounders,” he said, pointing to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has ruled since 2007 after winning elections in 2006. No elections have since been held.
“They haven’t had elections, and they’ve devolved into chaos,” Schwadron said. “As a Jew, as a father with two daughters, I want them to have a future they can believe in, and I’m running to restore trust and faith in our elections.
People are also reading…
“Unfortunately, on both sides of the aisle there just is not enough trust in our elections process,” he said.
The 1998 graduate of Ladue Horton Watkins High School said he grew up in unincorporated Ƶ County outside of Creve Coeur.
He and his wife, Elizabeth, .
Schwadron owns and operates the Clean Carpet Company and said he was mothballing operations while he runs statewide.
He formally announced his campaign Thursday on , a conservative radio station that broadcasts on several frequencies.
On the 2020 presidential election, Schwadron acknowledged President Joe Biden won, but raised questions with the way mail-in ballots were handled.
“I believe he won the election,” Schwadron said of Biden. “My question comes on the rules that were implemented before the election that allowed for some of the mail-in ballots to go in, in I believe it was Pennsylvania.”
In addition to Hoskins and Schoeller, Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, could also jump into the race.
“I have a very conservative voting record,” Schwadron said. “While that’s important in a Republican primary, as secretary of state, you also have to be able to work with other people.”
He added, “You mention my name with people, there isn’t a shudder that immediately comes up, because I’ve maintained my voting record even in a 50/50 district.”
Schwadron said he supported the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, which would outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and employment. That measure has failed to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
He said it was an “issue of personal liberty, and I support personal liberties.”
He said he did support this year’s legislation restricting hormone therapies and puberty blockers for minors.
“There is a personal liberty issue,” he said. “But there is also the protection issue.
“For me, part of the role of the state and government is to ensure that we are protecting innocent people.”
Offering a preview of potential jabs to come in the primary, Schwadron touted his opposition to legislation sponsored by Hoskins to offer tax credits to produce films in Missouri, calling it the “Hollywood tax credit.”
“Studies out there have shown that they actually do not bring the intended benefits,” he said. “It is a conservative position to not support corporate tax credits.”