Jefferson City lawyer Saundra McDowell will be the Republican challenging Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway in November, winning on Tuesday night a chance to unseat the lone Democrat holding statewide office in Jefferson City.
McDowell held on to an early lead in Tuesday’s primary over three other candidates vying for the nomination. McDowell had about one-third of the vote with 97 percent of precincts reporting.
David Wasinger, a lawyer and certified public accountant, inched the closest among other candidates with just over 25 percent of the vote, with Ballwin alderman Kevin Roach closely trailing and Missouri state Rep. Paul Curtman further behind.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of McDowell’s win was how little money she spent in comparison to the other candidates: only about $37,000. Wasinger, the runner-up, sunk more than $500,000 into spreading his message, largely self-funding his campaign.
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Galloway ran unchallenged on Tuesday.
In a campaign finance report filed last week, the incumbent reported nearly $1 million in her coffers as she prepares for the general election, far more than any of her potential Republican challengers. McDowell reported a little more than $3,000 on hand.
McDowell previously worked for Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in the Securities Division. Before serving in that office, she was an assistant attorney general focusing on Medicaid fraud. She also served as a private practice lawyer from 2010 to 2014.
Experience and training were a focus in the primary. Wasinger noted that he was the only CPA among the prospective Republican challengers, which he argued made him the best person to take on Galloway, who also is a CPA.
McDowell disagreed, marketing herself as a “defender of the people†and citing her experience convicting people for fraudulent crimes.
“I think the fact that Nicole is a CPA doesn’t hurt me at all,†McDowell said at a candidate forum last month. “In fact, being a CPA bogs you down.â€
The state auditor serves as Missouri’s top financial watchdog, overseeing an office of 115 employees.
Galloway, a Columbia resident, was appointed to the position by then-Gov. Jay Nixon after the death in 2015 of then-Auditor Tom Schweich.
She has attempted to position herself as a nonpartisan watchdog of taxpayer resources. She repeatedly barbed former Gov. Eric Greitens during his tenure, criticizing what she called “obstruction†from his administration while she was auditing the state’s tax return processing.
In an audit last August, she also leveled criticism at Nixon’s administration. She said he let state boards and commissions sink into “bureaucratic oblivion†during his tenure and criticized his liberal use of state aircraft.
Others in the general election race are Libertarian Sean O’Toole of Kansas City, Green Party candidate Don Fitz of ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Constitution Party candidate Jacob Luetkemeyer of California.
Jack Suntrup of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.