Denny Hoskins, Barbara Phifer selected as candidates for Missouri Secretary of State
Republican Denny Hoskins and Democrat Barbara Phifer will represent their respective parties as candidates for Missouri Secretary of State in November.
Hoskins pulled ahead in Tuesday's primary election, which featured seven other Republican candidates, winning the Republican nomination with about 24.4% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Valentina Gomez, Shane Schoeller, Adam Schwadron, Jamie Corley, Dean Plocher, Mary Elizabeth Coleman and Mike Carter also ran for a spot on the General Election ballot.
Phifer won her race with 40.9% of the votes, according to the Associated Press. Haley Jacobson and Monique Williams also ran in the Democrat primary.
Denny Hoskins
The News-Leader reached out to Hoskins for a statement but did not hear back by press deadline.
Greene County Clerk Schoeller, who ran for Secretary of State for the second time this year, congratulated Hoskins on a campaign well run.
"We're still looking forward to November with the outcome there, but certainly whoever is successful in November, I'll be there to support them," Schoeller told the News-Leader on Tuesday night.
The Democrat primary was also called late, with Phifer garnering about 40.9% of the Democratic votes cast.
A mid-Missouri native, Hoskins lives and works in Warrensburg. He is an alumnus of the University of Central Missouri and holds a Certified Public Accountant license. Currently, Hoskins is a Missouri Senator representing District 21, which includes Cooper, Howard, Lafayette, Ray, Saline and part of Clay Counties. He has also worked at and owned a CPA firm and served as a tax manager for EisnerAmper, a national accounting, tax and business advisory firm.
One of Hoskins' main points of interest is "safe and secure" elections.
Specifically, Hoskins said he would like to create an Office of Election Integrity with existing staff of the Office of the Secretary of State. This office would serve as an "on-call" resource at the four Secretary of State offices in Missouri. The main purpose of this office would be to office a "whistleblower hotline" that folks could call into if they notice anything "nefarious" at a polling place. Hoskins said he would also like to install security cameras inside all polling places throughout the state.
Additionally, Hoskins said in an interview with the News-Leader in June that he would like to eliminate the use of voting machines at polling places, as he does not trust them, and work to create clearer ballots for Missourians.
Hoskins' other main point of interest is public libraries. Hoskins said he would like to "withhold any funds going to a public library if they have X-rated materials in kids sections or are sponsoring drag show story hour for kids."
Barbara Phifer
A Columbia native, Phifer has lived and worked in the St. Louis area for the past 34 years. She attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa before pursuing a master's in divinity. She served as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for 41 years before retiring in 2019. In 2020, she was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives to represent District 90, which encompasses St. Louis County.
Two of Phifer's main points of interest as a candidate are elections and local libraries.
Phifer said she would like to see more "clear and accurate" ballot language. Specifically, Phifer expressed concern with how current Secretary of State Ashcroft attempted to ban the right to abortion in the state constitution in 2023.
"Our current Secretary of State wrote ballot language on the abortion amendment question that was so skewed that our Supreme Court in Missouri, in a sudden ... decision, threw it out," Phifer told the News-Leader in an interview in June. "That is a huge concern for me."
When it comes to elections, Phifer said she would also like to show more appreciation to election officials.
On the topic of libraries, Phifer said she would like to continue making the state's library system more "robust," allowing local organizations to delegate how local libraries function.
"It seems to me like we've got a good system," Phifer told the News-Leader in June. "Libraries across the state are going to have different types of books because of different types of populations. Local groups are the ones that need to figure that out. It doesn't make sense to run it any other way."
Phifer added that she believes parents should be the ones to determine what their children read, not libraries or the government.
Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from Ozarks history to Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Denny Hoskins, Barbara Phifer selected as Secretary of State candidates