Jay Ashcroft in 2024 MO Governor's race
On Abortion:
is wrong for Missouri, will defend life at all cost
As a champion for human life, Ashcroft said he "encourages the Missouri legislature to adopt strict language - in legislation regarding the Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) - to ensure FRA monies would not be used to fund the killing of innocent
human life." Ashcroft went on to say that "Abortion is wrong for Missouri and I will defend life at all cost and would encourage the legislature to do the same by restricting FRA monies."
Source: Secy. of State press release on 2024 Missouri Governor race
May 14, 2021
On Budget & Economy:
Current state budget unsustainable, would cut in half
He said the state's current budget--$56 billion--is "unsustainable," and that he hopes to return to a number similar to the one Missouri had in 2016, when the budget was $27 billion.
As for what a smaller government looks like in his eyes, Ashcroft said he's an advocate of local control in most cases, specifically in education.
Source: KMOX 1120 AM on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Apr 14, 2023
On Civil Rights:
Opposes Respect for Marriage Act
Ashcroft said he is "flabbergasted" Sen. Roy Blunt supports a bill adding federal legal protections to same-sex marriages. Ashcroft sent Blunt a letter asking him to reverse his stance and work to block the Respect for Marriage Act from becoming law.
Ashcroft noted that Missouri's Constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and Blunt should honor the 70% of Missourians who voted to add that language to the constitution in 2004.
Source: Missouri Independent on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Nov 29, 2022
On Civil Rights:
Against anti-bias law, we're all discriminated against
The secretary of state said he doesn't support the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, or MONA, which would outlaw discrimination in employment, housing, financial services and public accommodations because of
a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. "We ought to be nice to everybody," Ashcroft said. "We're all discriminated against all the time.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Apr 6, 2023
On Drugs:
State constitution not the place to legalize marijuana
Ashcroft publicly announced his opposition to an adult-use cannabis ballot measure last week. The state's chief elections officer told KSDK News that he will vote "no" on Legal Missouri 2022's proposed constitutional amendment, listed as
Amendment 3 on the statewide ballot, in part because he believes there's a problem with the dichotomy between state and federal cannabis laws, and also because he thinks the current proposal would make too many changes to the state constitution.
Source: Cannabis Business Times on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Nov 1, 2022
On Education:
School choice would be a priority of his administration
Ashcroft said school choice would be a priority of his administration. While Parson signed into law the state's limited tax credit education voucher program, school choice advocates want to go further with proposals for open enrollment and expansion of
vouchers. "Using that bully pulpit, I can affect the education issue," Ashcroft said. "Maybe for the first time in my lifetime, we'll be able to say that every child in this state actually does have an opportunity to get a challenging education."
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Apr 6, 2023
On Environment:
Government regulators' agenda would devastate our economy
Government regulators have sought an agenda that would devastate our economy by regulating every pond, river and ditch. They have sought to stop Missouri kids from pitching in on their family farms.
They have proposed energy regulations that would force utility prices to skyrocket. Worst of all, their agenda would kill tens of thousands of Missouri jobs. That is why we need common sense leader Scott Pruitt at the EPA.
Source: Springfield News-Leader on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Feb 17, 2017
On Gun Control:
The idea that guns are responsible for deaths is ridiculous
The Show also talked with Ashcroft about how he would address gun violence, especially when children are victims of it. A 2022 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that firearms are the number one cause of death for children.
Ashcroft said he didn't agree with that fact. "Guns do not kill people, people kill people," he said. "The idea that an inanimate object, a gun, is going around killing people is ridiculous." He said the issue is that our society is "devaluing life."
Source: KMOX 1120 AM on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Apr 14, 2023
On Jobs:
Diversity job posting is left-wing workplace indoctrination
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft tweeted that a job posting for a "diversity, inclusion and belonging leader" within the Missouri Department of
Natural Resources was an example of "left-wing indoctrination in the workplace" and the wrong use of taxpayer dollars. "It's time to end 'woke' in government," Ashcroft wrote.
Source: Missouri Independent on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Mar 27, 2023
On Jobs:
Against diversity, equity and inclusion in state government
Ashcroft is among the loudest critics of diversity, equity and inclusion in state government, and he doubled down on that criticism. "Any department head that thinks that we need to judge people by the color of their
skin and validate whether people are good or bad based on the color of their skin, where they were born or who their parents are, should not be working in the state of Missouri," he said.
Source: Missouri Independent on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Apr 6, 2023
On Principles & Values:
Bible calls us to obedience, not to accomplishment
One of the themes of the Bible that I think is so often overlooked is that we are not called to accomplish anything in the Bible; we are called to obedience. God will give us what we should do. Politics can be a very arrogant business.
You think you know what you're doing. It's all about you. I think we all fight against that. The concern is: how do I make sure that I'm looking to Him for guidance and His wisdom instead of, quote, "my own"?
Source: MBC Pathway on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Jul 19, 2018
On Principles & Values:
Is government here for us, or are we to serve government?
[On Audacy Radio]: "I think we really need to decide, is government there to serve the people, to create an environment where the people can be successful,
where they can be free to make their own decisions? Or the people here to serve the government?" Ashcroft said.
Source: KMOX 1120 AM on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Apr 14, 2023
On Tax Reform:
Tax cuts are in order; give the money back to the people
The state's budget has gotten far too large, Ashcroft said, noting that in 2016 it topped out at $27 billion and has grown to more than $50 billion this year.
He said tax cuts are in order. "We have a huge surplus in Missouri, and Missouri families are struggling," he said. "We need to give that money back to the people."
Source: Missouri Independent on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Apr 6, 2023
On Gun Control:
Doesn't see a problem with walking down street with an AR 15
Ashcroft spoke on The Record with Mark Maxwell. "This is not something where more laws will solve the problem. They were violating laws already," he said. Ashcroft called the weekend shooting "horrendous" but said more state laws aren't the
answer. "Should you be able to walk down the streets of St. Louis with an AR 15?" Maxwell asked. "I don't see why it's a problem…The AR 15, the long gun, whatever it is, isn't the problem. The problem we have is with individuals," Ashcroft responded.
Source: KSDK News on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Mar 2, 2023
On Tax Reform:
Opposed increase in state gas tax, state had a surplus
The Secretary of State also broke with Kehoe on sales and gas tax increases and said he would've voted differently. "No, we didn't need that," Ashcroft said. "I was a vocal, one of the main vocal proponents against the gas tax that just came up a
couple of years ago. We had $2 billion sitting in the bank. We didn't know what to do with it. I said there's no reason to raise taxes when we have money we don't know how to spend it."
Source: KSDK News on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Mar 2, 2023
On Energy & Oil:
No use of proceeds from unaccountable gas tax increases
Jay Ashcroft and Bill Eigel both alluded to Mike Kehoe's support for boosting either sales taxes or gas taxes to fund the state's transportation infrastructure.Eigel said "to have somebody stand up on this stage, who has backed the largest tax
increases in Missouri history, try to present themselves as a tax cutter--that's why people hate politicians."
Ashcroft also said proceeds from the gas tax were "unaccountable" to the public since they are under the control of appointed Highways and
Transportation Commission members -- as opposed to the legislature. He also chastised the growth in the state budgets over the past few years, driven largely by an influx of federal money coming to the state. "And when people talk about wanting to have
low taxes, you can't have low taxes and double and triple the size of your government," Ashcroft said. "It doesn't work when people say they want lower taxes, but they grow your government. Well, they're just saying something that just ain't true."
Source: St. Louis Public Radio on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Feb 18, 2024
On Foreign Policy:
AdWatch:I don't authorize Chinese ownership of Missouri land
Jay Ashcroft has become a vocal cheerleader for restricting foreign-owned farmland in Missouri, a cause that has grabbed Republicans' attention as US relations with China have deteriorated. Now, Ashcroft's opponents are using his past advocacy against
him.A campaign ad titled "Cows" depicts a Missouri bovine forced to learn a new language "now that my farm is owned by China." The cow says its herd is wondering why Ashcroft supported a law "allowing the Chinese Communist Party to buy land here in
Missouri, even land near sensitive US military bases." Other cows in the ad are adorned with the flag of China.
Ashcroft says the ad ignores the provision creating 30-mile buffers. "That precluded the entire state," Ashcroft said. "They don't
know how to read the bill."
Ashcroft's campaign released an ad featuring Ashcroft's father: "Jay Ashcroft never supported policy or legislation that welcomed or authorized Chinese ownership of Missouri land," said former Gov. John Ashcroft.
Source: StlToday AdWatch on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race, "Cows"
May 31, 2024
On Free Trade:
Restrict China's foreign ownership of agriculture
In 2013, lawmakers passed a bill that made it possible for a Chinese food processing conglomerate to purchase Missouri farmland. More recently, lawmakers who voted for the bill have been harshly criticized as China is viewed more and more as a global
economic and military adversary.Last year, Ashcfoft said, the Missouri Senate couldn't advance a bill repealing the law allowing foreign ownership of up to 1% of the state's agricultural land. So, he said, he worked to pass a bill through the Missouri
House that cut that percentage in half.
In the Senate, a provision was added that exempted farmland purchased for development or other nonfarm uses, including "raising genetic traits that are used for human or animal research," as long as no farming
occurred on the land. Ashcroft said that was a horrible provision. "Our state Senate voted to amend it to allow any foreign country to buy as much of our land as they want and even to use it specifically for human genetic testing," Ashcroft said.
Source: Missouri Independent on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Mar 1, 2024
On Immigration:
Declare the influx of immigrants an invasion
State Sen. Bill Eigel promised that if elected governor he'd invoke a provision in the Missouri Constitution allowing him to call out the militia to round up and deport undocumented immigrants. That means mobilizing sheriffs, the Missouri State Highway
Patrol and the National Guard, Eigel said. Ashcroft said he, too, would declare the influx of immigrants an invasion.
If Eigel's plan were to be activated, it would be the second time in state history that a governor has ordered the mass removal of
people based on a social or cultural characteristic. In 1838, Gov. Lilburn Boggs issued the infamous "Extermination Order" calling out the militia to drive Mormons from the state.
The order against Mormons wasn't officially canceled until 1976, when
Republican Gov. Kit Bond wrote a recission order that stated, "Boggs' order clearly contravened the rights to life, liberty, property and religious freedom" and apologized "for the injustice and undue suffering" it caused.
Source: Missouri Independent on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Mar 1, 2024
On Health Care:
Let the people vote on expanding Medicaid eligibility
Jay Ashcroft announced that an initiative petition seeking to expand Medicaid eligibility has collected enough signatures to be placed on the November ballot. And because Ashcroft expedited the process of verifying signatures using random sampling
instead of sending them to local election authorities, it [can go] on the August primary ballot.[A pro-expansion advocate] celebrated the announcement. "Today's certification is a tremendous first step forward in improving access to healthcare for
Missourians."
But some proponents cried foul, contending that Ashcroft's motivation was actually to ensure any vote on Medicaid takes place during a lower-turnout primary in August instead of the November general election.
Wikipedia Note
(downloaded 6/6/24): 2020 Missouri Amendment 2, the Medicaid Expansion Initiative, amended the Constitution of Missouri to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare. The initiative was on the Aug. 4 primary ballot and passed with 53% of the vote.
Source: Kansas City Star/Wikipedia on 2024 Missouri Governor race
May 26, 2020
On Homeland Security:
Special benefits for veterans unfair; treat everyone equally
Jay Ashcroft came under withering criticism this week from his Republican and Democratic opponents in the race for governor, following recent comments suggesting special benefits for veterans are unfair. At a candidate forum over the weekend, Ashcroft
was asked how Missouri could better support its veterans. He responded that "we need to do what we promised them," before adding, "I don't think we ought to treat people based on classifications. I think we ought to treat everybody equally.
I don't think we ought to say if you're in the military, we give this discount but everybody else has to pay twice as much. I don't think that's good government."Ashcroft, responding to the criticism, said in a statement it was "shameful that we
have failed to fulfill our commitment to our veterans. I honor [their] service and as Governor will make our commitment to them a priority, without qualification."
Source: Kansas City Star on 2024 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Feb 22, 2024
Page last updated: Oct 31, 2024