Eight candidates are running in the Republican primary for Missouri Secretary of State on August 6, 2024. Four lead in media attention and fundraising: Valentina Gomez (R), Denny Hoskins (R), Dean Plocher (R), and Shane Schoeller (R).

Republican incumbent Jay Ashcroft is running for Governor of Missouri.

Each candidate has said that trust in elections should be a main theme of the race and has proposed different changes to election procedures.

Gomez is a real estate investor who has received national attention for her social media presence. Gomez says she would support requiring identification to vote and would remove electronic voting machines, transitioning Missouri “to a secure, transparent paper-based system, addressing concerns of cyber threats, and manipulation.” She also says, “Deploying the National Guard to oversee Missouri’s voting polls is a pragmatic step, ensuring impartiality, deterring interference, and bolstering public confidence.”

Hoskins is a member of the Missouri Senate who assumed office in 2017. He served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017. Hoskins says that his involvement in passing legislation requiring identification to vote shows his experience in election reforms and that these changes “have made Missouri’s elections among the most secure in the nation.” He also says he supports counting ballots by hand to increase confidence in elections.

Plocher has been a member of the Missouri House since 2016 and was elected Speaker of the House in 2023. He says his involvement in passing legislation that requires voter ID also shows his experience in election reforms. Plocher opposes using ballot drop boxes, where voters can return their absentee ballots, saying that they have been “used by liberals to steal our elections.” He also says he would enforce Missouri citizenship in voting, saying, “We must protect the integrity of our elections and only allow those that are legal residents of this state and citizens of this country to participate in Missouri elections.”

Schoeller has been the county clerk for Greene County, Missouri, since 2014. He served in the Missouri House from 2007 to 2013 and was the Republican candidate for the 2012 Missouri Secretary of State election, when Democrat Jason Kander defeated him 48.9% to 47.4%. Schoeller says that, if elected, he would “protect Missouri’s Voter ID law.” He says he opposes ballot drop boxes and that the state should require signature verification for absentee ballots. Schoeller also says he would “stop efforts to allow non-citizens to vote.”

Also running in the primary are Mike Carter (R), Mary Coleman (R), Jamie Corley (R), and Adam Schwadron (R).