Whistleblower says he was fired for raising concerns that included overturned Saline County election

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The former head of election integrity for the State of Missouri sued his ex-boss on Monday, alleging retaliation after he reported wrongdoing.

Hoskins is accused of firing former Director of Election Integrity Nicholas La Strada for "blowing the whistle on fabricated evidence and a decision to overturn a certified election," according to La Strada's legal team. La Strada is a Republican and was appointed by Hoskins to serve in the role.

La Strada's attorneys talked about the lawsuit Monday on the steps of the Cole County Courthouse. La Strada was out of the country observing elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the State Department.

La Strada alleges he was fired for blowing the whistle on illegal and unethical conduct within the Secretary of State's Office, including a plan to fabricate evidence in a federal hearing and the decision to overturn a certified municipal election in Marshall.

"When Plaintiff told Defendant Hoskins that only a court can change a certified election result and that the Office could not threaten the City of Marshall's officials into accepting a winner the Office declared, he was ignored," attorney Erin Vernon wrote in the petition.

The lawsuit also alleges that chiefs of staff in the secretary of state and auditor's offices plotted to create a "fabricated whistleblower submission" using an internet address scrambler and burner phone to accuse others of illegal conduct. La Strada reported the information to Hoskins, who then blocked him from a hearing in the matter, the lawsuit states.

Hoskins fired La Strada a few days later, according to the lawsuit.

According to Missouri law, retaliating against an employee, agent, or contractor for exposing wrongdoing is unlawful.

The allegations around Marshall center on the April 2026 election. City officials certified the election, only to recertify it after the Secretary of State's Office took up its own count and told city leaders to change the winner.

Hoskins' office became involved in the election after a complaint about the counting of write-in votes.

Check back for updates to this developing story.