Ashcroft says he’s happy with his work, ready to step away from Missouri politics

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jay Ashcroft, Missouri's 40th secretary of state, will not seek another political office.

In an interview Friday with ABC 17 News, Ashcroft said he does not see himself running again. "The people, they wanted me to stop, and I've done my eight years, so I just don't see that I'm going to run again," Ashcroft said. "I feel like I've done my time and there should be opportunity for other people."

Ashcroft was elected secretary of state in 2016 and again in 2020. He ran for governor in 2024 but ultimately lost in the Republican primary to Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe. Kehoe ultimately won the election and will be inaugurated next month.

Ashcroft graduated from the Missouri University of Science and Technology with a degree in engineering management. Soon after, he moved to West Plains, Missouri, to work for an engineering company that specialized in developing instruments used by the Air Force. In 2000, Ashcroft moved to St. Louis and began teaching technology and engineering courses at St. Louis Community College. After teaching there for eight years, Ashcroft graduated from St. Louis University Law School and practiced law in St. Louis County.

Ashcroft said he's happy with the work he's done on election integrity over his eight years in office.

"Frankly, our elections are good because the people of the state of Missouri do a good job of showing up in person to vote," he said. "I'm very happy with what we were able to do. We at one time moved Missouri from being ranked 10th in the nation with regard to how we run our elections to being in the top three."

Ashcroft said that at the end of his time in office, he wanted to look back on the past eight years and keep his promises. "The thing that I was most concerned about was that when all was said and done with me being in politics, but I'll still be able to look myself in the mirror and say, 'you did what you said you were going to do,'" he said.

Ashcroft partially attributes him staying true to his roots to visiting every county in the state every year.

"Our government is not supposed to be about the bureaucracy or the elected officials," he said. "The highest office in the land is that a citizen. It needs to be about public service and not about politics."

Ashcroft said his parents taught him the importance of service from a religious perspective. His father, John Ashcroft, was a Missouri governor and ascended to U.S. attorney general.

"That's what I was taught as a child by my father and my mother," Ashcroft said. "The greatest thing you can do in that time between, because we're all born, we all die, what do you do in between is to serve other people, to increase their ability or their opportunity to, to really maximize their God-given potential."

Faith plays a key role in Ashcroft's life and political decision-making. He spoke about times when he had to make decisions that weren't easy, but also about times when he had to regard the law above his personal convictions.

"There were times, because of my faith, I had to make decisions that I didn't want to make," he said. "But the law was clear and the law said, this is how you have to act, this is what's supposed to happen."

After he leaves office on Jan. 13, Ashcroft says he will focus on his family and has a few options open. They will remain in Jefferson City because his wife, Katie, will work as the chief of staff for incoming Lt. Gov. David Wasinger. "I've looked at some things in the law, I've looked at some things in academia, I've looked at some things in the bureaucracy at the federal level, we'll just we'll see what happens," Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft will be replaced by fellow Republican Denny Hoskins, who currently represents part of Mid-Missouri in the state Senate.