Missouri's next secretary of state will be from the St. Louis area.
Democrat Robin Smith is a St. Louis City native who now lives in St. Louis County.
Though born and raised in Jefferson City, Republican Jay Ashcroft now lives in St. Louis County.
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The general election is several weeks away, and we want to hear from you. Do you have thoughts on how we should cover the races? Questions for the candidates? We want to hear them! Send your thoughts or questions to [email protected] or share them on Facebook and Twitter with #MoVotesSmith did not respond to requests for an interview for this story, and her website, robinsmith2016.com, contains no information about her campaign positions.
Smith is a longtime TV personality in the St. Louis area, best known for her work as an anchor at KMOV-TV (originally KMOX-TV), the St. Louis area's CBS affiliate.
On her website, Smith notes she also has "utilized her Executive Master's Degree in International Business to forward learning opportunities and the exchange of information across the globe while serving in leadership positions on St. Louis University's Board of Trustees."
Her online biography points to her service on 15 different boards, including 12 years on the St. Louis University board, with much of her time on the executive committee and some of her time as the board's vice chair.
She also reports her experiences as host of telethons for two different organizations and as a winner of Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards for her TV work.
Ashcroft said he's "uniquely qualified" for the secretary's office because he's worked in elections as both an election judge, a Republican "watcher," a candidate and a lawyer.
"I'm the only candidate who has an understanding of how elections work, how they should be run and how they're done," Ashcroft told the News Tribune.
And, he said, being an attorney will help him write better ballot titles on initiative petition proposals and give advice to local election officials when they have questions.
He's critical of the way Democrat Jason Kander - the current secretary of state and also an attorney - has handled the job.
"Right now we have a secretary of state who's more concerned with running for the U.S. Senate than he is working with the local election authorities," Ashcroft said.
He thinks the secretary of state should have what he calls "The Three Cs," explaining: "I think we need a person of the right character, the right competencies and with the right conviction - someone who understands the role of that office (is) mainly customer service."
PHOTO VOTER ID
One of Ashcroft's major issues is requiring voters to identify themselves with an approved picture ID.
"That's just a simple, common sense way to protect the ballot," he said.
Voters in November are being asked to approve a constitutional amendment allowing the Legislature to require specified forms of identification - and lawmakers already have passed, over the governor's veto, the language to be used if voters approve Amendment 6.
"The bill was written in such a way that every individual that's legally able to vote now will legally be able to vote once that bill is implemented," Ashcroft said, because the proposed law includes language that allows a voter going to the polls without the designated ID to sign a statement acknowledging the law's new requirements.
Smith opposes the idea, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this summer: "What the guys on the other side are trying to do is stop people from voting if they are elderly, disabled, college-age or minorities. (It) removes, with surgical precision, the right of my neighbors to vote."
Ashcroft said that belief is "demonstrably false. There is not a single, legal voter in the state of Missouri that will be disenfranchised by the implementation of this law."
BALLOT LANGUAGE
Ashcroft said he would do a better job writing fair ballot language and pointed to this year's controversy over the "Raise Your Hand 4 Kids" tobacco tax proposal, where the state appeals court in Kansas City added five words to the ballot title after determining the secretary of state's ballot language was "misleading and unfair" because it didn't explain part of the proposal well enough.
The appeals court decision reversed Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green's original ruling that the ballot language was fair but the auditor's fiscal note wasn't.
Ashcroft acknowledged no one can prevent lawsuits from being filed against a ballot issue.
"Someone can file a lawsuit for just about any reason - I can't stop that," he said, "but I think I can prevent the court from ever saying that I was misleading or inaccurate."
BUSINESS AND REGULATIONS
Missouri needs to be more business-friendly, Ashcroft said, and the secretary of state has a major role to play in that.
"We haven't been growing the way we should," he said, "and we need a secretary of state that's going to get out and work with businesses to say, 'How can we have a state that protects people from being treated illegally or unethically but also creates an environment for economic growth?'
"If you allow businesses to grow, they create more jobs - we just need to do that the right way."
That includes the kinds of regulations government imposes on business.
"I think we're stuck in a 1940s or 1950s regulatory mentality, where we have a proposed rule or regulation and we allow comments - and then we shut off the comments before we implement it," Ashcroft said. "The only way you really know what effect a rule or regulation or statute even has is when it goes into effect, and people understand it and change their behavior."
Smith told St. Louis Public Radio last week her business education provides her with the qualifications to be secretary of state - because the office includes business registration and regulating securities.
"I, next to the governor, will become the No. 2 business executive for the state of the Missouri," she told the radio station. "And my graduate degree in business makes me eminently qualified for the office."
Ashcroft - son of former Gov. and former U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft - has run for office before.
He said he enjoys campaigning.
"I like the getting out and meeting people," he said. "I don't like the days when I leave before my kids are up, and I get home after they're asleep.
"That's the hard part."
MEET THE CANDIDATES
Jay Ashcroft
Age: 43
Family: Married to Katie Ashcroft, 13 years; four children (ages 10, 7, 4 and 11 months).
Education background: Jefferson City High School graduate, 1991; bachelor's (1996) and master's (1998) degrees from the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri S&T); law degree, 2008, from St. Louis University.
Campaign finance
The latest campaign finance report shows as of Sept. 1 Ashcroft had:
Raised $540,092.87 for the full election cycle.
Spent $193,471.37.
$314,090.13 cash on hand.
Robin Smith
Age: 62
Family: Married to Isaac "Bud" Stallworth (former professional basketball player).
Education Background: Bachelor's degree, 1975 from Lindenwood College, St. Charles; executive master's degree in international business, 1998, St. Louis University.
Work Experience: Licensed real estate broker; worked over 40 years in St. Louis television, including anchor positions with KMOV-TV from 1978-2015.
Campaign finance
The most recent campaign finance report shows as of Sept. 1 Smith had:
Raised $888,334.72 for the full election cycle.
Spent $820,381.64.
$71,025.03 cash on hand.