Former Greitens aide, federal prosecutor mounts primary challenge to Missouri AG Bailey
Less than a month after being sworn in, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey already has a Republican primary challenger for the 2024 election.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Scharf, a St. Louis Republican, officially announced on Tuesday that he was jumping into the race against Bailey. Scharf, 36, also served as policy director in former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ brief administration.
“Year after year, election after election, we have entrusted our government to the same narrow set of political insiders, lobbyists, and special interests and we expect to get different results,” Scharf said in a statement Tuesday. “Instead, the results are the same, year after year, election after election. Our cities are overrun with crime. Jobs and businesses are fleeing. Schools are failing. Our fellow citizens are suffering. Missouri deserves better.”
Scharf, who left the U.S. Attorney’s Office last November, is the first person to mount a challenge to Bailey.
The new attorney general has never held elected office. Bailey previously worked as Gov. Mike Parson’s general counsel before Parson appointed him to the position following Republican Eric Schmitt’s election to the U.S. Senate.
Last week, Bailey confirmed he would seek election to a full term.
“I’m a combat veteran who has never backed down from a fight and a prosecutor who has defended Missouri communities by putting violent criminals behind bars,” Bailey said in a statement last week.
The attorney general position serves as Missouri’s top lawyer and is widely viewed as the second most powerful state-level position in the state behind governor. It has also been used as a political launching pad. Most recently, Sens. Schmitt and Josh Hawley both used the position as a pathway to higher office.
