Missouri candidate for governor says he’s an engineer. Why doesn’t he have a license?
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft came under attack this week for describing himself as an engineer in his campaign for governor despite holding no professional license.
Ashcroft, a Republican, has largely centered his campaign on his engineering background in ads and on his website. In a video launching his campaign, Ashcroft said “I’m an engineer and engineers fix problems.”
A complaint filed with the Missouri Division of Professional Registration accuses Ashcroft of “fraud and dishonesty.” It alleges that Ashcroft is not licensed as an engineer and “therefore is violating the law by holding himself out as one” as well as “committing fraud and dishonesty against the profession and the public.”
The Star obtained a redacted copy of the complaint that does not say who filed it or when. St. Louis TV station KSDK first reported on the complaint last week and reported that the complaint was filed in late June.
Ashcroft spokesperson Jason Cabel Roe on Monday defended Ashcroft’s professional background but confirmed that the secretary of state has never been licensed as a professional engineer.
“Jay Ashcroft has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering management, worked as an engineer for more than four years, taught engineering for more than five years, and then got his law degree and practiced intellectual property law largely based on his engineering background,” Roe said.
“Jay was licensed by the State of Missouri to teach mechanical engineering and mechanical engineering technology but as he has never been a Licensed Professional Engineer, he was not required to get a Professional Engineer License.”
Ashcroft’s biography with the Secretary of State’s Office states that he graduated with degrees in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla and later worked for a “defense-based engineering company” in West Plains.
A state certificate attached to the complaint against Ashcroft states that he was originally enrolled as an “Engineer Intern” starting in 1996. The certificate was from the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Professional Landscape Architects.
“I do further certify that John R. Ashcroft is not now, nor has ever been, licensed as an Architect, Professional Engineer, Professional Land Surveyor or Professional Architect in the state of Missouri,” Judy Kempker, the executive director of the board at the time, wrote in the certificate.
An engineer intern is not a licensed professional engineer, according to state law. Missouri law specifically bans individuals without engineering licenses from “indicating or implying that such person is or holds himself or herself out to be a professional engineer.”
However, state law does allow individuals to use the word “engineer” without facing discipline “so long as such use is reflective of that person’s profession or vocation and is clearly not indicating or implying that such person is holding himself or herself out as being a professional engineer or is willing or able to practice engineering as defined in this section.”
Morgan Mundell is the president and CEO of The American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri, Inc. or ACEC/MO, one of the state’s primary associations for professional engineering firms. The association has endorsed one of Ashcroft’s opponents, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe.
Mundell said in an email to The Star that the title of “engineer” was an important distinction.
“Professional engineers are very proud of that particular distinction, because it requires, and it also suggests to the public, a high level of academic achievement, professional accomplishment and specific state certification,” Mundell said. “So, it’s certainly in the public interest that individuals holding themselves out publicly as engineers actually BE engineers.”
Mundell said state law was “very clear about spelling out who may call themselves an engineer.” He painted the strict requirements as a matter of public safety “because engineers design and build critical infrastructures from bridges to skyscrapers.”
“The public must know that a person behind such important projects is indeed a state-certified professional,” he said. “Otherwise, it endangers public safety and undermines public confidence in the profession of engineering.”
Rivals seize on controversy
The questions surrounding Ashcroft’s professional background come as he is embroiled in a hotly-contested Republican primary for governor against Kehoe and Sen. Bill Eigel from Weldon Spring.
Both of Ashcroft’s Republican opponents seized on the controversy in statements to The Star on Monday.
“Jay Ashcroft isn’t qualified to be an engineer, and he certainly isn’t qualified to be governor,” said Gabby Picard, a spokesperson for Kehoe’s campaign. “He is lying to Missouri voters in an attempt to cast himself as anything other than the candidate running on his last name.”
The reference to Ashcroft’s last name appeared to be referring to the fact that Ashcroft is the son of John Ashcroft, a former Missouri governor, U.S. senator and attorney general under former President George W. Bush.
“Mike Kehoe is a self-made small businessman who came from humble beginnings and has a record of securing conservative wins for Missourians—no resume embellishment needed,” Picard said.
Eigel’s campaign manager Sophia Shore also attacked Ashcroft and threw in a jab at President Joe Biden.
“Jay Ashcroft is being exposed as a phony, that’s why his standing in this race is fading faster than Joe Biden’s brain,” Shore said in an email. “Bill Eigel is the only true conservative in the race for governor.”
Publicly available polling shows that the Republican race for governor remains close with Ashcroft holding a small, margin-of-error lead over Kehoe with a large percentage of GOP primary voters still undecided.
An Emerson College/The Hill poll of Missouri Republican primary voters conducted last month found 23% of respondents said they supported Ashcroft and 20% supported Kehoe. Eigel had 6% support in the poll.
Roe, Ashcroft’s spokesperson, framed the questions surrounding Ashcroft’s background as a political attack.
“This is a pretty weak attack and shows how worried Jefferson City special interests are about Jay’s candidacy,” he said. “Silly season is over.”
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this story.
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 2:33 PM.
