Missouri auditor Nicole Galloway defends her post against Saundra McDowell — barely
Democrat Nicole Galloway was appointed as the Missouri state auditor by former Gov. Jay Nixon in 2015. On Tuesday she won her first election to the post against Republican Saundra McDowell.
The two ran a fairly close race, with McDowell in the lead for part of the night as vote totals favoring Republican candidates rolled in across the state.
Galloway, a 36-year-old certified public accountant, was serving as Boone County treasurer when Nixon appointed her after Auditor Tom Schweich took his own life.
She won on Tuesday capturing more than 50 percent of the vote.
Galloway was challenged in the race by four others; Libertarian Sean O’Toole, Green Party member Don Fitz and Constitution Party member Jacob Luetkemeyer.
But it was McDowell, who had run into trouble with personal debt, who was her biggest threat.
McDowell, who was previously a securities enforcement official in Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office, and an assistant attorney general, faced controversy soon after she won the August primary.
She made news headlines when she was accused of exaggerating her role with the office of Missouri’s former attorney general, Chris Koster. In an interview she had said, “I’ve prosecuted fraud with the attorney general’s office. I did Medicaid fraud, so I led auditors and investigators looking into Medicaid providers who over-billed the system.”
But McDowell never worked in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the division of the attorney general’s office that prosecutes Medicaid fraud. Instead, she worked for the attorney general’s financial services division and handled administrative appeals involving Medicaid providers.
In addition, her residency had been called into question. She claimed a Kansas address in 2013, according to court records. The Missouri Constitution requires the auditor to have been a resident for 10 years at the time of the election. McDowell is an Oklahoma native.
During the campaign, Galloway, who maintained a significant fund-raising edge, also attacked McDowell for her history of financial problems, including numerous lawsuits she has faced regarding unpaid debt.
The Star reported that Galloway has fought undisclosed campaign contributions — so-called “dark money,” criticized Nixon for letting state boards and commissions languish during his time in office and they called her work in the auditor’s office over the last three years, “a refreshing display of independence.”
Most recently Galloway oversaw an audit that found that law enforcement officials in the state had lost track of more than 1,200 registered sex offenders.
This story was originally published November 6, 2018 at 11:55 PM.