Sec. of State Ashcroft outraised 7-to-1 by Democratic challenger Faleti last quarter

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Democratic challenger outraised him by a 7-to-1 margin between April and June, new campaign finance filings show, although Ashcroft still holds an overall cash advantage.

Former St. Louis prosecutor Yinka Faleti collected $153,294 last quarter compared to Ashcroft’s $20,065. But the Republican incumbent maintains a more than $100,000 fundraising edge over the Nigerian American Army vet.

Ashcroft also has significantly more cash on hand — $322,592 to Faleti’s $182,187.

Faleti’s campaign manager, Forrest Richardson, said the fundraising disparity in recent months shows his candidate has the momentum heading into November.

“The second quarter’s fundraising numbers make one thing crystal clear: Missouri is demanding change,” Richardson said in an email statement.

If Faleti, 44, defeats Ashcroft in November, he would become the first Black person elected to statewide office in Missouri.

The secretary of state serves as Missouri’s chief elections official, a role in which Ashcroft has stirred up controversy on multiple occasions.

Last June, he rejected two referendums seeking to overturn a law criminalizing abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy. The actions triggered a months-long legal battle that ultimately left activists with just two weeks to gather the 100,000 plus signatures needed to get the referendum on the ballot.

Ashcroft, 47, announced his reelection bid in February with a promise to revive a voter ID law that the Missouri Supreme Court gutted, deeming it unconstitutional to require voters without a photo ID to sign a “contradictory, misleading affidavit.”

Ashcroft objected to the ruling, which he said disregarded a constitutional amendment passed with 63 percent of the vote in 2016.

“I don’t care what the Supreme Court says. You all should make the decision — the people of the state,” Ashcroft said at a Missouri GOP event in Springfield.

Conner Kerrigan, Faleti’s spokesperson, said Missouri voters are “done with the politics of voter suppression.”

“This voter ID law is a form of voter suppression, and it is Jay Ashcroft trying to select a narrow amount of people to be able to vote in Missouri, because that’s what he believes can get him elected,” Kerrigan said.

Ashcroft’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Strict voter ID laws have historically disenfranchised minority communities.

Kerrigan said Faleti “understands the sanctity of the vote” in the U.S. and is committed to making voting as accessible as possible for all eligible Missourians.

“Not only did [Faleti] earn the right to vote through gaining his citizenship, but he defended all our right to vote when he served overseas in the U.S. Army,” Kerrigan said.

Neither Ashcroft nor Faleti face a challenger in the Aug. 4 primary.

Before Ashcroft, Democrats held the secretary of state office from 2005-2017.