In a late-hour switch, state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman decided to withdraw from the August primary race to replace Blaine Luetkemeyer in Congress and instead filed to run for the Republican Party’s nomination for Missouri secretary of state.
Filing for congressional, statewide and county offices for the primary election closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 26.
Coleman made the switch shortly after 3 p.m. that day.
The incumbent secretary of state, Jay Ashcroft, is running for governor.
Coleman said she had many reasons for making the switch.
“There is not a more important job, nationally or in Missouri, than protecting the integrity of our elections and our founding documents,” she said. “This office presents me the opportunity to serve all Missourians. I looked at the field (of seven other Republican candidates) and I thought there is a need for a conservative fighter in that office.”
State Sen. Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia), president of the Senate, said last week that he would not run for secretary of state.
Coleman said personal considerations also were a factor.
She and her husband, Christopher, have six children and she said the travel would be less grueling than jetting back and forth to Washington, D.C.
“The drawback is that as secretary of state, you’re always in session, but I’m used to driving back and forth to Jefferson City. A lot of days, I’ll be able to have dinner on the table for my family. There’s also a secretary of state’s office in St. Louis. There will be more travel involved – the secretary of state helps with elections around the state – but I’ll remain in Missouri.”
Coleman said she is qualified for the secretary of state’s job because she has experience in state government.
She was elected to the District 22 seat in the state Senate in 2022 after serving three terms in the state House of Representatives representing the Arnold area.
“I’m also a constitutional lawyer, so I know about the importance of document security,” she said. “And I have the administrative skills to run a large office. The Secretary of State’s Office is a pretty large employer.”
Coleman graduated from St. Louis University in 2004 and received a law degree from the St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2007.
She said if elected, she would work to have filings for school board elections held at the local election authority office.
“As it is, you have to go to the school office to file, and I think it’s important for people to know who has filed for these positions before the last day of filing,” she said. “I think that can be changed.”
Coleman said she also would work with public libraries to make sure materials offered are appropriate.
“Our public libraries do a good job providing access to information to families around the state, but I do think there needs to be a better job making sure that some material that’s not appropriate for children is not seen by them. And some youth adult fiction, frankly, is pornographic. I think libraries need to do a better job deciding what is and what isn’t appropriate uses for tax dollars to be spent on.”
The secretary of state, a full-time position, is paid a salary of $113,200.
Missouri’s primary election will be held Aug. 6. Winners from each party in the primary will face off in the Nov. 5 general election.