Jay Ashcroft is an engineer, not a politician. A graduate of Missouri University of Science and Technology with a master’s degree in engineering management, he worked as a defense industry engineer and professor of engineering at St. Louis Community College, preparing the next generation of autoworkers in Missouri.

Under Jay Ashcroft’s leadership as Missouri’s 40th Secretary of State, Missouri is now in the top ten states for election integrity in the nation. He ran on a voter integrity platform and made it the law by requiring photo ID for the first time in history, banning private money from election operations, and requiring paper ballots.

With oversight over the state’s libraries and archives, Jay implemented new rules to protect children from obscene content. He also oversees the securities industry and established new rules requiring banks to notify customers when they invest in ESG products as part of their political agenda.

Jay led the fight to end the practice of allowing China and Russia to buy Missouri agricultural land and blocked the federal government from sending agents to monitor our elections.

Jay’s leadership has been rewarded at the ballot box, earning 60 percent of the vote in 2020 – the state’s top vote-getter and leading every poll for Governor in 2024.

Service is the hallmark of the Ashcroft family and Jay continues his family’s legacy, visiting all 114 Missouri counties each year. Jay is a licensed attorney, earning his law degree from St. Louis University School of Law, attending with his wife, Katie, who is also an attorney and passionate about education reform. They are raising their four children and a husky named Friday at their home in Jefferson City, where Jay was born and raised.