Republican incumbent Scott Fitzpatrick won Tuesday’s race to keep his job as Missouri’s state auditor.
Fitzpatrick won reelection with 50.9% of votes, according to unofficial election results, defeating Democrat Quentin Wilson and Libertarian Dustin Coffell. Wilson took 46.5% of the vote and Coffell took 2.6%.
The state auditor’s office is tasked with ensuring that Missouri’s taxpayer dollars are used properly. Fitzpatrick said if reelected, he’d fight waste and fraud, block immigrants without legal status from receiving public benefits, oversee school districts and monitor local governments.
During his tenure, Fitzpatrick said he planned to review the state’s more than 500 school districts on a more regular basis. Previous administrators had on average produced one school district audit per year, according to the state auditor’s office.
“Meanwhile two thirds of Missouri students aren’t proficient in math or science, and over half don’t read at grade level, despite record levels of funding for public schools,” Fitzpatrick said on his campaign website.
“As Auditor, I’ll review administrative costs and administrator salaries and measure the performance of our schools against the investment taxpayers are making in them.”
That review included an unprompted investigation of the Independence School District’s finances and student performance. Fitzpatrick’s office said the audit was not prompted by resident complaints, but selected because of the district’s four-day school week and larger size.
His office recently announced it was investigating the Special School District of St. Louis County, which serves more than 23,000 students with disabilities in the county. It faced a federal investigation in February over its seclusion and restraint practices.
Days ahead of Tuesday’s election, Fitzpatrick released a scathing audit of Jackson County’s assessment department and the 2023 property assessments, giving it the lowest possible “poor” rating. He said more than 200,000 property owners will soon receive tax credits as a result.
The audit came after Fitzpatrick’s office launched an investigation into St. Louis County’s property tax appeals process. The probe followed whistleblower complaints that the county’s two boards of equalization were unfairly resolving appeals.
Fitzpatrick has also raised alarms that the state is nearing a fiscal cliff after COVID-relief dollars waned. Missouri eliminated capital gains taxes last year, but Fitzpatrick said government spending is driving the problem.
Wilson, who won the Democratic primary, said as state auditor he’d want to partner with Missouri legislators to help address the impending budget shortfall.
Wilson served as director of the Missouri Department of Revenue under Gov. Mel Carnahan and later as director of the St. Louis County Department of Revenue.
Republicans haven’t lost a statewide race since 2018, when Auditor Nicole Galloway narrowly won reelection. The Missouri auditor’s race was the only statewide contest in 2026.
