23 Facts About Jay Ashcroft

John Robert "Jay" Ashcroft was born on July 12,1973 and is an American attorney and politician who served as the 40th Secretary of State of Missouri from 2017 to 2025.

Jay Ashcroft was a candidate in the 2024 Missouri gubernatorial election, but came in third place in the primary against State Senator Bill Eigel and Lt.

Jay Ashcroft attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy, but did not graduate.

Jay Ashcroft earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Jay Ashcroft then worked as an engineer intern and educator.

Jay Ashcroft later attended law school, earning his Juris Doctor from Saint Louis University School of Law.

Jay Ashcroft later worked for his father in the Ashcroft Law Firm, where he assisted businesses impacted by government regulations and counseled clients on patent prosecution, regulatory compliance, and election law.

Jay Ashcroft ran for the Missouri Senate in 2014, losing to Democrat Jill Schupp.

Jay Ashcroft ran for Missouri Secretary of State in the 2016 election, defeating state senator Will Kraus in the Republican primary election and former KMOV anchor Robin Smith in the general election.

Jay Ashcroft appealed the case to Supreme Court of Missouri; it was denied less than a week later.

Jay Ashcroft is a staunch supporter of stricter voter ID laws.

The type of voter fraud that would be addressed through Jay Ashcroft's preferred legislation, which critics say suppresses turnout, is extremely rare.

In defending a push for stricter photo-ID laws, Jay Ashcroft cited one instance where a couple illegally voted, but omitted that the photo-ID laws that Jay Ashcroft was advocating for would not have prevented the couple from voting.

On July 3,2017, Jay Ashcroft said that he would comply with a request by the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, a commission appointed by Trump to investigate supposed voter fraud, to a request for Missourians voting data.

Jay Ashcroft said he would give out voters' names, addresses, birthdates, where they voted and when, required by Missouri law.

Jay Ashcroft has backed a number of Republican proposals to reduce the number of Missouri ballot initiative petitions and make it harder for ballot initiatives to win approval in elections.

In March 2023, Jay Ashcroft announced that he is withdrawing Missouri from Electronic Registration Information Center, a bipartisan system to update and improve the accuracy of voter rolls.

Jay Ashcroft's office declined to share reports from the decision or cyber security reviews on elections with the state auditor, leading to a "fair" rating in an audit released in February 2024.

In February 2019, Jay Ashcroft ended his investigation into Hawley, declaring that there was no evidence that Hawley or the AG's office had violated election law.

In 2023, following the failure of a bill related to environmental, social, and governance investment practices in Missouri Congress, Jay Ashcroft utilized the powers of his office to set a rule requiring disclosure forms for utilization of ESG scores.

Jay Ashcroft's office hired campaign donors as independent counsel in a lawsuit challenging the rules.

Jay Ashcroft told the National Review that the bill is aimed to counter a Biden veto on federal ESG laws.

The implementation of Jay Ashcroft's rule has been described as "mass confusion" for libraries as they attempt to comply with restrictions that could be interpreted broadly.