Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft recently announced a run for governor in 2024 and he brought his campaign to the Audrain County Lincoln Dinner on Thursday, April, 27.

Ashcroft noted the big crowd in attendance which was well over 100 people. He said he’s never needed a microphone when speaking at an Audrain County Republican event but he needed one for those in the back of the room.

“This is spectacular,” Ashcroft said about the dinner’s attendance. “But it’s not just spectacular, it’s necessary because in our country there’s a war going on for what it means to be American.”

Ashcroft said elections used to be about tax rates and other issues like where roads will be built but things have turned for the worse.

“We have a brand that has fully decided that it’s not that the government is here to create an environment of security and freedom so that you can maximize your decision-making,” Ashcroft said. “They’ve decided that you are here to serve the government.”

Ashcroft said he sees it in schools where administrators think they should be in charge of how children are taught and not parents. He said the same thing about librarians.

“The Missouri Library Association last year said that librarians are better trained to know how to help students and kids than their parents,” Ashcroft said. “That’s what we’re up against.

“If you have not seen some of the materials that are in our libraries that librarians are pushing on children you don’t want to see it and they’re using your taxpayer money to do it,” Ashcroft added.

Ashcroft said he responded with rules that require librarians to separate questionable material from children’s sections and a public challenge policy.

“Parents should be in charge, taxpayers should be in charge, not the librarians,” Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft said he wants to see a constitutional amendment that requires any tax increase to go to voters in response to lawmakers passing a gas tax in 2019 after a vote failed in 2018. He noted the state had a $2 billion surplus before lawmakers enacted the tax and now the state sits on $5 billion in surplus.

“We don’t have a problem with a shortage of revenues, we have a problem with the allocation of revenue,” Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft also took credit for a new voter ID law and addressed other issues like Chinese-owned land in the state and school choice. Ashcroft said he’s tired of seeing headlines coming out of states like Florida, Tennessee, and Texas and thinks Missouri should be grabbing those headlines.

“Missouri is a great state and we’re not getting done everything we should,” Ashcroft said. “We can do better. I’m not satisfied to elect Republicans anymore. I’m focused on getting real policy done to change the state.