Scott Fitzpatrick running for state auditor

Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, a southwest Missouri business owner, is running for state auditor next year.

Fitzpatrick announced his campaign this morning, saying he would serve as a "conservative watchdog" in the auditor position.

"It’s time for a conservative watchdog with a proven record of protecting Missouri taxpayers," he said in a news release. “Missourians are tired of politicians who use the auditor’s office to target their political opponents for their own gain."

In his July quarterly report with the Missouri Ethics Commission, Fitzpatrick indicated he had more than $100,000 on hand.

The auditor’s office is currently run by Democrat Nicole Galloway, who lost her bid for governor last year to Republican Mike Parson. Last month, she announced she would not seek reelection for her auditor post or any other office in 2022.

Fitzpatrick was appointed as treasurer by Parson in late 2018. He was elected to a full term in November 2020.

He was first elected to the state House of Representative in 2012 and served as chair of the House Budget Committee in 2017 and 2018. In that role, he was responsible for drafting and passing Missouri's $28 billion annual operating budget, according to the release.

Fitzpatrick is the owner of MariCorp U.S. LLC, a floating boat dock and boat-lift systems company he founded in Shell Knob while he was a high school student, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Fitzpatrick was among SBJ's 2020 class of Men of the Year.