Leonard Leo, the conservative who is continuing to move the nation’s courts to the right
Powerful conservative interests are backing an expensive campaign to oust Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in next year's Republican primary, including Leonard Leo, the influential activist who has spent decades pushing the nation’s courts to the right, and the radical anti-tax Club for Growth.
The effort seeks to install a Leo protege, former federal prosecutor Will Scharf, in Bailey's stead, despite the hardline record he's amassed in the six months since Gov. Mike Parson appointed him to succeed now-Sen. Eric Schmitt. Scharf, however, is arguing that his opponent “very much represents the establishment insider clique in” the state capitol.
Whoever wins will likely emerge as one of the most prominent politicians in a deep red state where several of the most recent attorneys general have gone on to serve as senators or governors. Indeed, while Republican Josh Hawley famously ran ads during his successful 2016 campaign decrying “career politicians just climbing the ladder, using one office to get another,” he did just that two years later when he unseated Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Parson went on to appoint Schmitt to fill the vacancy Hawley’s departure created, but Schmitt himself didn't remain in the post long thanks to his successful Senate bid last year, which required the governor to once again pick a new top lawyer for the state.
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