Missouri is barreling toward a budget reckoning, and the two men vying to be the state's next auditor can't agree on what their office should actually do about it. Republican incumbent Scott Fitzpatrick says the auditor should independently assess state finances, sound alarms for lawmakers, and root out waste, fraud and abuse. Democratic challenger Quentin Wilson wants the office to go further, proactively hunting for savings and pushing local governments to perform better before problems start.
Both candidates agree the state's fiscal problems deserve the auditor's attention, according to KCUR, but they disagree sharply on what the office can and should do about it. The stakes are significant: Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick warned in a June 2026 report that the state's General Revenue Fund is on pace for a deficit exceeding $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2027, according to the Missouri State Auditor's Office. The report projects the state's General Revenue Fund balance, which peaked at approximately $5.8 billion in fiscal year 2023, will be approximately $600 million at the end of fiscal year 2027 before being completely exhausted in early fiscal year 2028.
A Watchdog With Limited Power
The Missouri Constitution ties the auditor's hands in specific ways. Under Article IV, Section 13, the state auditor is required to post-audit state agency accounts and supervise budgeting systems for political subdivisions, but the office is constitutionally barred from writing budgets or passing spending legislation, per Ballotpedia. The auditor has broad authority to examine how taxpayer money gets spent, but cannot appropriate money, veto spending, or force agencies to adopt its recommendations, the state auditor's office has acknowledged.
Fitzpatrick has said he sees no prospect of a federal bailout to soften the coming budget impact, and he has urged executive leaders to make spending cuts now rather than wait for mandatory emergency reductions. Governor Mike Kehoe has already begun responding to the pressure: on June 30, 2026, he froze $441 million in approved state spending and vetoed nearly $53 million from the state's $50.7 billion budget, restricting 42 lawmaker-backed budget items and 28 pending construction projects, according to the Missouri Independent. Kehoe has maintained that the state has a spending problem.
Fitzpatrick's Record as Auditor
Incumbent State Auditor Fitzpatrick previously served as Missouri State Treasurer starting in 2019 and chaired the Missouri House Budget Committee for two years. He pushed for 2024 legislation, House Bill 2111, that expanded the auditor's power to launch direct audits following whistleblower complaints and to use subpoenas during investigative stages, a measure the Missouri General Assembly passed unanimously in both chambers, according to the Missouri Office of Administration.
The office's first audit under that expanded authority targeted the city of Arnold, where Fitzpatrick said investigators exposed the use of transportation development districts to tax city residents without a vote — a case Hoodline detailed in its prior coverage of the Arnold audit. The office also used its subpoena power for the first time during that investigation. A separate 2023 audit by Fitzpatrick's office cited noncompliance and legal deficiencies in Jackson County's property reassessment process, a finding that contributed to a July 2026 proposed class-action settlement offering up to $250 million in tax credits and refunds to roughly 207,000 property owners, per KCUR.
Fitzpatrick has also pointed to his office's January 2025 performance rating of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office under former prosecutor Kim Gardner as evidence of nonpartisan enforcement. That audit cited severe case backlogs, $58,000 in improper expenditures, and 34.5 business days spent on personal coursework, the Associated Press reported. Gardner resigned under fire in 2023; she was targeted for removal. Fitzpatrick has said his audits of statewide officials from both parties show he holds officeholders accountable regardless of political affiliation.
Wilson's Case for a Different Kind of Auditor
Wilson, who held leadership positions across several Missouri state agencies over two decades — including becoming Missouri Director of Revenue in 1998 under Governor Mel Carnahan and serving as Cabinet Director under Governor Bob Holden starting in 2001 — wants the auditor's office restructured more like the federal Government Accountability Office. He believes the office should prioritize prevention given Missouri's sheer number of local governments, pushing for more training for local officials rather than simply flagging problems after the fact.
Missouri ranks second nationally among all states in total political subdivisions, with more than 4,000 counties, municipalities, school districts and special taxing districts, a scale that both candidates acknowledge creates persistent fraud and mismanagement risk. Wilson has pointed to his own record reengineering state agencies as evidence his approach can work: as Director of Revenue, he found unnecessary steps in tax-return processing that left residents waiting roughly 37 days for refunds, and his team reengineered the process to cut that wait to four days. As cabinet director, he said a four-person team he led generated millions in state cost savings, including $6 million saved by shifting motor vehicle registration from an annual to a biennial cycle. He has said clearer tax-law compliance instructions also reduced appeals and encouraged voluntary compliance.
Wilson says he could save the state up to $1 billion a year while improving government outcomes if elected. He has criticized some of Fitzpatrick's audits for taking too long and questioned the incumbent's independence from fellow Republicans. Wilson has said Missouri needs an independent auditor with management experience to ask tough questions and demand results, while Fitzpatrick frames the office's role as helping people streamline and improve government from an independent, post-audit vantage point.
Where the Race Stands
The 2026 Missouri State Auditor general election also includes Libertarian candidate Dustin Coffell, according to Ballotpedia. The race pits Fitzpatrick's reelection bid against Wilson's pitch for a retooled, GAO-style watchdog office.
