Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's former election integrity director filed a whistleblower lawsuit Monday against Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, alleging he was fired after raising concerns that staff were plotting to file a fake complaint in a legal case about the state's voter database.

The lawsuit by Nicholas La Strada , a Republican, also asserts that Hoskins' office illegally directed local election officials to change the results of a city council race and used state funds for a politically oriented mailing.

Hoskins “will not be able to comment on pending litigation involving a personnel matter,” spokesperson Anne Marie Moy said.

Hoskins already faces scrutiny for his actions in Missouri's congressional redistricting saga . Last Thursday, the state Supreme Court found Hoskins temporarily in contempt of its order not to take steps to use new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump in the November election. On Friday, several voters who signed a referendum petition putting the new congressional district map to a statewide vote in November filed suit seeking class-action status for monetary damages against Hoskins.

The latest lawsuit, though unrelated to redistricting, calls into question Hoskins' role overseeing the November election.

“How can you trust a secretary of state’s office when they fired the man who was telling them what they cannot do,” said attorney Erin N. Vernon, of Independence, the lead lawyer in the lawsuit.

La Strada had served for 14 years as the Pettis County clerk, overseeing local elections, when Hoskins hired him as the state's election integrity director in January 2025. The suit says La Strada was stripped of his administrative access to the state's voter registration system after several months on the job. That came after he raised concerns that the office may have illegally spent funds to mail information in opposition to a St. Louis County ballot measure, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit contends Hoskins' office illegally intervened in an April municipal election. After the results of a close Marshall City Council race in central Missouri had been certified, Hoskins' office received a complaint about the tallying of write-in votes, recounted them itself and instructed city officials to change the results. The suit says only a judge can order such action.

“If you’ve done it once, what’s to stop them from doing it on bigger elections in November and coming right in and changing it to who they want, their preferred candidate,” Vernon said.

Also in April, La Strada alleges in his lawsuit that he was present for a conversation in which several members of Hoskins' staff discussed the possible use of a “burner phone” and internet protocol address scrambler to file a fake whistleblower complaint as part of a federal administrative proceeding involving the state's voter registration database. The suit says La Strada twice raised concerns with Hoskins, but his Capitol security badge then was deactivated before a hearing in the case and he was fired effective May 1.

The state election integrity director post remains vacant, Moy said.