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March 27, 2024 |  By: Anna Spoerre - Missouri Independent

Leader of defunct abortion-rights campaign launches bid for Missouri Secretary of State

election

By Anna Spoerre - Missouri Independent

A longtime GOP Congressional staffer and leader of an abandoned campaign to legalize abortion is now running for Missouri Secretary of State. 

Jamie Corley, a Republican from University City, officially filed to run in the GOP primary on Monday. This is her first time running for public office.

“There is more to me than abortion, actually,” Corley said after making headlines for the past year for her campaign to legalize the procedure up to 12 weeks and add exceptions for victims of rape and incest. 

She joins Republicans Valentina Gomez, a real estate investor also making her first run for office; Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller; state Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg and state Rep. Adam Schwadron of St. Charles. The deadline to file to run in the August primary is Tuesday.

Two Democrats are also in the race: Monique Williams of St. Louis and state Rep. Barbara Phifer of Kirkwood.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican, is leaving office to run for governor. 

Corley said she made the decision after Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden dropped out of the race last week, leaving open a moderate lane.

Her resume includes several years working in communications for a handful of Republican lawmakers. Corley described herself as having a deep knowledge of banking policy after having managed the banking communications portfolio for former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee.

She also noted her experience as a small business owner. In 2016 Corley created a nonpartisan newsletter called The Bridge, which she later sold to her co-founder. In addition to overseeing elections, the secretary of state’s office also handles business filings. 

“I want to make it as seamless as possible to do business in Missouri,” Corley said, describing herself as a policy-nerd rather than a “bombastic candidate.”

Corley said her experience filing several initiative petitions informed her decision to run.

Last year, she sued Ashcroft, arguing the ballot summary and fiscal note he wrote for her initiative petitions were inaccurate and unfair. She dropped the lawsuit after dropping her campaign. 

Corley ended her abortion campaign in February after she was out-fundraised by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, a coalition whose backers include Abortion Action Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri and Planned Parenthood that’s attempting to put a constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot that would legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability. 

Corley continues to lead Missouri Women and Family Research Fund, a nonprofit she launched late last year. After dropping her ballot initiative campaign, Corley said she hoped to focus her nonprofit around conducting data-driven research and polling to inform legislators on the effects of abortion bans. 

“During the ballot initiative, and even before the ballot initiative, I talked to Republicans for the past two years about a really hot button issue and a lot of people opened up to me in ways that they’re not telling their Republican book club,” she said.

Corley doesn’t believe her abortion stance will affect her chances at a fair fight, adding that she’s more closely aligned with former President Donald Trump’s stance on abortion than the other Republican candidates. 

The Republican nominee for president has said he supports a 15 week federal ban.

“These candidates who just insist on defending this abortion ban,” Corley said, “you’re really bucking President Trump and that’s a strategic decision they’ll have to make.”