Attorney general candidate Will Scharf speaks at Delmonico's

Former violent crimes prosecutor and Republican candidate for state attorney general Will Scharf spoke about his intentions and motivation for running for the office at a meeting of SEMO Pachyderm Club on Thursday, June 15.

Scharf graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He worked on the confirmation of two U.S. Supreme Court justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Scharf mentioned in his speech that the state’s budget has doubled since 2018 and asked the audience whether “the results you’re getting are twice as good as they were?”

“I mean, we’re spending more and more and more money because of the special interests and lobbyists to control Jefferson City whose interest is always going to be to spend more and more and more for their clients and their interests,” Scharf said.

He said Missourians aren’t getting the results they deserve. Scharf said Jefferson City is not controlled by the representatives or senators but by “lobbyists and political insiders.”

He said his commitment as attorney general would be to hold the political establishment accountable.

“I will hold every government bureaucrat’s feet to the fire,” Scharf said.

When Scharf talked about what his role as attorney general would look like, he said U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, who previously held the position, “paved the way here”. Scharf said the AG plays an important role as a protector of Missourians’ rights.

He said one of his first actions as attorney general would be to investigate the Missouri Department of Education and Secondary Education (DESE).

“Critical race theory appearing in state curriculum or in school curricula all over the state — Schmitt was diligent about going out investigating and enforcing state law where state law is being violated,” Scharf said.

Scharf said officials need to do more investigating, not less.

“I believe our founding principles are deeply beautiful. And I think the modern CRT (critical race theory) movement, modern leftism is really about undermining and making America out to be something that it’s not, and in the case of schools really turning our children against not just each other, but also the values that bind us together as a society and their parents,” Scharf said.

Scharf said he doesn’t just want to investigate DESE but also other state departments.

“Look at local school districts to look at localities that, you know, during COVID had these outrageous COVID mandates. I mean all of that,I believe is within the ambit of the AGs office and all it needs to get done,” Scharf said.

Scharf said as attorney general he “would be empowered to flip over rocks, to look in dark places.”

He said he wants to improve Missouri to be in line with states such as Florida, Texas and Tennessee.

“By every metric, every measurable way. Missouri is falling behind,” Scharf said. “It’s bad policy decisions, it’s bad government.”