State auditor won't seek reelection

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, the only statewide Democratic officeholder, won't seek reelection in 2022.

Galloway, 38, announced her decision Friday on Twitter. She called serving as state auditor "the honor of my life," but wrote that she is ready "for the next chapter of service and life with my family."

Galloway was appointed auditor after the death of Tom Schweich in 2015. She won a full four-year term in 2018.

Last year, Galloway won the Democratic nomination for governor, but lost by nearly 17 percentage points to incumbent Republican Mike Parson in the general election.

The state auditor's office is a watchdog agency with 115 employees. It performs audits of state agencies, boards and commissions, the circuit court system, counties that lack a county auditor, and other political subdivisions.

The office has often helped launch political careers. Republicans Kit Bond and John Ashcroft served as auditor. Both later served two terms as governor, and in the U.S. Senate. Democrat Claire McCaskill also served as state auditor before being elected to the U.S. Senate.