Dean Plocher

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Dean Plocher
Image of Dean Plocher

Candidate, Missouri Secretary of State

Missouri House of Representatives District 89
Tenure

2016 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

8

Compensation

Base salary

$37,711/year

Per diem

$125.60/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 8, 2022

Next election

August 6, 2024

Contact

Dean Plocher (Republican Party) is a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, representing District 89. He assumed office on January 6, 2016. His current term ends on January 8, 2025.

Plocher (Republican Party) is running for election for Missouri Secretary of State. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on August 6, 2024.[source]

Plocher also ran for election for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri. He will not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on August 6, 2024.

Plocher was elected state House majority floor leader on January 6, 2021.[1] Plocher began serving as speaker of the House in 2023.

Biography

Dean Plocher earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Middlebury College and his J.D. from St. Louis University.[2] He previously served as a municipal judge and was on the board of directors for the Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges Association.[2] Plocher manages his own law firm.[3]

2024 battleground election

See also: Missouri Secretary of State election, 2024 (August 6 Republican primary)

Ballotpedia identified the August 6, 2024, Republican primary as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.

Eight candidates are running in the Republican primary for Missouri Secretary of State on August 6, 2024. Four lead in media attention and fundraising: Valentina Gomez (R), Denny Hoskins (R), Dean Plocher (R), and Shane Schoeller (R).

Republican incumbent Jay Ashcroft is running for Governor of Missouri.

Each candidate has said that trust in elections should be a main theme of the race and has proposed different changes to election procedures.

Gomez is a real estate investor who has received national attention for her social media presence.[4][5] Gomez says she would support requiring identification to vote and would remove electronic voting machines, transitioning Missouri “to a secure, transparent paper-based system, addressing concerns of cyber threats, and manipulation.”[6] She also says, “Deploying the National Guard to oversee Missouri's voting polls is a pragmatic step, ensuring impartiality, deterring interference, and bolstering public confidence.”[6]

Hoskins is a member of the Missouri Senate who assumed office in 2017. He served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017. Hoskins says that his involvement in passing legislation requiring identification to vote shows his experience in election reforms and that these changes “have made Missouri’s elections among the most secure in the nation.”[7] He also says he supports counting ballots by hand to increase confidence in elections.[8]

Plocher has been a member of the Missouri House since 2016 and was elected Speaker of the House in 2023. He says that his involvement in passing legislation that requires voter ID also shows his experience in election reforms. Plocher opposes ballot drop boxes, where voters can return their absentee ballots, saying they have been “used by liberals to steal our elections.”[2] He also says he would enforce Missouri citizenship in voting, saying “We must protect the integrity of our elections and only allow those that are legal residents of this state and citizens of this country to participate in Missouri elections.”[2]

Schoeller has been the county clerk for Greene County, Missouri, since 2014. He served in the Missouri House from 2007 to 2013 and was the Republican candidate for the 2012 Missouri Secretary of State election, when Democrat Jason Kander defeated him 48.9% to 47.4%.[9] Schoeller says that, if elected, he would “protect Missouri’s Voter ID law.”[10] He says he opposes ballot drop boxes and that the state should require signature verification for absentee ballots.[10] Schoeller also says he would “stop efforts to allow non-citizens to vote.”[10]

Also running in the primary are Mike Carter (R), Mary Coleman (R), Jamie Corley (R), and Adam Schwadron (R).

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Plocher was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Plocher was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Missouri committee assignments, 2017
Economic Development
Utilities, Vice chair

Elections

2024

Secretary of state

See also: Missouri Secretary of State election, 2024

General election

The primary will occur on August 6, 2024. The general election will occur on November 5, 2024. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Missouri Secretary of State

Haley Jacobson, Barbara Phifer, and Monique Williams are running in the Democratic primary for Missouri Secretary of State on August 6, 2024.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Missouri Secretary of State

The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for Missouri Secretary of State on August 6, 2024.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Missouri Secretary of State

Carl Herman Freese is running in the Libertarian primary for Missouri Secretary of State on August 6, 2024.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. We will regularly check for polling aggregation for this race from those sites and add polls here once available. To notify us of polls available on either outlet for this race, please email us.

Election campaign finance

Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission. Click here to access those reports.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[11][12][13]

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.


Lieutenant governor

See also: Missouri lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2024

General election

The primary will occur on August 6, 2024. The general election will occur on November 5, 2024. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri

Richard Brown and Anastasia Syes are running in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri on August 6, 2024.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri

The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri on August 6, 2024.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri

Ken Iverson is running in the Libertarian primary for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Ken Iverson

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

State House

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2024

Dean Plocher was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2022

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Incumbent Dean Plocher defeated Luke Barber in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeanPlocher.png
Dean Plocher (R)
 
60.1
 
10,559
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/lbarber.jpg
Luke Barber (D) Candidate Connection
 
39.9
 
7,002

Total votes: 17,561
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Luke Barber advanced from the Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/lbarber.jpg
Luke Barber Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
3,062

Total votes: 3,062
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Incumbent Dean Plocher advanced from the Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeanPlocher.png
Dean Plocher
 
100.0
 
3,766

Total votes: 3,766
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Incumbent Dean Plocher defeated Luke Barber in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeanPlocher.png
Dean Plocher (R)
 
59.6
 
15,200
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/lbarber.jpg
Luke Barber (D) Candidate Connection
 
40.4
 
10,283

Total votes: 25,483
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Luke Barber advanced from the Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/lbarber.jpg
Luke Barber Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
5,683

Total votes: 5,683
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Incumbent Dean Plocher advanced from the Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeanPlocher.png
Dean Plocher
 
100.0
 
3,410

Total votes: 3,410
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Incumbent Dean Plocher defeated Kevin Fitzgerald in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeanPlocher.png
Dean Plocher (R)
 
58.4
 
12,922
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Kevin Fitzgerald (D)
 
41.6
 
9,212

Total votes: 22,134
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Kevin Fitzgerald advanced from the Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Kevin Fitzgerald
 
100.0
 
5,222

Total votes: 5,222
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89

Incumbent Dean Plocher advanced from the Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 89 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeanPlocher.png
Dean Plocher
 
100.0
 
3,979

Total votes: 3,979
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Missouri House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 29, 2016.

Incumbent Dean Plocher defeated Jack Schilligo in the Missouri House of Representatives District 89 general election.[14]

Missouri House of Representatives, District 89 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Dean Plocher Incumbent 65.10% 15,310
     Democratic Jack Schilligo 34.90% 8,207
Total Votes 23,517
Source: Missouri Secretary of State


Jack Schilligo ran unopposed in the Missouri House of Representatives District 89 Democratic primary.[15][16]

Missouri House of Representatives, District 89 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Jack Schilligo  (unopposed)


Incumbent Dean Plocher ran unopposed in the Missouri House of Representatives District 89 Republican primary.[17][18]

Missouri House of Representatives, District 89 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Dean Plocher Incumbent (unopposed)

2015

See also: Missouri state legislative special elections, 2015

A special election for the position of Missouri House of Representatives District 89 was called for November 3.[19] The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 15.[20]

The seat was vacant following John Diehl's (R) resignation on May 14, 2015. He resigned after he admitted to exchanging text messages with an intern that were of a sexual nature.[21]

Al Gerber (D) was defeated by Dean Plocher (R) in the special election.[20][22]

Missouri House of Representatives, District 89, Special Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngDean Plocher 60.2% 3,462
     Democratic Al Gerber 39.8% 2,289
Total Votes 5,751

Campaign themes

2024

Secretary of state

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Dean Plocher has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Dean Plocher, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 18,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.

Help improve Ballotpedia - send us candidate contact info.


Campaign ads


Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Dean Plocher while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Lieutenant governor

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dean Plocher did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Dean Plocher did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Dean Plocher did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Dean Plocher campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Missouri Secretary of StateOn the Ballot primary$0 $0
2022Missouri House of Representatives District 89Won general$526,230 $242,962
2020Missouri House of Representatives District 89Won general$217,652 N/A**
2018Missouri House of Representatives District 89Won general$198,361 N/A**
2016Missouri House of Representatives, District 89Won $60,470 N/A**
2015Missouri House of Representatives, District 89, special electionWon $40,354 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only availabale data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Missouri

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Missouri scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016



Noteworthy events

Ethics investigation (2023)

During the Missouri House of Representatives 2023 session, Plocher advocated for a private company to be hired to manage constituent information. The contract was considered by some to be significantly more expensive than what would normally be spent, and there were allegations that Plocher was putting inappropriate pressure on approving the contract, including threatening to fire legislative staff members who disagreed.[23]

On October 17, 2023, Plocher fired his chief of staff Kenny Ross. No comments were made by Plocher or Ross about the reason for the firing.[24] The following week, on October 27, the Missouri House Ethics Committee had the first of several meetings to discuss events related to Plocher. The first meeting centered around the dismissal of Ross.[25]

From November 8, 2023 to April 3, 2024, the committee met to discuss the events surrounding the constituent information contract in addition to a series of reimbursements dating back to 2018 that had been submitted by Plocher which had already been reimbursed by his campaign fund. At the time the errors were revealed in October of 2023, Plocher stated, "I am in the process of completing a full review of all expenditures and will correct any additional administrative errors in the spirit of full transparency."[26]

On April 15, 2024, the Ethics Committee released a full report. The report detailed the investigation, including alleged interference and obstruction during the investigation from Plocher and his office. The report also stated that the committee found no explicit wrongdoing regarding the initial ethical concerns, but proposed several measures to prevent their reoccurrence. The committee voted 6-2 not to issue a formal reprimand.[25]

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. The Missouri Times, "Vescovo officially elected Speaker of the House," January 6, 2021
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Missouri House of Representatives, "Representative Dean Plocher," accessed May 12, 2024 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "plocher" defined multiple times with different content
  3. Dean Plocher campaign website, "About Dean Plocher," accessed May 12, 2024
  4. Valentina Gomez campaign website, "Meet Valentina," accessed May 10, 2024
  5. NBC News, "Missouri Republican candidate torches LGBTQ-inclusive books in viral video," February 7, 2024
  6. 6.0 6.1 Valentina Gomez campaign website, "Turning Visions into Missions," accessed May 10, 2024
  7. Denny Hoskins campaign website, "Home," accessed May 10, 2024
  8. STLPR, "Secretary of State candidate Hoskins says Missouri should hand count ballots," April 4, 2024
  9. County of Greene, "Shane Schoeller," accessed May 12, 2024
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Shane Schoeller campaign website, "Home," accessed May 10, 2024
  11. OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
  12. OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
  13. National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
  14. Missouri Secretary of State, "2016 general election results," accessed December 20, 2016
  15. Missouri Secretary of State, "Certified Candidate List," accessed April 28, 2016
  16. Missouri Secretary of State, "State of Missouri - Primary 2016 - August 2, 2016," accessed August 2, 2016
  17. Missouri Secretary of State, "Certified Candidate List," accessed April 28, 2016
  18. Missouri Secretary of State, "State of Missouri - Primary 2016 - August 2, 2016," accessed August 2, 2016
  19. Office of the Missouri Governor, "Gov. Nixon sets Nov. 3 as date for special elections to fill House seats for 29th District, 36th District and 89th District," accessed July 29, 2015
  20. 20.0 20.1 Missouri Secretary of State, "Candidate Filing Special Elections November 3, 2015," accessed August 24, 2015
  21. kmov.com, "Missouri a House Speaker Resigns after intern text messages," accessed May 14, 2015
  22. Missouri Secretary of State, "State of Missouri - Special - Legislative District 89 - November 3, 2015," accessed November 3, 2015
  23. Governing, "Missouri House Speaker Faces Ethics Investigation," March 12, 2024
  24. Missouri Independent, "Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher fires his chief of staff," October 17, 2023
  25. 25.0 25.1 State of Missouri House of Representatives, "In the Matter of Representative Dean Plocher House Ethics Complaint No. 23-01," April 15, 2024
  26. Missouri Independent, "Records show Dean Plocher charged the state for travel already paid for by his campaign," October 20, 2023

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Missouri House of Representatives District 89
2016-Present
Succeeded by
-