Jason Hancock
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Editor-in-chief of The Missouri Independent, a nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom. Detective for the people. Raker of muck. jhancock@missouriindependent.com
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Articles by Jason Hancock
Meet The Lake-Area Conservative Working To Upend Missouri Republican Politics
CAMDENTON — Polls had been open a few hours on primary day in August 2022 when Sophia Shore called her dad with a problem. She’d spent the summer running a long-shot campaign for Jill Carter, a family friend challenging an incumbent Republican state senator with vastly more money and nearly every advantage Missouri politics could offer. Shore, then in her mid-20s, was nearly broke. “You’re probably gonna need to put some money in my account,” she remembers telling her dad.
Missouri Supreme Court weighs who can challenge Kansas City stadium incentives
The case comes as Kansas City commits $600 million to a Royals stadium and Missouri prepares for potential borrowing.
Missouri Supreme Court weighs who can challenge Kansas City stadium incentives Original
The Missouri Supreme Court wrestled Tuesday with whether three opponents of the state’s sweeping stadium tax incentive law have the legal right to challenge it. State Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, state Rep. Bryant Wolfin, a Ste. Genevieve Republican, and conservative activist Ron Calzone sued last year seeking to overturn the law, which lawmakers passed during a special session called partly to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from leaving Missouri.
Missouri activists want fewer cameras on citizens and more on politicians Original
Pulaski County Sheriff Stacy Ball thinks Flock cameras help his deputies fight crime. But he also thinks they’re not worth keeping. Ball recently announced his office was pulling the plug on Flock Safety, the network of cameras that photographs license plates and gives police a database they can search later — and which has come increasingly under bipartisan fire across the country. As far as Ball knows, his deputies never abused the system. He believes they used it responsibly.
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CAMDENTON, Mo. - Polls had been open a few hours on primary day in August 2022 when Sophia Shore called her dad with a problem.
Meet the conservative strategist working to upend Missouri Republican politics Original
CAMDENTON — Polls had been open a few hours on primary day in August 2022 when Sophia Shore called her dad with a problem. She’d spent the summer running a long-shot campaign for Jill Carter, a family friend challenging an incumbent Republican state senator with vastly more money and nearly every advantage Missouri politics could offer. Shore, then in her mid-20s, was nearly broke. “You’re probably gonna need to put some money in my account,” she remembers telling her dad.
Missouri child welfare reforms pile up as old problems return Original
Lawmakers are hauling the Missouri Children’s Division back to the Capitol on Wednesday. The hearing will cover some of the agency’s recurring trouble spots: relative foster placements, child fatalities, reunification rates and how the department has carried out laws passed since 2020. Steph Quinn published two stories this week that, read together, are an argument about what the last six years of fixes have actually produced. The first showed child abuse investigations piling up again.
Missouri campaigns draw $75M in big donations, much of it from undisclosed donors Original
Roughly $75 million in large-dollar donations poured into Missouri politics this year. That’s a lot of cash for an election year with no governor or U.S. Senate race. Where did all that money go? More than $42 million flowed to committees fighting over constitutional amendments, referendums and other ballot measures. Amendments 4 and 5, the Republican-backed proposals that 80% of voters rejected earlier this month, consumed tens of millions before a vote was cast.
Maybe Missourians are smarter than their legislators think
Missouri Republicans have been making the case for years that our state constitution is getting hijacked by out-of-state interests. Gov. Mike Kehoe said it plainly in a video backing Amendment 4, the proposal that would have made it virtually impossible for voters to amend the Missouri Constitution.
Maybe Missourians are smarter than Jefferson City gives them credit for Original
Missouri Republicans have been making the case for years that our state constitution is getting hijacked by out-of-state interests. Gov. Mike Kehoe said it plainly in a video backing Amendment 4, the proposal that would have made it virtually impossible for voters to amend the Missouri Constitution.
Lawsuit seeks Missouri ballot spot for Respect Missouri Voters plan
A campaign sued Missouri's Secretary of State for blocking a proposed amendment from the November ballot. The "Respect Missouri Voters" initiative seeks to make it harder for lawmakers to alter voter-approved measures. The lawsuit also challenges the Secretary's attempt to change the ballot title after signatures were collected. A campaign seeking to make it harder for lawmakers to alter voter-approved initiatives sued Secretary of State Denny Hoskins on Thursday, Aug.
Lawsuit seeks Missouri ballot spot for amendment limiting changes to voter-approved initiatives
The Respect Missouri Voters lawsuit challenges both Denny Hoskins’ rejection of the petition and his attempt to replace a ballot title certified last year.
Referendum campaign asks court to block new Missouri map from November election
The campaign seeking a public vote on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map is asking a Cole County judge to do more than put the referendum on the November ballot — it wants the court to prohibit the state from using the map at all this fall. What that would mean for the candidates nominated Tuesday in Missouri’s eight congressional districts remains a question the campaign cannot yet answer.
Court fight over gerrymandered MO map puts November election in doubt
A campaign is suing to block Missouri's new congressional map and place it on the November ballot for a public vote. The lawsuit follows the Secretary of State's decision to declare the referendum petition unconstitutional. The legal battle creates uncertainty for candidates nominated in the August primary, with potential outcomes including a new primary or using old district lines.
Referendum campaign asks court to block new Missouri map from November election
People Not Politicians wants a Cole County judge to reverse Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and prohibit use of the gerrymandered map.
Referendum campaign asks court to block new Missouri map from November election Original
The campaign seeking a public vote on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map is asking a Cole County judge to do more than put the referendum on the November ballot — it wants the court to prohibit the state from using the map at all this fall. What that would mean for the candidates nominated Tuesday in Missouri’s eight congressional districts remains a question the campaign cannot yet answer.
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Missouri Republicans ousted a sitting state senator and split their verdict among insurgents and establishment-backed candidates in a Tuesday primary that reshaped the likely balance inside a GOP caucus already
What Tuesday’s primary results say about Amendment 5 and the next Missouri Senate Original
Missourians went to the polls Tuesday, and the results resist a single storyline. Here’s what’s worth noticing. Amendment 5 is the clearest verdict of the night. It lost 83-16. Not close, not regional — a rout. The governor’s top priority, backed by $17.2 million from donors who never had to identify themselves and it couldn’t even clear 20%. Watch what that did downballot. State Rep.
Missouri senator running for majority leader loses GOP primary Original
Missouri Republicans ousted a sitting state senator and split their verdict among insurgents and establishment-backed candidates in a Tuesday primary that reshaped the likely balance inside a GOP caucus already facing significant turnover. Springfield elder law attorney Lori Rook defeated state Sen. Curtis Trent 53% to 47% in southwest Missouri’s 20th Senate District, ending Trent’s bid for a second term — and his campaign to become Senate majority floor leader next year.
Nine Republican primaries, one question: what do GOP voters want from Jefferson City? Original
For weeks, The Independent has profiled 11 state Senate primaries on Tuesday’s ballot, including nine Republican contests. In most of these districts, the primary is the whole election. Read together, the GOP primaries look less like nine separate campaigns than nine versions of the same argument: What, exactly, do Republican voters want? Four things will likely decide the outcome of those races. The first is money.
What Missouri officials didn’t explain about 'rainbow story time'
Denny Hoskins wants to cut a library’s funding over two books he has not read. He Googled them, saw excerpts and looked at some pictures. For Missouri’s secretary of state, that was enough. The books are “Rainbowsaurus,” the tale of a family searching for a rainbow dinosaur, and “Big Wig,” about a child who wins a costume contest in drag. Staff at a Columbia library read them aloud to toddlers and preschoolers during a “rainbow story time” attended by families who chose to be there.
What Missouri officials didn’t explain about an LGBTQ+ library story time
Posted Thursday, July 30, 2026 5:45 am State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Republican from Harrisonville, and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins speak to reporters outside Hoskins's office in the Missouri State Capitol Tuesday. The press conference also drew in LGBTQ+ advocates who criticized the two officials for attacks on a "rainbow story time" held in Columbia Saturday (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). Denny Hoskins wants to cut a library’s funding over two books he has not read.
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