JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Nicole Galloway formally took the oath of office to serve as Missouri’s State Auditor today under uniquely tragic circumstances with a pledge to crack down on cyber security.
Galloway, 32, is now the state’s youngest statewide elected official, and formerly served as the Boone County treasurer. Gov. Jay Nixon selected Galloway as the successor to the late Tom Schweich, who committed suicide just weeks after winning a second term as State Auditor and announcing his bid for the Governor’s race in 2016. Schweich’s suicide was followed the next month by his chief spokesperson, Spence Jackson. Galloway recognized the work of the two men in the early moments of her speech following her swearing in.
“A priority of this office moving forward will be continuing the vital work Auditor Schweich performed bringing the Auditor’s office closer to the taxpayers,” Galloway said. “Auditor Schweich, with the assistance with Mr. Jackson, made that work easier to understand.”
Galloway, a CPA and certified fraud investigator, can now officially adopt the duties and powers of the Auditor, though before investigating potential breaches in cyber security, she’ll have to locate a staff. In an interview with The Missouri Times, Galloway said she was still in the midst of making those decisions, a sentiment she echoed to reporters again today.
Harry Otto, who served as Deputy Auditor under Schweich, has left his post, along with Trish Vincent, Schweich’s former Chief of Staff. Otto told reporters Galloway asked him to resign, while Galloway told reporters that Otto made the decision on his own. The exit of Otto and Vincent signals that Galloway is almost certainly narrowing in on her replacements for the two posts, which are both critical positions in the office.
As Galloway’s appointment becomes old news, the young auditor is moving quickly to clarify just what kind of work she’ll be doing as a new statewide official. In her interview and in her speech at her swearing in, Galloway promised to crack down on cyber security in various government offices.
“One of my goals is to focus on cyber security in our audits,” Galloway told The Missouri Times. “If you think about it, different levels of government have quite a bit of private information about the citizens it serves, whether you’re thinking of conceal carry permits, social security numbers, possibly banking information, all the way to pension plans that have retirement and dependent information. It’s important that we review the security of that information.”
Apart from having to scramble to staff and run an office that only became available weeks ago, Galloway will also have to battle the perception that her nomination is purely on the part of Nixon, who selected the young and up-and-coming Democrat to a post that Schweich won handily after Democrats failed to run a candidate against him in 2014.
Only minutes after the announcement was formal, some Missouri Republicans were calling Galloway a “stooge” of Nixon. Galloway brushed off the criticism, saying the knee-jerk reaction was indicative of Republican’s own motives, and said her work will speak for itself.
“My professional standards demand independence,” Galloway said. “I follow those standards in all the work I do. As audits are released and work is done, I’ll be able to show with those audits my professional standards and my independence.”
And while she is still scrambling to assemble core staff and hit the ground running, Galloway’s circumstances put time on her side. While Galloway’s name was being whispered as a potential candidate for 2016, state auditor is the only statewide office not on the ballot until 2018, giving Galloway the better part of three years to establish herself as a viable candidate, which she’s told reporters the day of her announcement she will be.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
