Former state Rep. Vicki Englund is running for state Treasurer against Scott Fitzpatrick.
Englund, a Democrat from the St. Louis area, formally filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission over the weekend. If elected, Englund said she wants to make some changes to the office to bring it “into the 21st century.”
“I’ve had an interest in the Treasurer’s Office for quite some time,” Englund told The Missouri Times.
Englund is a former state representative who more recently served HD 94. It was a back-and-forth battle for the seat every election year from 2008 to 2016 between Englund and the late Republican Rep. Cloria Brown who died in 2018.
During her four years in the state House, Englund championed a few bills related to the Treasurer’s Office, including one she introduced as a freshman that would allow the state to utilize online auction websites to sell unclaimed property. She said she would work with the General Assembly to get something similar passed if she’s elected.
“The Treasurer’s Office does a lot with unclaimed property. So you have auctions to try to sell those unclaimed property, and I think it’s about time we put the Treasurer’s Office in the 21st century and use online services to have online auctions instead of just physical auctions. … I really think we could get a higher turnout and auction price for a lot of the items if you open it up. ”
That bill didn’t pass the legislature, but she was successful with another that allowed military medals to be returned to veterans instead of sold through auctions. Since the bill passed in 2013, more than 100 medals have been returned to veterans or their families, Englund said.
Englund also said she would expand the 529 college savings plan to help more families send children to college.
Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick has been in office since January after he was appointed to the position. A former state representative and House Budget Committee chairman, Fitzpatrick said he plans to formally announce his campaign for the office in October.
“I’m honored to serve as treasurer where I fight for taxpayers every single day,” Fitzpatrick told The Missouri Times. “Now, more than ever, we need leaders with real-world business experiences who will fight the rise of socialism from Democrats like Bernie Sanders.”
Englund grew up in south St. Louis County and studied political science at American University in Washington, D.C. She interned for former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, studied abroad with the European Union, and worked for the Small Business Administration (SBA).
After she moved back to St. Louis in 2001, Englund worked for what was then the St. Louis County Economic Council, now the St. Louis County Economic Partnership. She has also worked for Edward Jones doing lease negotiations.
Englund is the mother of two teenagers and a four-month-old son with her husband of three years, Byron DeLear, who is also involved in Missouri politics.
“One of the reasons I’m running in this cycle is it really upsets me when we have elected leaders who don’t respect the office that they hold, and I want to bring that sense back, and I know we can do things in a bipartisan way,” Englund said in reference to GOP President Donald Trump.
Fitzpatrick’s campaign reported having nearly $176,000 cash on hand by the July filing deadline.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
