A former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and a state representative currently chairing the Missouri House of Representatives’ budget committee made stump speeches at the annual Republican free bean feed, held Thursday night at the Wright Conference Center at Crowder College.
Thomas A. Schweich, a St. Louis attorney who also serves as a visiting professor of law and ambassador in residence at Washington University in St. Louis, and state Rep. Allen Icet of Wildwood are seeking the GOP nomination for state auditor.
In five-minute speeches before a crowd of about 200 party faithful Thursday, both candidates outlined their goals and qualifications.
Schweich told about his deep Missouri and Republican roots, as well as his 25 years of experience as an auditor and investigator of Missouri corporations.
“That’s what my law practice is,” Schweich said.
Schweich, a graduate of Yale University who earned his law degree at Harvard, currently serves as an attorney with Bryan Cave LLP. He served the Bush administration as the ambassador for counternarcotics and justice reform in Afghanistan, as the government’s assistant secretary of state and acting assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and chief of staff to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. In 1999, John Danforth tabbed Schweich to lead the Danforth Special Council into the deaths of 84 members of the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas. Schweich is also the author of three books — Staying Power, Protect Yourself from Business Lawsuits (…And Lawyers Like Me), and Crashproof Your Life: A Comprehensive, Three-Part Plan for Protecting Yourself From Financial Disasters.
“It’s about living within your means,” he told the crowd about Crashproof. “It came out in 2002, before that was fashionable.”
He said as state auditor, he would ensure his office, as well as the state, did the same thing.
A civil engineer who also holds a master’s in business administration, Icet told about his experience on the House budget committee, where he has served as a member since 2003 and as chairman since 2006.
“My sole job is to put the state’s budget together and put it on the governor’s desk,” he said. “The most important thing the auditor can do is to audit the state budget.”
Icet began his political career some 20 years ago, as president of the Rockwood Board of Education, St. Louis County’s largest public school system. He became a delegate of the Missouri Republican Convention in 2000 and served as a member of the former House Minority Leader Catherine Hanaway’s 2001 Blue Ribbon Commission, recommending steps toward realistic budgeting. In 2002, he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, and has served on nine House committees. Icet is currently on the capital improvements and leases oversight, the interim committee on oversight of the federal stimulus and stabilization funds, court automation, legislative research and Missouri Health Net committees.
Those attending Thursday’s session also heard speeches from David Cole, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, and Lloyd Smith, the party’s executive director for Missouri. They also got a chance to meet the state auditor candidates, as well as visit with local office holders and seekers.
Neosho, Mo. —
