In February, Missouri's auditor Tom Schweich shot and killed himself. In March, Schweich's press secretary, Spence Jackson, did the same. The twin tragedies, reports National Public Radio, "have sparked fresh scrutiny of Missouri's increasingly bruising political system." Bruising is an understatement.
Schweich was a leading Republican candidate for Missouri governor, and an outspoken critic of the party, launching his gubernatorial campaign with what NPR calls "a scathing broadside" against the state's GOP establishment. "They've tried to buy the courts. They've tried to buy the media," said Schweich. "It's deception and it's fraud and it's influence peddling. And it's the kind of thing that worries me about the future of the Republican party in Missouri. And I thought we needed a voice that says 'no.' " Now, Schweich's voice and that of his press secretary are silent and Missourians are asking why.
Did GOP smear campaigns drive the two men to their deaths? Or was it something more sinister? Jack Danforth, a former U.S. Senator and fellow Republican, delivered the eulogy at Schweich's funeral. "Tom Schweich publicly attacked what he thought was corruption in state government, and within a month of that he was dead," said Danforth. "Spence Jackson publicly called for the resignation of [Missouri's GOP Party Chair] John Hancock, and within a month of doing so he was dead."
