Campaign photo of Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R), right, with his wife Katie in Benton County, Mo. on June 26, 2023. (Photo via Jay Ashcroft on Facebook)

Missouri Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Jay Ashcroft (R) has bemoaned schools for “indoctrinating” children, all while his wife sat on the board of a Christian academy that touts creationism.

If elected governor, Ashcroft said that school choice would be a priority of his administration, and he advocated for using state taxpayer funds to accomplish this.

“Using that bully pulpit, I can affect the education issue,” Ashcroft said in an interview with St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Maybe for the first time in my lifetime, we’ll be able to say that every child in this state actually does have an opportunity to get a challenging education.”

During an appearance on “The Vic Porcelli Show” on April 19, Ashcroft said he believes that children are being “indoctrinated,” “brainwashed” and not taught “how to think.”

During his time as secretary of state, Ashcroft’s wife Katie has sat on the board of River Oak Christian Academy. According to River Oak’s website, the institution’s curriculum consists of thinking and understanding the world through a “creationist perspective.” Creationists reject the theory of evolution and contend that the world was created in the way described in the Biblical book of Genesis. The National Science Teachers Association and the overwhelming majority of scientists embrace evolution over creationism.

Textbooks used by River Oak contain activities from Answers in Genesis, a fundamentalist Christian organization with ties to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). In addition to promoting creationism, Johnson has a record of opposing same-sex marriage and labeling the separation of church and state as a “misnomer.”

River Oak also requires applicants to abide by a “statement on marriage, gender and sexuality,” which says that homosexuality, bisexuality and the use of porn are “sinful and offensive to God.” Parents and students are bound to adhere to this statement under threat of expulsion.

Jay Ashcroft also has a record of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. In 2022, Ashcroft criticized then-U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) for supporting the Respect for Marriage Act. This act was a Democratic-written effort designed to protect same-sex marriages, and it was signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2022. Blunt was one of 12 Republicans in the Senate to vote for the bill after a provision to protect religious liberty was added to the text. However, Ashcroft contended that gay couples cannot raise children in a “stable home” and that the bill was “an attack on traditional marriage.”

Polling from St. Louis University last year suggests that 56% of Missourians support legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

While debating his opponent state Sen. Bill Eigel (R-Weldon Spring), Ashcroft indicated that he would describe himself as a Christian nationalist.