'Honorary' KKK member to appear at the top of Missouri's GOP gubernatorial primary ballot

The name of a member of the Ku Klux could appear atop the Missouri gubernatorial primary ballot later this year.

A state legislator, Rep. Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin), tweeted out a screenshot that shows the unofficial filing list for governor posted on the secretary of state's website. It has the name of white supremacist Darrell Leon McClanahan III listed above two better-known GOP contenders, Mike Kehoe and Jay Ashcroft, reported the Riverfront Times.

"Hey @MissouriGOP I just learned the candidate listed first on our primary ballot for Governor is a cross-burning KKK member who ran for US Senate 2 years ago and freely admits his KKK membership & white supremacist beliefs," Dogan wrote.

Dogan urged the Republican Party to reject his filing fee, calling McClanahan a "racist loser." The GOP candidate did not dispute that he was photographed in front of a burning cross, but denied ever being part of the KKK.

“Shamed Dogan I would like to respectfully request that you cease and desist from making defamatory statements about me on the X platform," he told the Riverfront Times in a statement. "Your statement about me being a cross-burning KKK member and white supremacist is false and damaging to my reputation.”

McClanahan directed the publication to a defamation lawsuit he filed in federal court against the Anti-Defamation League and its leader Jonathan Greenblatt over a 2022 article that revealed its Center on Extremism had been tracking McClanahan for years due to affiliations with white supremacist and Christian identity groups.

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However, in his own court filings McClanahan describes himself as a "Pro-White man, horseman, politician, political prisoner-activist who is dedicated to traditional Christian values," and he insists his memberships in Knight's Party Ku Klux Klan and the League of the South were only "honorary memberships."

McClanahan also admits he "did attend in 2019 a private religious Christian Identity Cross lighting ceremony falsely described as a cross burning."

It's not clear whether the Missouri GOP can reject McClanahan’s candidacy or whether he'll appear on the official ballot, although he is listed first on the unofficial ballot because candidates draw numbers when filing and his choice placed him at the top.