GOP scrambling after feds bust candidate for drug-planting plot

A GOP Missouri legislator attended court Thursday on federal drug charges for an alleged scheme to plant cocaine and Adderall on his own primary opponent — after winning the race by just a few dozen votes.

In response, state GOP officials are calling on him to drop out of the race so they can replace him on the ballot.

According to KIRO 7, 37-year-old Thomas Ross of Joplin faces a conspiracy charge for allegedly recruiting his own campaign manager to slip the drugs into rival Louise Secker's car or purse in the weeks before the August 4 primary for Missouri's 161st House District. According to an FBI statement, Ross's former campaign manager told investigators Ross handed him a glove with a bag of powder and a pill stuffed inside, instructing him to plant it for him.

Lab testing later confirmed the substances were cocaine and Adderall. Text messages obtained by the FBI suggest Ross was hoping to time the plant for maximum embarrassment, specifically hoping to catch Secker before she attended a local GOP women's meeting.

Ross wrote that the plan, if pulled off, "would be extreme egg on the face" for Secker, per the FBI document.

Missouri GOP Chairman Peter Kinder called on Ross to drop out of the race entirely, saying the allegations were "serious and deeply troubling."

Missouri's House District 161 is located near the western border with Kansas and Oklahoma. It's a historically GOP-favoring district; in 2024, Republican Lane Roberts won the district by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in 2024.