Missouri statehouse candidate accused of trying to plant drugs on opponent

The Republican ​nominee for a Missouri statehouse seat has been charged in ​federal court with conspiracy to distribute narcotics, accused ‌of ​plotting to plant drugs on his primary election rival in the final months of the race. Thomas Christopher Ross, 37, who won the Republican primary for the 161st district of the Missouri ‌House of Representatives by a mere 33 votes in August, was charged in a single-count criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors on Wednesday.

The case was announced on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri. According to prosecutors, Ross spent weeks hatching ‌a plan with his campaign manager to frame his opponent, Louise Secker, by surreptitiously placing a black nylon glove containing a ‌bag of cocaine and a capsule of the prescription stimulant Adderall into her car or purse.

Under the alleged scheme, outlined in a seven-page FBI affidavit, the campaign manager would then alert law enforcement through "an anonymous tip" that Secker had drugs in her possession. The plot, which apparently was never carried out, was to be acted on ⁠while Ross ​was away on vacation in ⁠South Carolina in June 2026, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit said Ross and the campaign manager, who was not named in court documents, communicated through text messages in ⁠coded language, including one in which Ross referred to the desired outcome as "extreme egg on the face" of his opponent. According to the affidavit, ​the investigation began when the campaign manager alerted police in Joplin, Missouri, who turned the case over to the FBI. ⁠The campaign aide provided the bag containing the drugs that he said Ross wanted planted on Secker, as well as texts he had shared with his boss.

Neither ⁠Ross ​nor either of the two attorneys in the public defender's office assigned to his case could immediately be reached for comment. The chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, Peter Kinder, issued a statement on Wednesday calling on Ross to immediately resign as the party's ⁠nominee for the House seat.

"While Mr. Ross is entitled to due process and the facts surrounding this matter must be allowed ⁠to come to light, the circumstances ⁠of his arrest are serious and deeply troubling," Kinder wrote. There was no immediate response from Secker or her campaign.

If convicted, Ross could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.