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Thomas Ross Charged in Alleged Election Interference Plot

9/4/2026

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Summary

Story summary

U.S. candidate Thomas Ross was charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Prosecutors say Ross asked his campaign manager to plant cocaine and an Adderall capsule on opponent Louise Secker.
Ross won the Republican primary for Missouri House District 161 on Aug. 4 by 33 votes.
Missouri GOP chairman Peter Kinder urged Ross to withdraw.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Price stressed election integrity.

History

Historical Context

The June 17 1972 Watergate break-in, carried out by G. Gordon Liddy and four others for Nixon’s Committee to Re-elect the President, yielded $20,000 in cash and wire-tap gear and triggered a constitutional crisis that ended with Nixon’s August 1974 resignation after John Dean’s testimony. That legacy of federal investigations into campaign misconduct frames today’s probe of Missouri candidate Thomas Ross’s alleged drug-planting scheme.

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Story summary

U.S. candidate Thomas Ross was charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Prosecutors say Ross asked his campaign manager to plant cocaine and an Adderall capsule on opponent Louise Secker.
Ross won the Republican primary for Missouri House District 161 on Aug. 4 by 33 votes.
Missouri GOP chairman Peter Kinder urged Ross to withdraw.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Price stressed election integrity.

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