Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins
Lawsuit alleges illegal intervention in municipal election and misuse of state funds.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins
Photograph: My Mother Lode (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Nicholas La Strada, former Missouri election integrity director, filed a whistleblower lawsuit on Monday against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins.
- The lawsuit alleges Hoskins' office illegally intervened in an April municipal election by recounting write-in votes and directing city officials to change the Marshall City Council race results.
- La Strada claims staff discussed using a burner phone and IP-address scrambler to file a fake whistleblower complaint in a federal administrative proceeding.
- The suit asserts Hoskins' office used state funds for a politically oriented mailing opposing a St. Louis County ballot measure.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 21 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 6 of the 27 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
66/100
Craft
87/100
Hype
12/100
27 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 3 of the 21 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Nicholas La Strada, the former director of election integrity for Missouri, filed a whistleblower lawsuit on Monday against Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins. La Strada alleges he was fired after raising concerns about alleged illegal activities within Hoskins' office. The lawsuit was filed in Jefferson City.
The suit claims that Hoskins' office illegally intervened in a municipal election in April. According to the lawsuit, after the results of the Marshall City Council race were certified, Hoskins' office received a complaint about write-in votes, recounted them, and directed city officials to alter the results. La Strada asserts that only a judge can order such actions.
La Strada also alleges that he was present for a conversation where staff members discussed using a burner phone and an IP-address scrambler to submit a fake whistleblower complaint as part of a federal administrative proceeding concerning the state's voter registration database. The lawsuit further claims that Hoskins' office used state funds for a mailing that opposed a St. Louis County ballot measure.
Disagreement on timing of La Strada's firing
The lawsuit states that La Strada was fired effective May 1, after his Capitol security badge was deactivated. However, the Washington Examiner reported that La Strada had served as the state's election integrity director for 15 months before his firing.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mention the specific allegations that staff discussed using a burner phone and IP-address scrambler to file a fake whistleblower complaint in a federal administrative proceeding. The right-rated digests also do not mention the claim that Hoskins' office directed city officials to change the Marshall City Council race results.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 15 Sept 2026, 00:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
10 rated outlets
- Eight left-rated reports led on the lawsuit filed by Nicholas La Strada against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins. These reports highlighted La Strada's claims of illegal intervention in a municipal election, including recounting write-in votes and directing officials to change results. They also noted his allegations that Hoskins' office discussed using a burner phone and IP-address scrambler for a fake whistleblower complaint. The use of state funds for a politically oriented mailing opposing a St. Louis County ballot measure was also a prominent detail. The Alternet report framed the story as a "MAGA election chief fires official who revealed his plan to fake threats." The Missouri Independent's headline stated, "Former elections official accuses Missouri secretary of state of altering results, misleading judge."
Centre
8 rated outlets
- Eleven centre-rated reports focused on the whistleblower lawsuit filed by former election integrity director Nicholas La Strada against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins. These reports detailed La Strada's allegations of illegal intervention in the Marshall City Council race, including recounting write-in votes and directing officials to change the outcome. The claims about staff discussing the use of a burner phone and IP-address scrambler to file a fake complaint were also included. The use of state funds for a mailing opposing a St. Louis County ballot measure was reported. The St. Louis American headline read, "Former election official sues Hoskins."
Right
3 rated outlets
- Three right-rated reports covered the whistleblower lawsuit filed by Nicholas La Strada against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins. These reports mentioned La Strada's claims of being fired after raising concerns about Hoskins' conduct. The Washington Examiner's headline stated, "Former Missiouri election integrity director sues secretary of state after firing for having 'too much integrity'." The New York Post digest stated that La Strada sued Hoskins, "claiming he was fired for exposing illegal election plots."
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins?
- Of the 21 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 48% are rated left, 38% are rated centre, 14% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 27. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 21 rated outlets on this story, 48% are rated left, 38% are rated centre, 14% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins biased?
- Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins is one event reported by 27 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Former Missouri election director sues Secretary of State Hoskins?
- 27 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who filed the whistleblower lawsuit?
- Nicholas La Strada, the former director of election integrity for Missouri, filed the whistleblower lawsuit. He alleges he was fired for raising concerns about alleged illegal activities within Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' office.
- What are the main allegations in the lawsuit?
- The lawsuit alleges that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' office illegally intervened in a municipal election by recounting write-in votes and directing city officials to change the Marshall City Council race results. It also claims staff discussed using a burner phone and IP-address scrambler for a fake whistleblower complaint and that state funds were used for a political mailing.
- What was La Strada's role before filing the lawsuit?
- Nicholas La Strada served as Missouri's election integrity director. He alleges he was fired from this position after raising concerns about alleged misconduct within the Secretary of State's office.
Read it at the source
27 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
10- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens The Toronto Star in a new tab)
The Toronto Star — is The Toronto Star biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
The Seattle Times — is The Seattle Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens Oskaloosa Herald in a new tab)
Oskaloosa Herald — is Oskaloosa Herald biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens Associated Press News in a new tab)
Associated Press News — is Associated Press News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- MAGA election chief fires official who revealed his plan to fake threats (opens Alternet in a new tab)
- Former elections official accuses Missouri secretary of state of altering results, misleading judge (opens Missouri Independent in a new tab)
Missouri Independent — is Missouri Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Lawsuit alleges Hoskins fired Missouri election official over whistleblower report (opens Kansas City Star in a new tab)
Kansas City Star — is Kansas City Star biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens St Catharines Standard in a new tab)
St Catharines Standard — is St Catharines Standard biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 2 more
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens The Record in a new tab)
The Record — is The Record biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens The Hamilton Spectator in a new tab)
The Hamilton Spectator — is The Hamilton Spectator biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
8- Fired Missouri Election Integrity Director Sues Election Chief (opens Internewscast in a new tab)
Internewscast — is Internewscast biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens My Mother Lode in a new tab)
My Mother Lode — is My Mother Lode biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens The Record in a new tab)
The Record
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens Click on Detroit in a new tab)
Click on Detroit — is Click on Detroit biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens WKMG in a new tab)
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens KSHB-TV in a new tab)
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens Winnipeg Free Press in a new tab)
Winnipeg Free Press — is Winnipeg Free Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Press conference set to announce whistleblower lawsuit against Denny Hoskins (opens KMIZ in a new tab)
Right
3- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Former Missiouri election integrity director sues secretary of state after firing (opens Washington Examiner in a new tab)
Washington Examiner — is Washington Examiner biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Lawsuit details allegation that Denny Hoskins altered local election results, misled judge (opens KRCG in a new tab)
Not rated
6- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens Loonie Politics in a new tab)
Loonie Politics — is Loonie Politics biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired electio (opens WBAL in a new tab)
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens KXL in a new tab)
- Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director (opens BizToc in a new tab)
- Former election official sues Hoskins (opens St. Louis American in a new tab)
St. Louis American — is St. Louis American biased? Our profile of this outlet
- La Strada Whistleblower Claims Against Hoskins Explained (opens Hoodline in a new tab)
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