KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday appointed Vivek Malek as the state’s next treasurer to succeed Auditor-elect Scott Fitzpatrick.
Malek will be sworn into the office in early January when Fitzpatrick officially resigns from the role to become Missouri’s next auditor.
Malek becomes the first person of color to hold statewide office in Missouri. As of 2016, the AP found Missouri was among 10 states that had exclusively elected white people to statewide office since Reconstruction.
Tuesday’s pick is yet another major political appointment from Parson, who was elevated to his position after the resignation of former Gov. Eric Greitens in 2018. Just last month, the Republican governor appointed Andrew Bailey, his general counsel, as the state’s next attorney general.
The state treasurer serves as Missouri’s chief financial officer and is tasked with protecting state funds from fraud and abuse. The position manages state revenues and handles its more than $6 billion investment portfolio.
While the position of attorney general is widely viewed as one of the state’s biggest political launching pads, previous state treasurers have also used the office as a pathway to higher office. Senator-elect Eric Schmitt served as treasurer before Parson appointed him as attorney general in 2018.
Most recently, Fitzpatrick was elected auditor after serving as treasurer since 2019.
