Denny L. Hoskins (born October 10, 1974) is an American politician who is currently serving as the 41st Secretary of State of Missouri since 2025. He previously served as a member of the Missouri Senate for the 21st District until 2024. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to the Senate in 2016. He previously served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017.
Missouri House of Representatives Hoskins was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2008 to represent the 121st District. Hoskins was reelected in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 elections. Hoskins was term limited and ran for the Missouri Senate in the 2016 election.
Missouri Senate Hoskins was elected to the Missouri Senate in the 2016 election to represent the 21st District. In the midst of Missouri facing a budget shortfall, one of Hoskins' first votes as a state senator was to vote for a pay increase for state legislators. Hoskins was one of only two senators to vote for the pay increase.
In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoskins called for a special session of the Missouri legislature to implement legislation to prevent private-sector companies from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for staff and customers.
Hoskins has filibustered sports betting legislation in Missouri that doesn't include language on video lottery terminals (VLTs). Adding his own sportsbook regulation bills, Hoskins sees VLTs in the same area that needs to become regulated and taxed.
He was a member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus.
Defamation lawsuit In April 2024, Hoskins was sued for defamation by Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, after Hoskins shared an image on social media of Loudermill in handcuffs, falsely identifying him as an undocumented immigrant and as a shooter at the 2024 Kansas City parade shooting.
Missouri Secretary of State In March 2025, Hoskins suspended payments for library subscriptions to OverDrive, Inc., a supplier for digital audiobooks and ebooks, alleging the app gives minors access to inappropriate content. In July 2026, Hoskins threatened to pull funding from Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Missouri over an LGBTQ-themed story time.
In 2025 and 2026, Hoskins was challenged with lawsuits for "deceptive and prejudicial" ballot summaries for initiative petitions related to education funding and access, an amendment to remove income tax and expand sales tax, and others.
On September 10, 2026, the Supreme Court of Missouri found Hoskins in contempt of court for his refusal to implement their ruling regarding the state's congressional maps and 2026 Missouri Proposition A. He subsequently agreed to direct clerks to use the correct legal map.
In 2026, Hoskins directed Missouri election officials to implement a congressional map enacted by the General Assembly in 2025 during an extraordinary session, which was used for the August primary. On August 4, Hoskins declared that the referendum was "unconstitutional" and would not appear on the November ballot. On September 3, the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled that the referendum petition was sufficient and prevented the 2025 map from taking effect before voters considered it in the November election. The court stated that the 2025 map "is not the law and never has been the law" in Missouri and ordered that the congressional map enacted in 2022 be used for the November election.
Hoskins sought a stay of the Supreme Court of Missouri ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied on September 8. On September 10, after a federal district court ordered use of the 2025 map in a separate case, Onder v. State of Missouri, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed that order, leaving the 2022 map in effect.
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled on September 21 that the 2025 map should be used, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed that ruling on September 25. In the opinion, the Court reiterated that under Missouri law, the 2025 map had not taken effect and that the 2022 map was to be used for the 2026 midterm general election.
Electoral history State representative
State Senate
Secretary of State
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