Four Republicans will face off in the Aug. 7 primary for the chance to take on Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway this fall.

Paul Curtman of Pacific, Saundra McDowell of Jefferson City, Kevin Roach of Ballwin and David Wasinger of St. Louis all hope they get the shot to unseat the Democratic incumbent in November, and each thinks he or she is uniquely qualified to carry the Republican banner.

Curtman works as a financial adviser and is serving the last of his eight years in the Missouri House. He previously served 10 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I’ve learned the politicians are term limited, but bureaucrats are not,” Curtman said at a recent candidate forum. “And that’s created a huge problem for us in Missouri.”

He pointed to his experience as chairman of the House committee on downsizing government as a reason he’s best qualified to be the state’s auditor.

While leading those committees, Curtman said, he has had “an opportunity to really put the screws to some of these bureaucrats and use that time and that opportunity to put together solutions so we can get out ahead of the problems that we’re discovering in the audits.”

McDowell is an attorney who served eight years in the Air Force. She previously worked as an assistant attorney general under former Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster, and more recently in the securities division for Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

“I have the exact experience of the office,” she said.

In the attorney general’s office, McDowell said, she helped prosecute Medicaid fraud. When she went to work with Ashcroft, she said led the office’s efforts to investigate securities fraud.

“With my investigations I have literally put people in jail for the fraudulent acts that they have committed,” she said, later adding: “There is a lot of corruption in Missouri that I want to go in and fight.”

Roach is an alderman in the city of Ballwin in St. Louis County who runs a consulting firm for businesses and nonprofits. He got his MBA from Webster University, where he says he studied forensic accounting and the investigation of financial fraud.

“We have over 3,700 separate governmental entities in Missouri, and they are living off your paychecks,” Roach told a recent GOP candidate forum. “We need to modernize the office, because the state auditor right now audits less than 100 of these entities every year.”

He said that fact is contributing to an “illusion of accountability.”

Roach said he’ll get the budgets for all 3,700 government entities online, along with monthly expenses, so that “people who are interested can get the information they need to ask questions about your money.”

Wasinger is an attorney and the only certified public accountant running in the GOP primary. He said that makes him the only person running for the nomination that is qualified for the job.

“I’m the only CPA, and historically, the office has been held by a CPA and attorney,” he said. He added that because Galloway is a CPA, she will make that an issue in November if Republicans nominate someone who is not.

Wasinger points to his experience in the private sector after the 2008 financial crisis,when he participated in litigation led by the U.S. attorney’s office against Countrywide Home Loans and JPMorgan Chase accusing the companies of defrauding the U.S. government.

The resulting settlements in those lawsuits, Wasinger said, meant more than “$18 billion went back into the pockets of taxpayers.”

He vowed to take on the “culture of cronyism and corruption in Jefferson City” if he becomes auditor.

Wasinger has a huge financial advantage in the race. He loaned his campaign $500,000, giving him $761,000 cash on hand as of July 1.

Curtman reported roughly $21,000 cash on hand, followed by $3,000 for Roach and $1,500 for McDowell.

Galloway, who’s running unopposed for the Democratic nomination, has nearly $1.1 million cash on hand.