Republican Mike Kehoe faces Democrat Crystal Quade for Missouri governor

On November 6, 2024By Littum

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican Lt. Govt. Mike Kehoe facing Missouri State Rep. Crystal Square Tuesday for the governorship.

Kehoe is heavily favored to win in the heavily Republican state, where Quade is the House minority leader. Quade and other Missouri Democrats hope to return to political relevance with the help of abortion rights supporters, who could be more energized to vote with an abortion rights amendment on the ballot this year.

Quade supports the amendment, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and, if approved, is expected to repeal the state’s nearly total abortion ban.

Kehoe opposes the amendment. At a debate in September, Kehoe said it “goes way too far.”

Kehoe campaigned on his work as a car dealer and rancher and said he will focus on improving the state’s economy and supporting agriculture if elected. He also pitched himself as a law-and-order candidate, promising to crack down on crime and calling for tighter security on the southern US border.

Kehoe became an early favorite Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft during this year’s expensive and controversial GOP primary.

Kehoe, 62, rose up from president pro tem of the state senate to lieutenant governor in 2018 when his predecessor, Mike Parson, became the state’s chief executive. Priest became governor after former governor Eric Greitens resigned following a sex scandal.

Voters first elected Kehoe to the state Senate to represent his Jefferson City district in 2010.

Voters elected Quade, a 39-year-old Springfield resident, to the state House in 2016. Her peers voted her House minority leader starting in the 2019 legislative session.

Also on the ballot on Tuesday is the race for attorney general. Voters will choose between Republican incumbent Andrew Bailey, who is seeking his first full term, and Democrat Elad Gross, a former assistant attorney general who worked under Missouri’s last Democratic attorney general.

Parson named Bailey, who succeeded Eric Schmitt, now a U.S. senator, as the state’s top attorney. Bailey previously worked as a general counsel in the governor’s office.

Bailey, the heavy favorite, has attracted national attention since taking office in January 2023 for his zeal on hot-button issues, particularly gender-affirming healthcare and cancellation of student loans.

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