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Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe defeats Democratic challenger to win Missouri governorship
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe won the Missouri governor's race Tuesday, defeating Democratic challenger Crystal Quade to maintain the GOP's grip on the state's government.
Kehoe will succeed GOP Gov. Mike Parson, who chose him to be his second-in-command in 2018. Parson was barred by term limits from seeking reelection.
Kehoe thanked Parson and Missouri first lady Teresa Parson, who both attended his Jefferson City watch party, before giving an at-times emotional acceptance speech in which he pledged a running start once he is sworn in.
"As soon as my hand comes off the Bible, the Kehoe administration will be relentless in our efforts to make Missouri safer," Kehoe said in prepared remarks provided to reporters. "We will ensure that Missouri is a state where it is easier to be a cop than a criminal, and we will not rest until the criminals who make our streets and our neighborhoods dangerous are held accountable."
Quade, the outgoing state House Democratic minority leader, said in a statement that she had called Kehoe to congratulate him. She told supporters that "all hope is not lost" and expressed optimism that an abortion-rights amendment on the ballot Tuesday could still pass — which it later did.
"I promise you, we will keep fighting," Quade told a watch party in her hometown of Springfield.
Kehoe had been heavily favored to win. Republicans control Missouri's state House and state Senate, and no Democrats serve in any statewide office. The last Democrat to serve in statewide office was former Auditor Nicole Galloway, who had been appointed to the position in 2015 and won reelection in 2020. She left office in 2023.
Republican presidential candidates have won Missouri in every election since 1996. The last Democratic governor was Jay Nixon, who served two terms but was barred by term limits from seeking a third in 2016.
Quade and other Democrats had hoped to gain ground in Missouri this year as voters also weighed in on the constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights to the state, which banned almost all abortions in 2022.
Kehoe opposed the amendment and during a September debate said it would go too far. But he has also said he is open to amending the state's law banning abortions to allow exceptions in cases of rape and incest.
Missouri Democrats during the campaign had zeroed in on Kehoe's position on who won the 2020 election in the final weeks of the gubernatorial race. Kehoe's campaign this summer told CNN that Democratic President Joe Biden has "no business being president" and "is illegitimate in the eyes of the voters, of his party, and of the world."
That stands in contrast to what Kehoe had said shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Days afterward, Kehoe told the Kansas City Star that "the time now is for people to accept the results and move forward."
Kehoe edged out early favorite Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft during this year's expensive GOP primary.
He framed himself as the law-and-order candidate, campaigned on securing the southern border and touted his modest upbringing with five siblings and single mother in St. Louis.
Kehoe, 62, ascended from president pro tem of the state Senate to lieutenant governor in 2018, when Parson became the state's chief executive after former Gov. Eric Greitens resigned following a sex scandal. Voters first elected Kehoe to the state Senate to represent his Jefferson City-area district in 2010. Before that, he worked as a car dealer.
Voters elected 39-year-old Quade to the state House in 2016. Her peers voted her House minority leader beginning in the 2019 legislative session.
Missouri voters also elected Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who had been appointed by Parson in 2023. He defeated Democratic challenger Elad Gross to keep his seat.