Missourians have been faced with recent elections for Governor where they have had at best one candidate they could choose who could actually do the job. Well Tuesday Missourians have an embarrassment of riches when choosing between Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe and House Minority Leader Crystal Quade.
Lt. Governor Kehoe has one of the most impressive personal stories of anyone to ever serve in Missouri state government. He has more hands on experience around the state, in business, and in state government than perhaps anyone to run for the office since Governor Francis.
Mike Kehoe can personally relate to more parts of this state than anyone we can remember on the ballot. He has lived in St. Louis, ran a Ford dealership in Jefferson City, and owns a cattle ranch in Jerome. Missouri literally exudes from him. Whether urban or rural he has a first hand understanding of our state and its challenges.
Kehoe has served in the executive branch leading The Highway Commission under Governor Blunt. It’s an invaluable experience to have actually been appointed and successfully served as a gubernatorial appointee when you are now the Governor assessing the best applicants to fill these appointments. No other modern candidate for Governor has actually served in a senior appointed role in state government, and no Governor will have the perspective of what is going through those appointee’s minds as they serve the state.
As a state senator Kehoe was quickly elected to senate leadership in his third year and the floor leader by the first year of his second term. There have been several Governors who have previously served in the General Assembly.
However, no Governor since Governors Carnahan and Hearnes have previously served in senior legislative leadership. No one has become Governor that served in Senate leadership since Governor Donnelly. Mike Kehoe has first hand experience in what it takes to move legislation and that will be immensely helpful in unjamming the legislative log jam in the senate.
The Missouri Senate is an exclusive club of the state’s highest deliberative body. There are many parts of the senate that you have to actually be a senator to fully understand. Kehoe has been there, and therefore has a deeper understanding of the challenges and the levers of power in that body.
Mike Kehoe has spent six and a half years working alongside Governor Parson in one of the most successful administrations in Missouri history. He was in the room leading the discussions on the majority of their administration’s legislative achievements. While serving in this role Kehoe has had a unique opportunity to study the job of Governor and make his plans for the state over the next eight years when he takes over.
Perhaps his greatest qualification is his remarkable record in business. He was one of the youngest Ford dealers in America. He has signed both sides of a paycheck, actually created jobs, and personally ran a manufacturing plant right here in the Great State of Missouri.
If you are an angry suburban right winger, Mike Kehoe has the ability to actually pass the legislation that is typically reserved for whining on Facebook. It’s unlikely that he will ever whine enough for some suburban republicans, but he has the unique ability alongside Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin and House Speaker Jon Patterson to accomplish some of the things Missouri republicans have only dreamed of.
It is rare that you have three such remarkable leaders in place all at the same time, much less in the first year of an administration.
While that might not excite Democrats, any loyal Democrat can rest assured that in a Mike Kehoe administration there will be no selling out the state’s future for party hackery. Missouri will get an effective conservative Governor, but Mike Kehoe will not sign off on partisan boondoggles. It’s safe to assume that he will effect all the conservative government that actually adds up.
Those who doubt that need to look no further than six years ago when the state was in peril with a Governor who had no concern whatsoever for the state. Republican Senator Mike Kehoe was one of the first in his party to stand up and call for the republican Governor to resign and save the state from further embarrassment.
That took guts, the same type of guts it takes to speak common sense to extremists on either side.
Crystal Quade would be a fine Governor, anyone can be proud of their vote for her. There is little doubt that her impressive campaign performance has made her the Missouri Democratic Party’s brightest star. Her day will come and that day may very well see her become Governor one day. This state could do much worse.
However, that day is not today. We encourage Missourians of all stripes to cast their vote for Mike Kehoe. Four years from now Missourians won’t regret their decision.
Judicial Retentions
While at the polls Tuesday, Missourians have the opportunity to affirm three judges who have served the state incredibly well in Supreme Court Judges Kelly Broniec and Ginger Gooch, as well as Western District Court of Appeals Judge Gary Witt.
They are from different parties and different parts of the state. You can agree or disagree with their individual decisions, but no Missourian can honestly question their qualifications or their integrity.
These judges have earned their retention votes. Missouri Republicans can feel confident that their Missouri Plan is now producing conservative judges like Broniec and Gooch. Democrats in the state should be quite wary of a vote not to confirm them.
Currently, you have two Republican judges on the Supreme Court who are balanced and reasoned in their rulings. It’s quite apparent that if either judge isn’t retained you stand a far greater chance of getting an extremist reactionary than you do a judge anywhere near their caliber. Further, liberals in a bright red state should be very wary of starting a retention tit for tat in a state where they are so far outnumbered by conservatives.
In Judge Gary Witt Missourians have one of the most talented and down to earth public servants sitting on one of the highest courts in the state. Judge Witt is a throw back to the days of common sense deal makers from when he was in the House of Representatives. He embodies what is right, and what is fair about the Missouri Judiciary.
Missourians of all partisan divides, and in all corners of the state can confidently retain these judges in another affirmation that their Missouri Plan has again given them a slate of qualified quality judges to affirm.
