Voters in聽Missouri鈥檚 Republican gubernatorial primary聽on Aug. 6 deserve a candidate who forcefully rejects the GOP鈥檚 current embrace of MAGA grievance and instead represents the serious and responsible leadership of Republicanism past.
Alas, no such candidate is on the party鈥檚 primary ballot this year. Lt. Gov.聽Mike Kehoe聽is the closest thing to it, which is why we offer him our endorsement. We wish we could offer it with more enthusiasm, but given the state of his party today, this was always going to come down to the least-bad choice. Kehoe is, at least, that.
The best recommendation for Kehoe is that the two other serious contenders in the wide GOP gubernatorial field are Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel.
Ashcroft鈥檚 arc in recent years is especially disappointing: Once the conservative but generally constructive and responsible heir to the Ashcroft political dynasty (his father, John Ashcroft, was a Missouri governor, U.S. senator and U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush), the younger Ashcroft now drinks the MAGA Kool-Aid by the gallon.
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We could go through the long litany of Ashcroft鈥檚 offenses against responsible public policy for the rest of this editorial, but two issues alone are sufficient to render him unacceptable to anyone, of any party, who cares about good governance: Ashcroft wielded his authority as the state鈥檚 official librarian to impose ideologically based censorship on聽public libraries聽throughout Missouri; and he abused his authority as Missouri top election official to attempt to thwart the public鈥檚 opportunity for a fair up-or-down vote on聽abortion rights.
Either of these stunts by itself should be disqualifying. A secretary of state who abuses his power for personal political gain should be denied higher political office.
Eigel is even worse.
鈥淚鈥檓 running for governor, to聽迟辞谤肠丑听the woke agenda,鈥 this charter member of the nihilist band of Missouri Senate obstructionists known as the Freedom Caucus declares in a video ad featuring a flamethrower. Eigel uses it to incinerate cardboard boxes with labels such as 鈥淏iden鈥檚 illegal invasion,鈥 鈥淭ransgender trash in schools鈥 and 鈥淧orn books in schools.鈥
Eigel鈥檚 refusal to pause this聽聽even after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump says all there is to say about his fitness for public office.
That Kehoe looks positively statesmanlike next to these two doesn鈥檛 excuse his own nods toward the more reactionary corners of his party.
These include backing the continued use of Missouri resources on the southern border, and support for the unhinged 鈥淪econd Amendment Preservation Act,鈥 which presumes 鈥 against the constitutional order and the very concept of federalism 鈥 to put Missouri outside the reach of federal gun restrictions.
Kehoe at least has said in the past that he鈥檚 open to rape and incest exceptions to Missouri's draconian abortion ban.
And his lack of apparent enthusiasm for the MAGA piffle that he echoes these days indicates that he knows it鈥檚 just what he has to say to be a credible Republican candidate. Which, in his defense, perhaps says more about his wayward party than it does about him.
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If Missouri Republicans have no great options for governor among the primary frontrunners, voters in the state's聽Democratic gubernatorial primary聽are in the happy position of having no bad ones.
Indeed, the Editorial Board is more torn on an endorsement choice in the Democratic nomination race than on any other in the state this year. Either state House Minority Leader Crystal Quade or Springfield businessman Mike Hamra would make an excellent governor.
Rep. Quade is a smart, savvy legislator who has skillfully navigated the challenges of working with (or, when need be, around) an often belligerent Republican supermajority. She has the strong backing of fellow Democratic lawmakers, unions and most of the party鈥檚 establishment. She articulates well her party鈥檚 priorities, particularly on social issues.
But half the point of holding party primaries 鈥 after the imperative of choosing a candidate who can do the job well 鈥 is choosing the candidate likeliest to聽win聽the job in the general election. Quade is running a strong, credible campaign, but she isn鈥檛 ultimately offering Missouri鈥檚 stubbornly right-leaning electorate anything they haven鈥檛 seen (and rejected) from Democrats before.
On that front, we鈥檇 suggest that Democratic primary voters consider the possibility that聽Mike Hamra聽may be their best strategic choice.
We can already hear gnashing of teeth from the Democratic base, which is wired to reject a wealthy business-focused outsider and embrace a standard insider Democratic campaign focused on social issues. Listen carefully to that predictable chorus, and you鈥檒l get a political primer on why the Democrats hold not a single statewide office in Missouri today.
Hamra and Quade are in general agreement on most substantive Democratic priorities, including the urgency of restoring abortion rights and sane gun policies to Missouri.
Their main difference is in their focus. Hamra, whose lucrative family business owns some 200 restaurants including Panera and Wendy鈥檚 franchises, is unabashedly focused on economic policies to aid small business and, ultimately, those they employ.
These include聽聽to provide seed funding and other incentives for startups, streamlining the government bureaucracy small businesses face, bolstering state funding for apprenticeship programs, and implementing paid family and medical leave statewide to make Missouri more attractive to workers.
鈥淚t would be very difficult for Republicans to paint me as a hyper-partisan candidate,鈥 Hamra told us. 鈥淚鈥檓 strong in my convictions, which is why I鈥檓 a Democrat,鈥 he said, but added that he eschews 鈥渃razy ideological warfare.鈥
We were especially impressed that Hamra鈥檚 mantra of business as a force for social good isn鈥檛 just a campaign line but is how he has actually run his businesses 鈥 offering employees tuition reimbursements, incentives to return to school and even rewarding student employees for good grades.
Our endorsement of Hamra comes with reservations. Though he holds a law degree and has previously worked in the federal bureaucracy, he has never held elective office. The fact that he has largely self-funded his campaign isn鈥檛 ideal.
But if Democrats are to have any hope of breaking the GOP鈥檚 stranglehold on Missouri politics, they鈥檒l need to offer something different than their counterparts in less-red areas of the country. For disaffected conservatives, centrists and independents who lament that the populist culture warriors of today鈥檚 radicalized GOP have driven out so-called Chamber of Commerce Republicans, a Chamber of Commerce Democrat might be just the ticket.
