ST. LOUIS — Decision 2024 is shaping up to be a major election year in Missouri.
For the first time since 2016, the governor's seat is open, and two big names in Missouri politics are already sizing each other up for a primary slugfest.
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe launched his campaign for governor this week with an introductory video showing his journey from humble roots to success in business and politics.
"It's not where you grew up or whether your parents had a lot," Kehoe says in a two-minute video. "It's about how hard you're willing to work. And it's about respecting the people you work with to solve problems, grow business, and create jobs."
Kehoe's campaign plans to show off his strength in retail politics, and hopes to introduce him to voters in person where they feel his relaxed, comfortable persona will build trust and rapport. Kehoe's aides feel his soft-spoken poise and approachability presents a favorable contrast against the harsher tones and rigid rhetoric Ashcroft has sometimes displayed in public speeches.
While Kehoe's first campaign video prominently features positive attributes from his personal biography, he also took a thinly veiled swipe at Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, saying: "I didn't have a famous father."
Why raise that point?
"Because my point is that I came from the roots. I'm from North City," Kehoe said during an interview on the campgrounds at the Babler State Park on Thursday morning. "I came scratching through life. I didn't have anything handed to me. None of my family members did, certainly not my mother. And so our point of that ad is that I think Missourians can relate with somebody who was born literally with nothing and worked hard to get somewhere."
Ashcroft's father, John Ashcroft, climbed to the highest ranks in Missouri politics as the state's attorney general, governor, and U.S. senator before President George W. Bush appointed him as the U.S. attorney general.
Ashcroft's campaign hit back at Kehoe out for supporting gas tax increases throughout his political career to pay for infrastructure improvements, labeling him, "Tax Hike Mike."
"In the last five years, Jefferson City politicians have nearly doubled state government spending and gotten very good at asking taxpayers to foot the bill," Ashcroft responded. "Nearly every lobbyist and special interest group supports Mike because he has consistently carried their water. As governor, I’m going to carry the water of the hardworking men and women who are asked to fund this spending spree."
Kehoe defended his voting record and tied the gas tax hikes back to the Ashcroft family name.
"I've never been great at nicknames, but, you know, if they want to put a nickname on, that's fine," Kehoe replied. "I think at the end of the day, what Missourians will understand is that either as the leader in the Senate, when I was the floor leader, or as lieutenant governor presiding over the two of the largest tax cuts that's ever happened in the state of Missouri, I've cut way more taxes than I proposed.
"The issue that they're talking about was our proposition to try to increase the fuel tax so that Missourians could invest more into the roads and investment in our road and bridge system. And the reality was when I was proposing that in 2013 and '14, nobody had had that conversation since the early nineties, when then John Ashcroft proposed and passed a gas tax on Missourians as a way to fund infrastructure."
Does Kehoe think gas taxes are too high in Missouri?
"As compared to other states? No, not at all. We're still in the lower quartile of what where our gas taxes are compared to other states," he said.
Republican state senator Bill Eigel, who could announce his own primary bid to run for governor later this year, had a different answer to the same question.
“Yes — but let’s be honest; all taxes in our state are too high. That’s why our state isn’t growing," Eigel said. "Mike Kehoe has never missed a chance to increase taxes so it’s no surprise he apparently is ready for gas taxes to go up even further. I can’t imagine Missourians are looking for the type of leadership that want to make gas more expensive. We already have enough money going to Jefferson City to provide for good roads—that’s why we were able to set aside the dollars to rebuild I-70 this year without a single dime of gas tax revenues helping the effort. Republicans cut taxes—not raise them.”