In the race to win the Republican nomination for Missouri governor, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe says he doesn't want to deal in personal attacks or "leadership by chaos."
"I believe that Missourians really want somebody who understands how to bring people together, in my case, come up with a conservative solution and move people forward," Kehoe told KCUR's Up To Date. "I am not the guy that's gonna scream and holler. I am not the flamethrower guy. I'm the guy who wants to govern."
Nine Republicans, five Democrats and one Libertarian are running to replace Gov. Mike Parson, who is term-limited, in the the primary race for Missouri governor. Up To Date is interviewing several of the major candidates ahead of the November election.
Kehoe, who's also been a car dealer, state senator, and cattle farmer, leads the race for the Republican nomination in fundraising and endorsements.
In a conversation with Up To Date, Kehoe talked about his stances on some the biggest issues facing Missourians. Here are some key excerpts, edited for length.
Interview Highlights
On funding for the Chiefs and Royals
Kehoe is the only major Republican candidate who would consider giving state aid to keep the Chiefs and Royals in Missouri.
"I am an economic developer. I believe in economic development. And if you just took the word 'Chiefs' and 'Royals' away from this conversation for a minute, and you substituted, 'This is Joe's widget factory. They're a Missouri business, they're producing this much revenue, they're employing this many people, they have this much of an economic effect on our region. What can we do to keep Joe's widget factory from leaving?' I think people would be much more understanding of the conversation.
But all of a sudden, because we have an NFL and Major League Baseball franchise, folks want to change the way that conversation looks. Look, I am not in favor of spending taxpayer dollars to build public stadiums. But I am in favor of keeping businesses to have an impact that have jobs for Missourians here in our state, no matter what that business is."
On eliminating income taxes
Like Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Senator Bill Eigel, Kehoe believes Missouri should eliminate its income tax — though he would take a different approach.
"The important part of the plan is it's not a light switch, you can't go from 4.7 (percent) to zero at midnight one night. You have to develop a ramp that would get you to that point. So you can allow for other sources of revenue to take over, to replace some of that, and for the economy to catch up to it and grow and for that reinvestment back into the economy.
It's not a simple solution. But if you want me to compete with Tennessee, and Texas, if you want to keep Missourians in Missouri, and we want to continue to do economic development, we have to get the tools in the toolbox that allow us to do this."
On local control of the Kansas City Police Department
Kehoe "believes firmly" in maintaining state control of the KCPD.
"Several years ago, St. Louis city went away from state control and went to local control, and has not worked at all. I believe you need to continue to have state control in Kansas City. And you need to reinstate state control in St. Louis. My background as a young guy in North St. Louis, it was the law enforcement community that took care of my mother, my family.
The person who raised me through life and became my mentor was a former law enforcement. I've been around law enforcement my whole life. And these men and women who give their selves to protect our communities need to have all the help they can get. And I believe state control is a good place to be."
Kehoe cited Mayor Quinton Lucas' attempt to reallocate some funding from the KCPD in 2021 as a reason why state control should continue.
"Kansas City is growing, you have a lot of really good stuff going on here. But if you want safe communities, you're going to have to have the manpower and the resources to do that. You can't do that by cutting resources to the Kansas City Police."
Listen to Kehoe's full conversation with Up To Date — including his views on abortion, the death penalty, guns and taxes — above or on your favorite podcast app.
