Missouri Republican lawmakers face off in race for Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s seat in 2024

Two Missouri Republican lawmakers will face off in the race for lieutenant governor in 2024.

House Speaker Dean Plocher, a St. Louis Republican, on Wednesday launched a campaign to succeed current Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who is running for governor. He joins a Republican primary that features state Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder from Sikeston who jumped into the race in July.

“I believe leadership takes action, so today I am officially announcing my candidacy for lieutenant governor,” Plocher said in a statement Wednesday. “Together we can lead our state to the next season of conservative accomplishments.”

In Missouri, the lieutenant governor is elected separate from the governor and runs independently. However, the lieutenant governor is second in line to take the governor’s office if the current governor fails to complete their term. The office is the ex-officio president of the Missouri Senate and also in charge of advocating for Missouri’s senior citizens.

Plocher, the top Republican in the Missouri House, was first elected to the General Assembly in 2015. In a statement announcing his candidacy, he vowed to “protect our farmland from China, our classrooms from liberal indoctrination, our families from Biden’s failed economy, and our communities from the progressive crime wave.”

This year, Plocher was the first major Missouri Republican to publicly acknowledge that efforts from lawmakers to make it harder for voters to amend the state constitution were an attempt to prevent voters from legalizing abortion. In May, on the last day of the legislative session, Plocher said that he believed a majority of Missourians would vote to legalize the procedure, which is almost entirely banned in the state.

Rehder was elected to the Senate in 2020 after serving eight years in the Missouri House. The Sikeston Republican successfully sponsored legislation this year that bans transgender student athletes from competing on teams that match their gender identity.

“I will be the hardest working candidate in the race, just as I have been in my previous elections and working for my constituents,” Rehder said when she announced in July. “I am a proven fighter in all walks of life, and I stand firm in my Christian conservative beliefs and campaign promises.”

The match between the two Republican lawmakers comes as Kehoe seeks the Republican nomination for Missouri Governor. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Richard Brown from Kansas City has filed paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission and launched a website to run for lieutenant governor.