2024 Missouri gubernatorial election

The 2024 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of Missouri, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Parson was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a second full term in office due to having served more than two years of predecessor Eric Greitens' unexpired term following his resignation in June 2018. The Republican nominee, incumbent lieutenant governor Mike Kehoe, defeated the Democratic nominee, minority Leader of the Missouri House of Representatives Crystal Quade, to succeed Parson.

Primary elections took place on August 6, 2024. Mike Kehoe, the incumbent lieutenant governor, won the Republican nomination, while Crystal Quade, the Minority Leader of the Missouri House of Representatives, won the Democratic nomination. Kehoe defeated Quade in the general election with 59.1 percent of the vote.

A former bellwether state, Missouri has politically trended rightward in recent years and is today a Republican stronghold at both the federal and state levels. The last Democrat to hold the office of governor in Missouri was Jay Nixon, who comfortably won re-election in 2012. In 2020, Parson won by 16.41%, the first time a Republican gubernatorial candidate won by a double-digit margin since John Ashcroft's landslide re-election in 1988. Major news organizations predicted that the state would elect another Republican governor in 2024.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Mike Kehoe, Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (2018–present)

Eliminated in primary

Jay Ashcroft, Missouri Secretary of State (2017–present) and son of former governor John Ashcroft
Bill Eigel, state senator from the 23rd district (2017–present)
Darren Grant
Jeremy Gundel, write-in candidate for lieutenant governor in 2020
Darrell McClanahan, stay-at-home parent, honorary KKK member, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022
Robert Olson, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022
Amber Thomsen
Chris Wright, businessman and former police officer

Endorsements

Polling

Debates

Results

Kehoe secured a modest victory, carrying 88 counties, as well as the city of St. Louis. He performed the best in Shelby County, while Eigel, the runner-up, earned his best result in Grundy County. Finally, Ashcroft narrowly surpassed Kehoe in Greene County.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Crystal Quade, Minority Leader of the Missouri House of Representatives (2019–present) from the 132nd district (2017–present)

Eliminated in primary

Sheryl Gladney, customer service agent
Mike Hamra, restaurant conglomerate owner
Hollis Laster
Eric Morrison, pastor and candidate for governor in 2016 and 2020

Disqualified

Sarah Unsicker, state representative from the 83rd district

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Quade led the race, winning slightly more than half of the votes, as well as 90 county equivalents out of 115. She performed the best in Greene County, where the city of Springfield is located. Conversely, Hamra recorded his best result in Harrison County, with some more than 50% of the vote. Morrison failed to win a single county, but still managed to tie Pemiscot County, earning as many votes there as Hamra did.

Third-party and independent candidates

Declared

Paul Lehman (Green), farmer and nominee for secretary of state in 2020
Bill Slantz (Libertarian), former chair of the Missouri Libertarian Party, perennial candidate, and nominee for governor in 2020