Updated: Crystal Quade enters 2024 governor race 

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Last edited 11:41 a.m., July 10, 2023 [Editor's note: Information from the news conference, as well as Missouri Ethics Commission records, have been added.]

Missouri Rep. Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, held a news conference this morning to formally announce her bid for governor after first revealing her plans in a video message Sunday morning. 

Speaking from the event space of Big Momma's, 217 E. Commercial St., Quade said, “I’m a mom; I’m a social worker and a leader who builds bridges to make change.” 

She added that she is a different kind of candidate. 

“Missouri has never seen a governor like me,” she said. “I want this campaign to be about pocketbook issues. I want this campaign to be about our plans to strengthen our public schools, to make health care more affordable and accessible and how to get better child care in every single corner of our state. While my opponents give tax cuts to big corporations and millionaires, the rest of us are figuring out how to pay for things that are too expensive.” 

The House minority leader and representative for District 132 was first elected to office in 2016. 

In her campaign video, Quade shared her intention to restore abortion rights and touted her support in the House to stop China and Russia from purchasing Missouri farmland.

The only Democrat in the race, Quade is running to succeed Gov. Mike Parson who cannot run again because of term limits. Republican candidates in the gubernatorial race include Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Charles County. 

Quade is in her last term as a state representative covering downtown and parts of northeast Springfield due to term limits. In the past legislative session, she advocated for gun reform, child care and abortion rights and against a corporate tax cut, according to media reports. 

Quade graduated from Missouri State University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in social work. She’s worked as a staff assistant and constituent services representative for the U.S. Senate, regional field director for Community Blood Center of the Ozarks and as director of chapter services for Springfield nonprofit Care to Learn. 

In announcing her candidacy in the Sunday video, Quade said she grew up on food stamps and leftovers her single mom brought home from work. She said she was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. 

“When you come from nothing, you fight the odds your whole life,” she said in the video, later adding, “I committed myself to helping families like the one I grew up in.” 

Quade's Citizens For Crystal Quade committee on file with the Missouri Ethics Commission had $68,565 in money on hand as of the latest quarterly report filed April 17.