12 People You Need to Know: Mike Kehoe

Q&A | Dec. 16

Why You Need to Know Mike: The 58th governor of the state of Missouri has reducing taxes, increasing child care access and budgeting concerns among issues on his mind heading into his second year in office.
Position: Governor, state of Missouri
Age: 63
Education: Chaminade College Preparatory School graduate
Career: Lieutenant governor, state of Missouri; state senator and majority floor leader, District 6; president, Mike Kehoe Ford Inc.; owner, Osage Industries; and cattle farmer

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With the next Missouri legislative session just a few weeks away, Gov. Mike Kehoe is getting priorities in order for his second year in office.

Elected in November 2024 as the state’s 58th governor, Kehoe says tax policy issues, such as eliminating the state income tax, as well as reforming child care and navigating budgetary challenges are among issues his administration will traverse when the Missouri General Assembly returns to Jefferson City in January.

“Many states have eliminated their state income tax, and there’s a couple of models out there that we’ll be looking at to see if we can work with local legislators like Curtis Trent, the senator in this area has been really active in tax policy,” Kehoe says. “I think that’s a big piece for economic development.”

Tax reform also was a priority this year for Kehoe, who this summer signed House Bill 594, which made Missouri the first in the nation to enact a tax cut that exempts capital gains from income taxes.

An executive order Kehoe issued this year tasked the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to revise child care licensing rules. The intent, in part, is to make licensing more practical and accessible to expand licensed child care availability.

“One of the bigger steps is we need to keep the kids safe, but we need to get government out of the way when we can,” Kehoe says.

A St. Louis native and longtime cattle farmer, Kehoe is the youngest of six children raised by a single mother. Aside from farming, he delved into business opportunities, previously owning car dealerships in Jefferson City and later, Osage Industries, an ambulance manufacturing company in Linn.

While Kehoe began his political career over 15 years ago, he says his entry into the field was unplanned.

“I ran for Senate because I thought it was a way to give back to the community,” he says, noting he was a senator for eight years in District 6, which covers Callaway, Cole, Miller, Moniteau and Morgan counties in mid-Missouri.

Taking on a statewide office took some convincing in 2018 when then-Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson succeeded Eric Greitens as governor. After Greitens resigned, Parson talked Kehoe into filling his lieutenant governor position.

“Gov. Parson was nice enough to give me a chance. I’m a big fan of his,” Kehoe says, adding he traveled to all 114 state counties and built “a lot of relationships” during his six years in the lieutenant governor role. “I can guarantee you there’s nobody in my high school yearbook that wrote Mike Kehoe is going to be governor. And nobody in my family or my friends ever thought that either. It’s been an interesting journey.”

Kehoe, a married father of four who recently became a grandfather, says he tries to stay engaged with his constituency by getting out and talking to people amid appearances across the state. However, that interaction mostly does not carry over to social media.

“Social media has made it really easy for keyboard warriors to just say or do anything they want,” Kehoe says.

He adds, “Being out and about talking to people, we do that a lot. That’s where I spend most of my day. That to me is more real.”