Mike Hamra

Mike Hamra (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Missouri. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024.

Biography

Mike Hamra was born in Springfield, Missouri, where he currently lives. Hamra graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, earned an MBA from Kennesaw State University, and earned a J.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. His career experience includes practicing law in Washington, D.C. for eight years. His professional experience includes working as the president and CEO of Hamra Enterprises, a restaurant franchisee owned by his family. He was a political appointee to the Clinton Administration, and he was also chief of staff and legal advisor for the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission .^[1]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Governor of Missouri

Mike Kehoe defeated Crystal Quade, Bill Slantz, Paul Lehmann, and Theodis Brown Sr. in the general election for Governor of Missouri on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mike Kehoe (R)	59.1	1,750,802
	Crystal Quade (D)	38.7	1,146,173
	Bill Slantz (L)	1.4	40,908
	Paul Lehmann (G)	0.8	22,359
	Theodis Brown Sr. (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	24

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,960,266
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Larry Flenoid II (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Missouri

Crystal Quade defeated Mike Hamra, Eric Morrison, Sheryl Gladney, and Hollis Laster in the Democratic primary for Governor of Missouri on August 6, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Crystal Quade	50.2	190,228
	Mike Hamra	31.7	119,901
	Eric Morrison	9.8	37,084
	Sheryl Gladney	6.7	25,370
	Hollis Laster	1.6	5,990

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 378,573
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Sarah Unsicker (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Missouri

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Missouri on August 6, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mike Kehoe	39.4	275,139
	Bill Eigel	32.5	227,257
	Jay Ashcroft	23.2	162,314
	Amber Thomsen	1.5	10,653
	Chris Wright	1.3	9,376
	Darrell Leon McClanahan III	0.8	5,656
	Robert Olson	0.4	2,985
	Jeremy Gundel	0.4	2,951
	Darren Grant	0.3	1,871

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 698,202
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Governor of Missouri

Bill Slantz advanced from the Libertarian primary for Governor of Missouri on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Slantz	100.0	2,419

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,419
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Hamra in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Mike Hamra did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Hamra’s campaign website stated the following:

“	AN ECONOMY FOR EVERYONE Dear Missourians, Our state has always been full of potential, but our broken politics have put our state’s future at risk and have held our state back from living up to our potential. Extreme politicians in Jefferson City have worked to advance their agenda rather than move our state forward. In turn, businesses have left for greener pastures, students have left for better opportunities, and families have been left struggling to make ends meet. I know our state can do so much better. Missouri has always been a great place to live, work, and raise a family. We are home to countless entrepreneurs and innovators, job creators and go-getters, mom-and-pop shops and multinational corporations. As a proud Missourian and a business owner, I see the creativity, the tenacity, and the can-do spirit of people across our state every single day. What we lack today – an Economy for Everyone – we can build tomorrow, with the right vision and the right leadership. That’s why I have a plan as governor to strengthen local economies across the state, grow small businesses new and old, and attract the high-paying jobs and highskilled workers we need to jumpstart our economy and create a prosperous future. Plenty of politicians say they want to grow small businesses, but few have actually done so in the real world. I’ve spent the last 20 years on the frontlines of my family’s business, growing it from 26 locations to nearly 200 – today we employ 2,000 Missourians and 7,400 people nationwide. If our leaders come together, willing to think outside the box and work hard, I know that we can unlock the potential of our state. And while we need a fresh approach for Missouri, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel to get our state and our businesses rolling. We already know what works – incentivizing entrepreneurship and investing in workforce training; removing unnecessary barriers to employment and creating an environment where businesses can grow and workers can thrive. We just lack the political will and vision to make it a reality. My plan invests in local businesses and entrepreneurs to make Missouri the Small Business Capital of the Midwest – and not just in St. Louis and Kansas City, but in every corner of our great state. We’ll make it easier – and simpler – for you to start and run a business, so you can focus on what’s important: your employees and your customers, not government bureaucracy. And we will do what I’ve always done at Hamra Enterprises, which is put workers first and give them the tools and skills they need to succeed, so that we all succeed. Missouri deserves a leader who can put partisan politics aside to move our state forward. As governor, I want to create more good-paying jobs, grow our small businesses, and strengthen our economy so that everyone can prosper. It’s time we put politics as usual aside, and get back to work, so we can get ahead. Sincerely, Mike Hamra INVESTING IN MISSOURI'S PEOPLE Dear Missourians, If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a leader and chief executive of a growing business that employs thousands of Missourians, it’s that nothing is more important to our success than investing in our employees. A business that fails to make those investments will fail to succeed –and a state that fails to invest in its people will fail to prosper. But with business as usual in Jefferson City – and with politicians more focused on winning elections and scoring political points than they are on governing – we’ve lost sight of that vision. Our economy has slowed as businesses have left the state, our students have fallen behind, health outcomes have declined, and the costs of raising a family are far too high for far too many. Missourians are hardworking and resourceful, optimistic and innovative. The people of this great state have the vision and the spirit to create a future for Missouri that we can all be proud of. But the fact is, we won’t achieve that vision if we continue to fail to invest in the people that make this state so great. I’m proud that my family business has been able to grow from just 26 locations to nearly 200, employing 2,000 Missourians and more than 7,400 people nationwide. But we didn’t get there by chance. We invested in our workers, because they are the key to our success. At Hamra Enterprises, we offer full medical and retirement benefits, tuition reimbursement, housing assistance, and we support our student employees by paying them to do their homework and to get good grades, so they can continue to grow in their education and their career. As governor, I’m going to do the same thing for all of Missouri – invest in our people, because they are the key to our success. That means ensuring that every child, no matter where they live or how much their parents make, can get a high-quality education that will prepare them for a meaningful career. It means finding smart ways to tackle the affordability crisis in our state and across our nation, by going after medical debt and primary care costs, expanding tax credits for seniors and veterans, and easing the financial burden of raising a young family. And it means looking at our communities holistically, from the safety of our streets to the energy we rely on to the water we drink and the food we eat. It is time our state leaders stopped thinking about investments in Missouri’s people as optional line items in the state budget – whether raising teacher salaries, expanding paid leave programs, or growing our renewable energy sector. We need a leader who understands that investments in Missouri’s people are absolutely essential in order to live up to our vast potential as a state and move Missouri forward. Sincerely, Mike Hamra Better Governance, Better Government Dear Missourians, In my business, when my customers don’t like the way I run things, they vote with their feet and their pocketbooks. We simply cannot succeed unless the customer is satisfied with the service we provide. Too often, state government acts like it’s the only game in town. But as our state has fallen behind our neighbors in areas like economic growth, business creation, household income, primary education, and more, we’ve seen the negative effects that mindset can have. The fact is, Missourians make tough choices about where to raise their families and build their businesses each and every day. And if our state government isn’t getting the job done to enable them to thrive, our whole state will suffer. I’m not a politician, but I’m running for governor because I want to unleash the potential of our state, just as I’ve been able to do in my family business. We need Better Governance, and Better Government. In short, we need to bring a customer service mindset to our state government so that we are more effectively delivering results for the people of our state. My plan for Missouri is simple – put the government’s customers first. To address our state’s problems, we’re going to get creative about how state agencies provide services to Missourians throughout the state, with incentives for exceptional customer service and new partnerships between the public and private sector. Where our state government has fallen behind, we’re going to update and modernize the way we do business, with the development of clear performance metrics and transparency measures to hold us accountable. Instead of relying on outdated systems and unwieldy IT infrastructure, we’re going to bring Missouri into the 21st Century. But we’re also going to fix the corrupt systems that have allowed our state government to stagnate for so long. By reforming our broken electoral system, cracking down on the influence-peddling of lobbyists, and holding partisan politicians accountable for inaction or worse, we can finally move Missouri forward. For too many Missourians, it can seem like politics is broken and state government is dysfunctional, that our elected officials just care about getting elected, not about fixing our problems. It’s time we got things back on track, with fresh leadership and a fresh approach. Sincerely, Mike Hamra^[2]	”
—Mike Hamra’s campaign website (2024)^[3]

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia Logo Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Mike Hamra campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Governor of Missouri	Lost primary	$1,011,643	$3,130,628
Grand total			$1,011,643	$3,130,628
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

External links

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Candidate

Governor of Missouri

Personal

Footnotes

↑ LinkedIn, "Mike Hamra," accessed July 23, 2024
↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ Mike Hamra’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed July 23, 2024

[bio-1] LinkedIn, "Mike Hamra," accessed July 23, 2024

[quotedisclaimer-2] Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[3] Mike Hamra’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed July 23, 2024

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Mike Hamra

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Governor of Missouri

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Missouri

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Missouri

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Governor of Missouri

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Campaign website

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

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