Dave Spence | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 28, 1958 Overland, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Suzie Spence (1990–present) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Missouri, Columbia (BA) |
Dave Spence (born February 28, 1958) is an American corporate executive and politician. [1] He was the Republican nominee for governor of Missouri in the 2012 election, [2] losing the general election to incumbent Democrat Jay Nixon.
Spence was born in Overland in St. Louis County, Missouri. He spent much of his childhood in the St. Louis area with his mother and two sisters. [3] Following graduation from Kirkwood High School, [4] Spence earned a degree in Home Economics from the University of Missouri in Columbia. [5] [6]
In 1985, the 26-year-old Spence purchased Alpha Packaging, a small plastics firm. Under his ownership it expanded from 15 to 800 employees. Spence has a family background in the plastics industry. His father had started a rubber and plastics business, for which Dave Spence worked as a teen. However, the business failed in the early 1980s. [7] Spence has also served as Chairman of Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging. [1] Spence and wife, Suzie, married in 1990 and are the parents of four children. [1] [3]
In November 2011, Spence announced his intention to run for Governor of Missouri regardless of whether Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder decided to run. [8] Kinder decided to run for reelection as lieutenant governor and endorsed Spence for governor. [2]
Spence, who has never held elected office before, has said: "Well one thing I would do is bring a fresh approach to everything. I am willing to jump in there and work my tail off, and I think it can be done. It’s a good point in my life and I feel the urgency to do something, and I can’t sleep at night knowing that I can make a difference and rally the troops and get the state turned around if I had the opportunity and said no." [5]
Spence's campaign website asserted that he held a degree in economics, a statement also made on at least one campaign flier, which also incorrectly stated that he had gone to the university's business school. His degree is actually in home economics. After the inaccuracy was revealed and publicly criticized in January 2012, he corrected his website. [9] Regarding the errors, Spence told the Associated Press "I have said all along that I will not or do not lie ... A lot of this is overblown, as I was not aware of any place that said business school ... I will take responsibility for this. I did not catch the mistake on early campaign literature." [10] Spence's campaign manager cited a staff oversight for the error.
On August 7, 2012 Dave Spence won the Republican party nomination for Missouri governor. He received 333,578 votes (59.9 percent) to outpace nearest challenger Bill Randles' 90,651 (16.3 percent). [11] Spence was defeated by incumbent Democrat Jay Nixon in the November 2012 general election. [12] [13]
In his contest against Nixon, Spence had the support of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee. [14]
John Russell Carnahan is an American politician from the state of Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 3rd congressional district from 2005 to 2013.
Ann Louise Wagner is an American politician and former diplomat serving as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 2nd congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, she was the United States ambassador to Luxembourg from 2005 to 2009.
Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the governorship in 2008 and reelected in 2012. Prior to his tenure as Missouri Governor, he served as the 40th Missouri Attorney General from 1993 to 2009. After leaving public office he joined the Dowd Bennett law firm in St. Louis. As of early 2024, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as the governor of Missouri.
Peter Dickson Kinder is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2017. He was appointed as a co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority in August 2017, serving in that post until he resigned in June 2018.
Sarah Steelman is an American Republican politician from Missouri and State Treasurer from 2005 to 2009. She is currently serving in the Office of Administration in Governor Mike Parson’s administration. She did not run for re-election as state treasurer in 2008, having run for governor, and was succeeded in office by Democrat Clint Zweifel on January 12, 2009. She was listed in a 2008 article in the New York Times as among seventeen women who may someday run for President of the United States. On November 29, 2010, Steelman announced she would run for the U.S. Senate in 2012. She was defeated in the Republican primary by U.S. Representative Todd Akin.
Catherine Lucille Hanaway is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor and Republican candidate for Missouri Governor who served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri from 2005 to 2009, and as the first and only female Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives from 2003 to 2005.
Christopher Andrew Koster is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st Attorney General of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. Before that, Koster was elected three times as prosecuting attorney of Cass County, Missouri, and served four years as state senator from Missouri's 31st Senatorial district.
Bob Poe is an American businessman and former cabinet member who ran for Governor of Alaska in the 2010 Alaska gubernatorial election. Poe announced his candidacy in January 2009 and was the first Democrat to announce his intention to run for governor. He has worked with various administrations in Alaska under former Governors Bill Sheffield, Steve Cowper, Tony Knowles, and Wally Hickel. On June 14, 2010 he announced that he was withdrawing from the gubernatorial race.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Missouri was held on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Edward Robert Martin Jr. is an American politician and attorney from the state of Missouri. He is president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles. Martin was terminated from his role as CNN contributor in January 2018.
Thomas A. Schweich was an American politician, diplomat, attorney, and author. A member of the Republican Party, Schweich served as State Auditor of Missouri from 2011 until his death in 2015.
The 2012 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012, to elect the Governor of Missouri. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Nixon won re-election against the Republican nominee, businessman Dave Spence, despite incumbent President Barack Obama losing Missouri on the same day to Republican nominee Mitt Romney. As of 2023, this was the last time a Democrat won the governorship of Missouri. This is the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee of different political parties were elected governor and lieutenant governor in Missouri.
The 2012 Missouri lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Republican Peter Kinder faced Democratic nominee and former state auditor Susan Montee, Libertarian Matthew Copple, and the Constitution Party nominee, former state representative Cynthia Davis.
The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Missouri were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 and elected the eight U.S. representatives from the state of Missouri, a loss of one seat following the 2010 United States census. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election and an election to the U.S. Senate.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Missouri took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election, in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Missouri voters chose 10 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.
The 2016 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor of Missouri, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2016 Missouri Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Attorney General of Missouri, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Republican Josh Hawley defeated the Democratic nominee Teresa Hensley.
The 2016 Missouri Secretary of State election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Missouri Secretary of State, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and those to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2020 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Governor of Missouri, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike Parson ran for and was elected to a full term in office. Parson was elected as lieutenant governor in 2016 but became governor on June 1, 2018, after incumbent Eric Greitens resigned under threat of impeachment by the state legislature. Parson declared his bid for a full term on September 8, 2019. State Auditor Nicole Galloway, Missouri's only Democratic statewide officer and only female statewide officer, was the Democratic nominee and if elected, would have become Missouri's first female governor.
The 2017 St. Louis mayoral election was held on April 4, 2017, to elect the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri. Incumbent Mayor Francis Slay chose not to run for reelection. Slay, who was serving his fourth term as mayor, indicated in March 2016 that he would run for reelection, but announced in April 2016 that he would not run for a fifth term. Primary elections took place on March 7, 2017, and the general election was held on April 4. Alderwoman Lyda Krewson was elected and became the first female Mayor of St. Louis.