Lincoln Hough, a Republican state senator representing Springfield in the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly, is considering running for lieutenant governor.
Hough told the Hauxeda he is giving a bid for the state's No. 2 office a “pretty serious look,” but that nothing has been decided.
Part of the look included polling and hiring campaign workers, according to Hough, paid for by two “really good quarters” of campaign contributions — though Hough has yet to officially launch a campaign.
“We've been kind of putting things in place, such that if the field changes on this lieutenant governor's race, or if we decide that's where I ultimately want to end up, that we've got the resources we need or at least are putting them together to make that happen,” Hough said.
Potential campaign, contributions ‘building on successes'
Hough's campaign finance committee reported over $405,000 on hand in its January quarterly report, with over $66,000 raised in the last reporting period, including large contributions from Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris, Ozarks Technical Community College President Hal Higdon and Springfield City Councilmember Abe McGull, among other well known business and community leaders and a host of political action committees.
The report also lists $27,000 in total payments to a campaign worker.
Hough touted some highlights of his tenure as a state lawmaker, including work during his first year as chair of the influential Senate Appropriations Committee.
“When you are the guy that the administration goes to to get things done, and you are the guy in the Senate who can say… ‘My name is on the tax cut bill that cut the largest amount of income taxes in the state's history, all while making investments, rebuilding I-70 and 250 bridges around the state,’” Hough said. “We've got a pretty good track record to run on.”
Hough was first elected to the statehouse in 2010, which marked the beginning of a three-term run in the House of Representatives. He then served one term on the Greene County Commission before being elected to the Missouri Senate in 2018. Reelected in 2022, Hough is set to term out of the upper chamber in 2026.
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe is running for governor. Though Hough hasn’t made any official endorsement in that race, he previously told the Daily Citizen he thinks Kehoe would “make a phenomenal governor.”
Crowded Republican primary for lieutenant governor
If Hough steps into the lieutenant governor's race, he would join a primary that features Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, state Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, R-Sikeston, former state Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis, Franklin County Clerk Tim Baker, Paul Berry III and Philip Cotrone.
Onder leads all candidates for lieutenant governor with more than $575,000 in campaign funds.
Plocher, who has been subject to an ethics investigation for alleged misconduct, follows with more than $540,000 on hand, and Thompson Rehder is reporting $267,000. Cotrone has not filed a campaign finance report. Baker has just over $8,600, and Berry hasn’t filed a report since October.
State Rep. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, and Anastasia Syes are on the Democratic ticket. Brown’s campaign committee has just over $5,200 on hand, while Syes has reported no contributions to her campaign.
The first day to file for the Aug. 6 primary election opens on Feb. 27 and closes on March 26. The general election is Nov. 5.
