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Meet the Missouri GOP gubernatorial candidates: Brunner, Greitens, Hanaway and Kinder

Eric Greitens, John Brunner, Catherine Hanaway and Peter Kinder are campaigning to become Missouri's GOP gubernatorial candidate.
Kelly Moffitt | St. Louis Public Radio
Eric Greitens, John Brunner, Catherine Hanaway and Peter Kinder are campaigning to become Missouri's GOP gubernatorial candidate.

On July 6, St. Louis Public Radio will host a live debate with the Missouri candidates running to become the GOP candidate-of-choice in the August 2 primary for governor.

This year is current Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s last in office.

The event with be moderated by St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh, with St. Louis Public Radio reporters Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies serving as fellow questioners.

The debate will be broadcast live on 90.7 KWMU starting at 7 p.m. and streamed live on Facebook here.

You can join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #mogovdebate.

Before the debate, we’d thought we’d share a little primer on who will participate in the debate.

Read below to understand a little more about John Brunner, Eric Greitens, Catherine Hanaway and Peter Kinder.

Want more political coverage from St. Louis Public Radio? Listen to our Politically Speaking podcast or follow this bookmark

John Brunner
Credit Jason Rosenbaum | St. Louis Public Radio
John Brunner

Age: 64

Hometown: suburban St. Louis

Experience: Former Marine. Retired chief executive of Vi-Jon, a former family-owned business that specializes in health-care products, notably hand sanitizers.

Political Career: Unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2012.

Campaign pitch: Highlights business experience.

Biggest campaign donors: Himself. He has injected at least $4 million of his own money into his campaign. 

More information.

Eric Greitens
Credit Jason Rosenbaum | St. Louis Public Radio
Eric Greitens

Age: 42

Hometown: suburban St. Louis

Experience: Former Navy SEAL, author of several bestselling books and co-founder of The Mission Continues, a nonprofit group that helps veterans transition to civilian life.

Political Career: First bid for public office

Campaign pitch: Portrays himself as political outsider

Biggest campaign donors: Investment executives and venture capitalists from California, New York and elsewhere. 

More information.

Catherine Hanaway
Credit Jason Rosenbaum | St. Louis Public Radio
Catherine Hanaway

Age: 52

Hometown: suburban St. Louis (Born in Nebraska)

Experience: Lawyer (for a time with former Gov. John Ashcroft’s law firm) and former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Political Career: Served six years in Missouri House representing central St. Louis County, the last two as House speaker.

Campaign pitch: Emphasizes background as prosecutor

Biggest campaign donors: Wealthy financier Rex Sinquefield, who has donated directly or indirectly at least half of her campaign money.

More information.

Peter Kinder.
Credit Jason Rosenbaum | St. Louis Public Radio
Peter Kinder.

Age: 62

Hometown: Cape Girardeau

Experience: Lawyer, former associate publisher of Southeast Missourian newspaper.

Political Career: Served 12 years in Missouri Senate, in third four-year term as lieutenant governor.

Campaign pitch: Touts conservative voting record, three statewide victories

Biggest campaign donors: Members of the Joplin-based Humphreys family, who’ve donated at least $500,000

More coverage

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.      

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Jo Mannies has been covering Missouri politics and government for almost four decades, much of that time as a reporter and columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first woman to cover St. Louis City Hall, was the newspaper’s second woman sportswriter in its history, and spent four years in the Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau. She joined the St. Louis Beacon in 2009. She has won several local, regional and national awards, and has covered every president since Jimmy Carter. She scared fellow first-graders in the late 1950s when she showed them how close Alaska was to Russia and met Richard M. Nixon when she was in high school. She graduated from Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, and was the daughter of a high school basketball coach. She is married and has two grown children, both lawyers. She’s a history and movie buff, cultivates a massive flower garden, and bakes banana bread regularly for her colleagues.