Peter Kinder

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American lawyer and politician (born 1954)

title: "Peter Kinder" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1954-births", "20th-century-members-of-the-missouri-general-assembly", "21st-century-members-of-the-missouri-general-assembly", "21st-century-missouri-politicians", "american-male-journalists", "lieutenant-governors-of-missouri", "living-people", "methodists-from-missouri", "missouri-lawyers", "people-from-cape-girardeau,-missouri", "presidents-pro-tempore-of-the-missouri-senate", "republican-party-missouri-state-senators", "st.-mary's-university-school-of-law-alumni", "university-of-missouri-alumni"] description: "American lawyer and politician (born 1954)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kinder" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American lawyer and politician (born 1954) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Peter Kinder
image	MO Lt. Governors - 46 Peter Kinder.jpg
office	Chair of the Missouri Republican Party
term_start	February 1, 2025
predecessor	Nick Myers
office1	46th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri
governor1	Matt Blunt
Jay Nixon
term_start1	January 10, 2005
term_end1	January 9, 2017
predecessor1	Joe Maxwell
successor1	Mike Parson
office2	President pro tempore of the Missouri Senate
term_start2	February 5, 2001
term_end2	January 5, 2005
predecessor2	Edward Quick
successor2	Michael R. Gibbons
state_senate3	Missouri
district3	27th
term_start3	January 6, 1993
term_end3	January 5, 2005
predecessor3	John Dennis
successor3	Jason Crowell
birth_date
birth_place	Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S.
party	Republican
education
::

Kinder was first elected lieutenant governor in 2004, succeeding Joe Maxwell, and was re-elected in 2008 at the same time Democrat Jay Nixon was elected governor. Kinder was the only Republican in Missouri to win statewide office in 2008, as all other Republicans running for each of the other statewide offices suffered defeat. Despite the generally poor election year for Republicans, Kinder carried 109 of Missouri's 114 counties.

Considered the front-runner in the 2012 Republican gubernatorial primary, Kinder instead ran for re-election in 2012 and was again the only Republican to win statewide and became the first lieutenant governor to be elected to a third term in Missouri since 1940. In July 2015, Kinder announced his entry into the 2016 gubernatorial election; he was later defeated in the Republican primary by Eric Greitens.

Education and early career

Kinder was born and raised in Cape Girardeau, the son of pediatrician James A. Kinder Jr. and Mary Frances Hunter Kinder. He attended Cape Girardeau Public Schools and then attended Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri in Columbia. He received his J.D. degree from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas in 1979 and was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1980.

In 1972, fresh out of high school, Kinder worked for former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth's re-election bid for Missouri attorney general. After graduating from law school at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, Kinder managed Bill Emerson's successful 1980 campaign for U.S. Congress. It was the first time a Republican won in southeast Missouri for U.S. Congress since 1928.

After law school Kinder served as a member of the late U.S. Representative Bill Emerson's staff in Washington, D.C. from 1980 to 1983. He returned to Missouri and worked as an attorney and real estate specialist for hotel developer Charles Drury of Drury Industries. In 1987 Kinder became associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian newspaper, where he wrote weekly columns and editorials.

Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau dedicated its Department of Pediatrics to his father two months before he died in an automobile accident on July 1, 2000. His mother, who died on January 4, 2008, sang duets with the mother of Rush Limbaugh for 50 years; Rush Limbaugh attended the funeral.

Political career

In 1992, Kinder made his first bid for public office, winning election to a seat in the Missouri State Senate representing Cape Girardeau and surrounding counties by defeating former Missouri First Lady and gubernatorial candidate Betty C. Hearnes (D). Kinder was reelected to the State Senate in 1996 and 2000. When the Republicans gained a majority in the Missouri Senate for the first time in over 50 years, following a round of special elections in February 2001, Kinder was voted president pro tempore, the top official in the Missouri Senate. Kinder was the first Republican president pro tempore in the Missouri Senate in 53 years. In 2004 he sought and won election as lieutenant governor, narrowly defeating Bekki Cook (D-Cape Girardeau).

Tour of Missouri

As a member of the Missouri Tourism Commission, Kinder helped establish the Tour of Missouri, an international professional bicycle race, and served as its chairman. The week-long (6 days in 2007), 600+ mile event first took place in 2007, with Kinder as its chairman. The race was extended to seven days for 2008 and 2009. The race ran annually from 2007 to 2009 and was the third highest profile domestic race in the United States. The Tour of Missouri was one of the top stage races outside of Europe and brought in athletes from over 20 countries. During its three-year run, the race attracted an estimated 1.2 million spectators and created a direct economic impact of $80 million. Funding for the tour was described as a power struggle between Kinder and Governor Nixon.

Healthcare policy

Kinder was reelected in November 2008.

Alleged relationship with exotic dancer

In August 2011, The Riverfront Times published an article where Tammy Chapman, a former exotic dancer, and 1992 Penthouse Pet, claimed she met Kinder at a political event at a gentleman's club around 1994. The two did not speak again until a chance encounter 18 years later during the summer of 2011. Chapman approached Kinder and asked to take a photo with him. The photo was then published when The Riverfront Times ran Chapman's speculative story where Chapman claimed Kinder visited her club in the early to mid 90s when he was a state senator.

Kinder responded and said he had visited the club around 1994 and met Chapman, and that he had not seen her again until the chance encounter in 2011. Chapman confirmed that the two had not spoken since the mid 90s until she saw him in 2011 and approached him to take a picture. Kinder said that, sometime around 1994, after going to the club he decided not to go back because it was inconsistent with how he had been raised. Kinder stated that Chapman's story was part of a "partisan smear" to derail his campaign for governor. Kinder further said that Democrats tried to use similar tactics against him in his 2008 campaign for lieutenant governor.

Hotel expenses and repayment

In April 2011, the St. Louis Post Dispatch published a story stating that Kinder (who has a home in Cape Girardeau and an office in Jefferson City) charged the taxpayers over $35,000 for at least 329 nights at hotels in St. Louis and St. Louis County since 2006. Kinder responded that he had been audited twice, both times by Democratic state auditors, and no concerns were raised about any of the hotel stays. Kinder stated that he always paid the government rate, typically $105/night, during his stays at the Chase Park Plaza, the Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton and elsewhere. Due to concerns over campaign finance laws, Kinder ultimately chose not to use campaign funds and instead repaid the money personally. Kinder elected to repay $52,320, the entire amount that he had been reimbursed by the state for in-state travel since 2005.

Shooting of Michael Brown

In reference to the period after the shooting of Michael Brown by police in August 2014, Kinder said in March 2015 that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder had engaged in "incitement of the mob" and "encouraging disorder in Ferguson." Kinder also repeatedly accused Missouri Governor Jay Nixon of reckless disregard and lack of leadership during the Ferguson riots.

2016 campaign

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Kinder_Ferguson_Parade.jpg" caption="Independence Day]] parade"] ::

Kinder announced in the Ferguson/Dellwood area in July 2015 that he would seek election to the Missouri governor's office in 2016. Following his announcement, an August 2015 Public Policy Polling poll showed that Peter Kinder led Democratic candidate Chris Koster 40% to 37%. Results of a transportation union funded poll from April 2016 showed Kinder as the only Republican candidate close to Koster, yet trailing; its margin of error at 3.8% with 95% confidence. In late June 2016, Kinder was trailing the three other Republican primary candidates in fundraising, having raised $1.5 million. The other Republican candidates, Greitens, Brunner, and Hanaway, had collected $6.2, $5.7, and $3.4 million, respectively.

A negative attack ad campaign by LG PAC during summer 2016 implied that it supported Kinder despite Kinder's pledge to campaign cleanly. The PAC was secretly associated with Greitens. Kinder later called it the dirtiest political trick he'd witnessed in his career.

Kinder lost the Missouri Republican primary on August 2, 2016. He finished third with 20.7% of the popular vote, losing to Eric Greitens. Kinder carried six counties in Southeast Missouri, including Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Mississippi, Perry, Scott, and Stoddard, with businessman John Brunner winning eleven counties mostly in Southwest Missouri and Navy SEAL Eric Greitens winning the rest of the state. When his term as lieutenant governor expired in January 2017, Kinder went out of public office for the first time since his election to the state Senate in 1992.

Later service

In a February 2017 interview with Cape Girardeau's KFVS-TV, Kinder said he was "considering a couple private sector opportunities" in Missouri, had been offered a consulting position, and had discussed a few potential positions to help the Trump administration.

In August 2017, President Trump appointed Kinder as a co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority, a federal economic development board serving over 250 counties and parishes in eight states near the Mississippi River. By October 2017, Kinder had directed more than $500,000 in cuts to DRA administrative expenses, which had previously taken 8.6 percent of the agency's $30 million budget. Kinder acted as head of the DRA until Chris Caldwell of Arkansas was confirmed and sworn in to its higher co-chairman role in January 2018. Kinder resigned from the DRA on June 1, 2018, saying he plans to work in the private sector and remain in Cape Girardeau.

Electoral history

For Governor

As Lt. Governor

2012 Republican Primary Election for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri	Party	Candidate	Votes
Republican	Peter Kinder (incumbent)	255,064	44.19
Republican	Brad Lager	239,735	41.53
Republican	Mike Carter	47,515	8.23
Republican	Charles Kullmann	34,940	6.05
::

2008 Republican Primary Election for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri	Party	Candidate	Votes
Republican	Peter Kinder (incumbent)	284,064	78.3
Republican	Paul Douglas Sims	50,870	14.0
Republican	Arthur Hodge, Sr.	27,994	7.7
::

2004 Republican Primary Election for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri	Party	Candidate	Votes
Republican	Peter Kinder	313,528	56.2
Republican	Patricia "Pat" Secrest	244,699	43.8
::

As Missouri State Senator

References

"History of the Office of Lieutenant Governor". State of Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder.
Moreau, Andrew. (August 11, 2017). "Peter Dickson Kinder of Missouri is named DRA Alternate Federal Co-Chairman". Delta Regional Authority.
"Biography of Peter Kinder". Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
Glaser, Rachel. (December 17, 2008). "Kinder: The Lone Republican". Missouri Digital News.
Griffin, Marshall. (November 7, 2012). "Kinder Wins Third Term As Missouri Lt. Governor". St. Louis Public Radio.
Pistor, Nicholas J.C.. (July 12, 2015). "Peter Kinder will seek Missouri governor's office in 2016". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"Peter Kinder". Columbia Missourian.
Schaper, Bob. (October 2004). "Out-State Booster Is Good for Business". St. Louis Commerce Magazine.
(June 27, 1996). "Eulogy For The Late Honorable Bill Emerson". Sunlight Foundation.
Rust, Gary. (August 26, 2011). "Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder". Southeast Missourian.
Loflin, Dee. (January 26, 2018). "Frank Kinder Appointed Chairman of SoutheastHEALTH's System Board of Directors". ShowMe Times.
(July 5, 2000). "Obituary: Dr. James Kinder". Southeast Missourian.
(2008-01-09). "Rush Remembers: Mary Frances Hunter Kinder".
"Our Campaigns – MO State Senate President Pro Tempore Race – Feb 05, 2001".
"Our Campaigns – MO State Senate President Pro Tempore Race – Jan 08, 2003".
Rasa, Randy. (January 28, 2009). "Tour of Missouri 2009 Route Announced". Kansas Cyclist.
Revels, Wesley. (June 8, 2008). "Tour of Missouri, One Day and Four New Cities Added, St. Joseph Will Host the Grand Depart!". Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation.
Hugh, Brent. (May 27, 2010). "Tour of Missouri set to cancel for 2010". Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation.
(May 28, 2010). "Tour of Missouri canceled for 2010". STLToday.com.
(May 27, 2010). "Tour of Missouri Canceled". New York Times.
Messenger, Tony. (August 4, 2010). "Prop C passes overwhelmingly". stltoday.com.
Fenske, Sarah. (August 9, 2011). "Penthouse Pet Dishes on Peter Kinder: 'He Was One of My Best Customers'". Riverfront Times.
Wagman, Jake. (August 18, 2011). "Peter Kinder explains 'romantic attraction' at a strip club". stltoday.com.
Wagman, Jake. (April 3, 2011). "Kinder spends time in St. Louis, courtesy of taxpayers". Stltoday.com.
Kelly, Brian. (April 3, 2011). "Kinder Says Hotel Bills Legitimate, Audited". CBS St. Louis.
(April 9, 2011). "Kinder to reimburse state for hotel costs". Columbia Missourian.
Wagman, Jake. (April 26, 2011). "Kinder pays $52,000 for hotel stays". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
(March 29, 2015). "Police representative says DOJ's "band of marauders" concealed truth about Ferguson shooting". Saint Louis Post-Dispatch.
(August 18, 2014). "Peter Kinder rips Jay Nixon on Ferguson crisis". The Kansas City Star.
(November 25, 2014). "Missouri Governor's Deputy Slams Him For Not Deploying More Troops In Ferguson". Business Insider.
Pistor, Nicholas J.C.. (July 12, 2015). "Peter Kinder will seek Missouri governor's office in 2016". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
McDermott, Kevin. (August 11, 2015). "Republican Kinder ahead of Democrat Koster in early Missouri governor poll". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
(April 1, 2016). "New poll: Clinton beats Trump in Missouri; Blunt beats Kander". The Kansas City Star.
(June 27, 2016). "With Koster sitting on millions, Missouri Democrats' four-way governor contest really isn't". St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Mannies, Jo. (28 June 2016). "You can't find out who paid for new attack ads on Missouri TV. Laws keep them secret.". St Louis Public Radio.
Hancock, Jason. (June 29, 2018). "Dark-money groups that helped elect Eric Greitens now facing FEC complaint". The Kansas City Star.
Davis, Wa;ker and Casey Millburg. (August 2, 2016). "Super PAC Showdown in the Show Me State".
Curtis, Tim. (June 18, 2016). "New information links LG PAC and Greitens". Missouri Times.
Ward, Vicky. (15 March 2018). "Swamp Thing". Highline.
"State of Missouri, Primary 2016, August 2, 2016: Unofficial Results".
(August 3, 2016). "County by county: How Greitens won".
McDermott, Kevin. (August 3, 2016). "Greitens wins pricey GOP battle for governor". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
(February 14, 2017). "What's next for Peter Kinder". KFVS-TV.
Lisenby, Ashley. (August 10, 2017). "White House appoints former Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder to federal economic development board". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Bliss, Mark. (October 26, 2017). "Kinder cuts $500,000 from Delta Regional Authority operations". Southeast Missourian.
(December 22, 2017). "Senate confirms Arkansan to lead Delta Regional Authority". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
(January 12, 2018). "Chris Caldwell sworn in as federal co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority". Delta Regional Authority.
(June 16, 2018). "Kinder quits federal post on Delta Regional Authority, bows out of politics". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
(August 2, 2016). "Missouri Gubernatorial Primary results". Missouri Secretary of State.

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