JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Mike Kehoe spent the day after his election as Missouri’s 58th governor getting his transition team formally launched and contacting elected leaders from across the state Wednesday. 

Kehoe held a news conference in the Jefferson state office building across the street from the Governor’s Mansion Wednesday, where he took questions from reporters for the first time as governor-Elect. His transition efforts, along with that of Lt. Gov.-Elect David Wasinger and Secretary of State-Elect Denny Hoskins, will be based out of office space that hasn’t been used for those purposes since Eric Greitens was set to take office.

Kehoe’s longtime chief of staff Adam Gresham will lead his transition team, with more members still waiting to be announced. Gresham wouldn’t say if that work means he won’t have an official role in Kehoe’s administration.

He also didn’t say how many jobs the administration is looking to fill. Interested applicants can inquire online. The transition team will also develop policy proposals to build around Kehoe’s campaign, including a “Day 1 crime plan” that Kehoe has said includes support for returning control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to state oversight. Kehoe said the entire plan isn’t ready yet, but will be the product of work with police, sheriffs, state highway patrol members and others, including Attorney General Andrew Bailey. 

Among those who Kehoe spent time on the phone with today were St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. He’s also been in recent touch with SLMPD Chief Robert Tracy. 

“I would consider Chief Tracy a very good friend. I think he’s a great leader. I’m very happy that St. Louis has him. With him and Gabe Gore (St. Louis Circuit Attorney) in place, I think we’ve got some of the essentials we need to really get some things done,”  Kehoe said. 

He said he wanted to have a chance to get together with Jones and Tracy, and potential developers who he says have concerns about investing in the city over crime, to solve the disconnect between the development community and the city, which has touted reductions in crime while pointing out the work still left to be done. 

Kehoe knows Jones opposes state control. Wednesday afternoon, Jones issued a statement after Kehoe’s news conference.

"Every year since l've been in office, St. Louis has seen a significant reduction in crime and homicides, and a state takeover threatens that progress," she said. "I’ve repeatedly made it very clear that a state takeover does not make cities safer. If a state-controlled police department was the model for law enforcement, then Kansas City should be the safest place on Earth. Yet, Kansas City saw more deaths by homicide in 2023 than any year ever recorded while St. Louis saw a 10-year low,” she added while promising to “advocate fiercely against state control.” 

Kehoe said he wasn’t party to conversations that have come up about legal challenges to Amendment 3, which voters approved to restore abortion rights. Kehoe opposed the measure but suggested there was little he could do to something that was now going to be enshrined in the state’s constitution. 

He also said he’s had high-level conversations with the Parson administration about budget issues, but doesn’t have parameters of the size of a supplemental budget request that will have to be made not long after he takes office. The biggest need may come in the area of education, where state officials say the budget lawmakers passed in May didn’t include enough to cover a large reform bill, while school districts are also struggling with a reduction in federal subsidies. 

He joked that he hopes Parson is able to take care of a deal to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals in Missouri before Parson leaves office, but said his own conversation Wednesday with Lucas included their shared interest in keeping the teams in the state.

Kehoe hasn’t had contact with President-Elect Donald Trump, but acknowledged that there will be expectations for a party that may end up controlling the White House, Congress, and governor’s mansions across the country, including in Missouri.

“Quite frankly the pressure is on, it’s going to be our job to deliver, I know he wants to do that, I want to do that,” he said.