Missouri Governor Pushes Dual Constitutional Amendments Amid Dark-Money Scrutiny

Governor Mike Kehoe backs two constitutional measures for the Aug. 4 primary. Amendment 4 would require citizen-initiated amendments to win a majority in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts and statewide, making voter-driven changes harder. Amendment 5 would eliminate the state income tax, replacing lost revenue with higher sales and use taxes on untaxed goods and services.

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Amendment 5’s campaign is financed chiefly by Missouri Promise Inc., a Delaware nonprofit led by Republican operative Garrett Lott and consultant Alex Melendez of the Ohio-based Clark Fork Group. Money flows through Missouri Promise PAC, which also received $1.5 million from Secure Missouri, a Missouri nonprofit linked to lawyer Marc Ellinger, the PAC’s treasurer. Opponents are funded by the Missouri Realtors PAC, which contributed $1,900,001 to anti-Amendment 5 efforts. Key actors include Governor Kehoe, who backs the measures; Mark Jones of the Missouri National Education Association and professor Ken Warren, who criticize the financing; and Rep. Brian Seitz, a Republican legislator supporting Amendment 4.

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Kehoe says out-of-state special interests use ballot initiatives to bypass the Republican-controlled legislature. Ellinger says the campaign disclosed all required information. Seitz says Amendment 4 would require an even greater consensus, framing Missouri as a representative republic rather than a direct democracy.

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Opponents argue ending the income tax would shift the burden through higher sales taxes and could hurt retailers in Kansas City and St. Louis, where shoppers cross state lines. Mark Jones calls the governor’s reliance on a dark-money group from Delaware hypocritical; Ken Warren says opaque out-of-state money “is not good for democracy.”

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Pro-Amendment 5 financing stays opaque as Missouri Promise Inc. and Secure Missouri do not disclose donors. In contrast, the Missouri Realtors PAC’s contributions appear in public filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission, though Ellinger doubts this offers substantive transparency.

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• “Our constitution shouldn’t be the victim of out-of-state special interests who spend millions to deceive voters and pass out-of-touch policies,” — Governor Mike Kehoe

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• “The fact that the governor is benefiting directly from his face and image being plastered across Missouri TV screens by a dark money group from Delaware — or somewhere, not here — shouldn’t be lost on anyone,” — Mark Jones, Missouri National Education Association

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• “It’s not good for democracy for dark money to be used,” — Ken Warren, Saint Louis University

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• “There would have to be an even greater consensus to change the state’s primary document,” — Rep. Brian Seitz

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If approved, Amendment 5 would reshape Missouri’s tax system, likely raising sales taxes and affecting cross-border shopping. Amendment 4 would raise the bar for citizen-initiated amendments, shifting the balance toward legislative control. Both measures will be decided by the August primary, a smaller, more Republican-leaning electorate that could shape the political landscape before the November abortion-rights ballot.

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