Candidate for Missouri Governor Shows off Roller Derby Skills

Both Crystal Quade and Karla May made campaign announcements over the weekend

Jul 10, 2023 at 10:19 am

Screengrab of Crystal Quade announcement video

State Representative Crystal Quade announced her bid for governor over the weekend.

Two more Democrats announced over the weekend that they’re hoping to be on the ballot when voters head to the polls next November.

On Saturday night, State Senator Karla May (D-St. Louis) announced she is running for the U.S. Senate. Yesterday morning, State Representative Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) released an announcement video saying she is running for governor.

May made her announcement at a Mound City Bar Association event. She’s represented the St. Louis area in Jefferson City since 2011, first as a state representative and, since 2019, as a member of the state senate. Her mother was an alderwoman in St. Louis city.

May joins an increasingly crowded Democratic primary field that includes Marine veteran Lucas Kunce, whose second campaign for the Senate kicked off in early January. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell surprised political watchers when he entered the race in June.

Whoever wins the August 2024 primary race will take on Republican incumbent Josh Hawley in November of that year.

Quade, on the other hand, is entering a very different primary field, as she is right now the lone Democrat in the gubernatorial race.

Her announcement video stressed her hardscrabble roots and commitment to abortion access — as well as her roller derby acumen. Quade was on a roller derby team from 2010 to 2013, according to an Associated Press story about the announcement video.

Quade has been the minority floor leader for the democrats in the state house since 2019. Before being elected to public office, she was a social worker.

There are currently three contenders on the GOP side in the race for governor. In addition to Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (who has some out of left field ideas about how elections should be run) and State Senator Bill Eigel are running to be the state’s top executive. Current Governor Mike Parson is prevented by term limits from running again.