Dave Spence (born February 28, 1958) is an American corporate executive and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the Republican nominee for governor of Missouri in the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, losing the general election to incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Jay Nixon.

Early life and career

Spence was born in Overland in St. Louis County, Missouri. He spent much of his childhood in the St. Louis area with his mother and two sisters. Following graduation from

Kirkwood High School Kirkwood High School is a public education, public secondary school in Kirkwood, Missouri, United States. The school is part of the Kirkwood R-7 School District. Dr. Mike Havener started as principal in July 2011. History Kirkwood High School ...

, Spence earned a degree in Home Economics from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in Columbia. In 1985, the 26-year-old Spence purchased Alpha Packaging, a small plastics firm. Under his ownership it expanded from 15 to 800 employees. Spence has a family background in the

plastics industry The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, and transportation. It is ...

. His father had started a rubber and plastics business, for which Dave Spence worked as a teen; however, the business failed in the early 1980s. Spence has also served as Chairman of Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging. Spence and wife, Suzie, married in 1990 and are the parents of four children.

Political career

In November 2011, Spence announced his intention to run for Governor of Missouri regardless of whether Missouri Lieutenant Governor

Peter Kinder Peter Dickson Kinder (born May 12, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2017. He was appointed as a co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority in August 2017, serving in ...

decided to run. Kinder decided to run for reelection as Lieutenant Governor and endorsed Spence for governor. Spence, who has never held elected office before, has said: "Well one thing I would do is bring a fresh approach to everything. I am willing to jump in there and work my tail off, and I think it can be done. It’s a good point in my life and I feel the urgency to do something, and I can’t sleep at night knowing that I can make a difference and rally the troops and get the state turned around if I had the opportunity and said no." Spence's campaign website asserted that he held a degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, a statement also made on at least one campaign flier, which also incorrectly stated that he had gone to the university's business school. His degree is actually in home economics. After the inaccuracy was revealed and publicly criticized in January 2012, he corrected his website. Regarding the errors, Spence told the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

"I have said all along that I will not or do not lie ... A lot of this is overblown, as I was not aware of any place that said business school ... I will take responsibility for this. I did not catch the mistake on early campaign literature." Spence's campaign manager cited a staff oversight for the error. On August 7, 2012 Dave Spence won the Republican party nomination for Missouri governor. He received 333,578 votes (59.9 percent) to outpace nearest challenger Bill Randles' 90,651 (16.3 percent). Spence was defeated by incumbent Democrat Jay Nixon in the November 2012 general election. In his contest against Nixon, Spence had the support of

Phyllis Schlafly Phyllis Stewart Schlafly (; born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart; August 15, 1924 – September 5, 2016) was an American attorney, conservative activist, author, and anti-feminist spokesperson for the national conservative movement. She held paleocons ...

Eagle Forum Eagle Forum is a conservative interest group in the United States founded by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972 and is the parent organization that also includes the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund and the Eagle Forum PAC. The Eagle Forum has ...

political action committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Dave 1958 births American chief executives Living people Missouri Republicans Politicians from St. Louis County, Missouri University of Missouri alumni Candidates in the 2012 United States elections