Want to generate a second list of names to consider as possible replacements for ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner?
Just write a story about a first list of names.
Less than 24 hours after the Post-Dispatch took a look at six candidates whose names already are floating around the Missouri Capitol and ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Hall, another handful of hopefuls have emerged.
One of the more interesting names to surface in the second wave of rumored wannabes is Marvin Teer, who came out of retirement in 2021 to help out Gardner by leading high-profile cases and training new prosecutors.
Teer’s resume also includes stints as a city prosecutor, an assistant attorney general, a traffic court judge and an administrative judge.
People are also reading…
When Teer quit his post in March, Gardner’s office issued a statement that called him “an invaluable leader (who) led his team with integrity.â€
Gardner submitted her resignation last week, effective June 1, after facing constant pressure from state officials who aimed to remove her from office.
Her replacement will be named by Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican. The replacement will serve until Jan. 1, 2025, and could also run for the office in the August 2024 primary election.
Parson’s office is keeping tight lips about the process at this point, saying only that they want to choose “the best possible candidate.â€
The first set of names to emanate from the political rumor mill on Monday included Michael Noble and Paula Perkins Bryant, both ºüÀêÊÓƵ circuit judges; former ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Judge Michael K. Mullen; former prosecutor Patrick Hamacher; private litigator Raphael O. Morris; and state Sen. Steven Roberts Jr.
The name of another jurist, Associate Circuit Judge Nicole Colbert-Botchway, also has surfaced in the second take on the situation — and seems to have the well-wishes of ºüÀêÊÓƵ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.
Colbert-Botchway, who has been on the bench since 2015, has bachelor’s and law degrees from ºüÀêÊÓƵ University and a master’s degree from the University of Missouri-ºüÀêÊÓƵ. She also has worked as an assistant attorney general and a ºüÀêÊÓƵ prosecutor.
Two more candidates whose names are making the rounds are Gabriel E. Gore and Ashley Walker, who both have ties to the federal justice system.
Gore now works at the private firm of Dowd Bennett but previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and a federal appeals court clerk.
His law firm biography notes that he serves on board of governors for Missouri State University and the Forest Park Forever board. He also served on the Ferguson Commission.
Walker is an assistant U.S. attorney who spent 18 months as a prosecutor in the circuit attorney’s office under Jennifer Joyce.
Two other names to consider are David Mueller and Michael Gras, although neither have been mentioned in either natural or orchestrated rumor-mill rumblings.
Mueller, a defense lawyer, said before Gardner announced her resignation that he was going to run for the office in 2024.
Gras, a former alderman who in April lost a close reelection race for alderman, has been highly and publicly critical of Gardner’s performance.