Three former Navy SEALs endorsed Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder’s candidacy for governor Friday during a campaign stop in Cape Girardeau.

Kinder, a Cape Girardeau native, said he was “humbled” to be endorsed by former SEALs Miguel Yanez, Jake Zweig and Jaren Ogden.

The Republican candidate told a crowd of more than 40 people at the local VFW hall it’s not every day “a boy from Southeast Missouri gets to return home in the company of three genuine, true American heroes.”

GOP opponents Eric Greitens and John Brunner previously have stressed their ties to the elite military force. The fourth candidate in the GOP primary, Catherine Hanaway, has not mentioned Navy SEALs in her campaign.

In endorsing Kinder, Yanez said “the federal government has failed us tremendously from a law-enforcement standpoint, a national-security standpoint.”

Yanez urged the crowd to “forget the federal government.” He advised, “You take control of it here.”

He praised Kinder for his leadership and “record of leading from the front.”

Yanez added, “I would take him to war with me any day.”

Zweig, a fellow former SEAL, said the nation needs decisive leaders, and Missouri needs such leadership in the governor’s office.

“I can’t see any better person to put in charge of this state of Missouri than Mr. Kinder,” he said. “He is hands-down the guy who should be in charge.”

Kinder has proven leadership, and his opponents do not, Zweig said.

Ogden, who operates a small business in St. Louis, served eight years active duty as a SEAL.

He described himself as a “very concerned American citizen regarding the Second Amendment and our right to carry.”

Ogden said Kinder is the only candidate with an “A-plus rating” from the National Rifle Association.

Ogden said Kinder is a friend of small business and a proponent of tax cuts.

“Starting a business is difficult enough,” he said. “I don’t need the government and their red tape trying to put up barriers and blockades and trying to make my business fail.”

He added, “I need a leader who is going to help my business succeed and will allow me to succeed.”

Ogden said Kinder is “the only candidate that I want leading Missouri.”

Kinder did not mention any of his primary opponents during his campaign stop, one of four scheduled around the state Friday.

Kinder said he was campaigning on “a positive message focused on restoring real leadership to the governor’s chair in Jefferson City.”

The Cape Girardeau Republican said he wants to take the lead on fighting crime, improving the state’s economy and defending the rights of Missourians against what he called the “federal incursion against those rights.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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