A St. Louis attorney has a plan to kick Tesla out of Missouri—using a playbook inspired by Gov. Mike Kehoe and previously backed by Sen. Eric Schmitt.
Brad Ketcher, who was previously chief of staff to Gov. Mel Carnahan, has filed paperwork for a state ballot initiative to ban Tesla’s longstanding business model, which bypasses independent auto dealers to sell directly to consumers. Ketcher freely admits he’s motivated by antipathy to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has spearheaded President Donald Trump’s plan to downsize the federal workforce.
Get a fresh take on the day’s top news
Subscribe to the St. Louis Daily newsletter for a smart, succinct guide to local news from award-winning journalists Sarah Fenske and Ryan Krull.
But he notes that, theoretically, his plan should have bipartisan support. Eleven years ago, both Kehoe and Schmitt, then state senators, voted for legislation to do the same thing. After their bill to ban Tesla’s business model passed the Senate, but failed to gain traction in the House, one of Kehoe’s companies brought a lawsuit arguing state law should stop the direct sales. Kehoe lost—even as Tesla argued that Missouri had every right to pass a law banning such sales (and acknowledged that doing so would shut down its Missouri operations).
Ketcher has now taken up that gauntlet. “They’ve shown us the plans for the Death Star,” he says. “And when you get the plans for the Death Star, you know what to do with it.”
Ketcher believes that a new state law that prohibits manufacturers from selling new cars directly to consumers would affect Tesla, and only Tesla. Online services such as Carvana and Carmax sell used cars, which wouldn’t be impacted. And in 2023, the Missouri legislature passed a new law closing the loophole that Tesla previously exploited—but grandfathered in Tesla. Ketcher’s new ballot initiative would detonate that loophole even for the one company already using that. In that way, he’s not just tormenting Elon Musk, but also leveling the playing field.
Working with former Democratic state representative Deb Lavender, Ketcher plans to gather the 110,000 signatures necessary to get the anti-Tesla bill on state ballots in 2026. Ketcher predicts, “There’s going to be a lot of grassroots energy for this.” He’s already hearing from people in other states seeking to donate, and he’s made that easy to do at unplugmusk.com.
And tormenting Musk, of course, will be a big part of the pitch. Democrats have struggled to combat Trump in his second term. Tesla—and its polarizing CEO—feels like a vulnerability. Sales have dropped sharply in Europe and the U.S. dealerships have faced protests and even vandalism.
Says Ketcher, “This may not have been an issue people would pick up and run with most years. But when you’ve got a billionaire cutting healthcare, cutting veteran services, and also, he can fund a tax cut for himself and his billionaire friends, it’s time. It’s time for Missouri to say this is the kind of guy who’s not welcome to do business in our state, and this ballot measure gives them an opportunity to do that.”
And if it works here, it wouldn’t only work here. “This isn’t a uniquely Missouri thing,” Ketcher says of the potential for a direct sales ban aimed at Tesla. “It can be replicated in other states, because most states have the same basic laws that he’s gotten around.”
Ketcher notes that it wouldn’t have to be by the more costly initiative process, either. While there’s little chance that Kehoe or his Republican colleagues would now have an appetite for targeting Tesla, who’s to say what the legislature in a blue state might be interested in doing? “There are lots of opportunities for the same idea to be replicated across the country, which I think could have a meaningful impact on him and his company,” Ketcher says. The Death Star may not even see it coming.
