ST. LOUIS 鈥� Gabe Gore, St. Louis鈥� next circuit attorney, has a challenge ahead as he inherits a criminal justice system bruised by Kimberly M. Gardner鈥檚 tumultuous term.

But colleagues who worked with Gore during his career as a federal prosecutor turned high-powered civil attorney told the Post-Dispatch this week he鈥檚 up to the task and has a history of taking on big assignments during a career where he worked for bosses and clients across the political spectrum.

Gore, 54, was appointed by Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday, three days after Gardner abruptly resigned amid efforts to remove her from office.

Gardner was elected in 2016 amid a wave of progressive prosecutors across the country and was met with immediate challenges from police unions and Republican politicians. She was overwhelmingly reelected in 2020, but she faced increasing scrutiny in recent months, including from former allies, as a mass exodus of staffers created organizational dysfunction in the office.

Now Gore, seemingly a Democrat who received praise from both Democrats and Republicans on Friday, will inherit a bevy of stalled prosecutions, a backlog of thousands of cases, and a staff that鈥檚 roughly one-third the size of when Gardner took over.

Ed Dowd, a co-founder of the politically connected Dowd Bennett law firm, where Gore is a partner, said Gore is up to the challenge.

鈥淚 think the governor made the best possible choice,鈥� said Dowd, who has served as Gore鈥檚 mentor for decades.

Gore grew up in St. Louis from the age of 14 and became a college track athlete at what is now Missouri State University in the late 1980s.

Carrie Tergin, the former Republican mayor of Jefferson City, attended Missouri State around the same time as Gore. The two connected over their experiences when Gore was appointed as a Democrat to serve on the university鈥檚 board of governors in 2015 by Gov. Jay Nixon.

Tergin said she found Gore impressive and thoughtful on the board. He went out of his way to seek the perspective of students and sought input from all sides of any issue, she said.

鈥淕abe is just the kind of person that takes such great responsibility in everything he does,鈥� she said.

When they weren鈥檛 in meetings, she said, Gore was jogging around campus.

鈥淭here鈥檚 just something about him with strength and endurance,鈥� she said.

After earning his undergraduate degree, Gore completed law school in 1994 at the University of Chicago, where he and his wife, Nicole, had future President Barack Obama as a professor.

鈥淲e saw the beginning of greatness to come,鈥� Gore told the St. Louis American newspaper in 2008 when he supported Obama鈥檚 presidential run.

Gore then clerked for a U.S. Court of Appeals judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan before becoming an assistant federal prosecutor under then-U.S. Attorney Ed Dowd, who would go on to hire him three more times throughout his career.

Gore worked for the violent crimes unit and was part of an organized crime drug task force in Dowd鈥檚 U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office.

鈥�(The judges) were always very complimentary of his preparation and his presentation,鈥� Dowd said. 鈥淎nd you didn鈥檛 hear complaints about him from the defense bar, either. He鈥檚 very collegial and treated people very fairly.鈥�

In 1999, Dowd said he recommended Gore to former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, a Republican, as an assistant special counsel to investigate the 1993 government raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. In 2005, Dowd again recruited Gore from another law firm to become a partner at Bryan Cave, one of the largest firms in the country.

Walter Metcalfe, a former managing partner at the firm, described Gore as an 鈥渆xtremely competent, extremely professional young attorney.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 had this public instinct throughout this career,鈥� Metcalfe said, adding that he personally recruited Gore around 2008 to become a founding board member of KIPP St. Louis charter schools.

Gore was chair of the KIPP board for three years until about 2011. Gore was heavily involved in setting up the national charter school organization in the city and hired many of the early staff members, said Kelly Garrett, the organization鈥檚 executive director and a former board member under Gore.

鈥淕abe was sort of hand selected to help bring KIPP St. Louis,鈥� Garrett said. 鈥淗e was passionate about creating opportunities for kids that haven鈥檛 always had equal access.鈥�

Garrett said he was always impressed with how much Gore managed at once.

鈥淚 remember vividly he was mediating some internal conflict at KIPP, and he was incredibly calm under pressure. I think that will help him in the new job,鈥� Garrett said. 鈥淚 remember he was managing to lead the board, raise two incredible children and be a full-time attorney at a very serious law firm at the same time.鈥�

Gore again joined mentor Dowd at the Dowd Bennett firm in 2010 where he handled large-scale civil cases, including class-action lawsuits, and some white-collar defense work.

In recent years, he successfully defended Anheuser-Busch against claims from a female former executive that she was paid less than her male counterparts and helped get charges dismissed against reporters from The Washington Post and Huffington Post who were arrested at a McDonald鈥檚 during protests in Ferguson.

He was also part of a team of attorneys that represented former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens during a lawsuit that claimed Greitens violated the state鈥檚 open records laws by using an app that deleted text messages while others in the firm defended Greitens against charges from Gardner.

Gore is head of the firm鈥檚 diversity committee and is a member of the hiring committee, which means he is an active part of recruiting new talent, Dowd said. Gore even spearheaded a minority summer clerkship program to help young lawyers at the firm gain experience by serving as clerks for state and federal judges.

鈥淕abe has done a great job of running that,鈥� Dowd said.

In 2014, then-Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Gore to the Ferguson Commission, the high-profile policy group formed in the wake of uprisings over the police killing of Michael Brown.

Nixon, now also a partner at Dowd Bennett, spoke highly of Gore after the appointment Friday, saying he provided 鈥渁 positive public pivot point on St. Louis safety.鈥�

Despite all his experience, Gore is still a newcomer. He was a federal prosecutor for about five years, but he has never tried a criminal case in St. Louis Circuit Court.

Gov. Parson on Friday stood by Gore鈥檚 side outside the fourth-floor courthouse office that Gore will take over when he鈥檚 sworn in later this month.

鈥淢r. Gore has a tall task ahead of him,鈥� Parson said. 鈥淏ut we are confident that he is the right man for the job.鈥�