ST. LOUIS • This may sound familiar: A local businessman, unhappy with the current political landscape in Missouri, is considering leaving his corner office to run for statewide office.

Amid mixed signals from Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, another name has emerged as a potential GOP alternative for the state's top job.

Dave Spence, head of Alpha Packaging in Overland, is mulling a campaign for governor, a bid that would at least be partially financed with his own money. 

Spence, 53, is serious enough that he's talked to potential supporters around the state and met with the Republican Governors Association, which, so far, has been helping Kinder raise money.

The Kirkwood High grad even told KMOX last week that he would not rule out challenging Kinder in a primary, though he walked those sentiments back in a conversation with the Post-Dispatch.

"I'm just waiting for the dust to settle on whatever Peter's going to do," Spence said.

While Alpha Packaging is not a household name, the plastic container company — which produces everything from pill vials to those bear-shaped honey bottles — has close to $190 million in annual sales and employs more than 800 workers at plants in the U.S. and Europe.

If Spence does decide to run, it will be hard not to draw parallels to John Brunner, the Republican U.S. Senate hopeful whose family company developed Germ-X hand sanitizer.

Brunner, too, has said he will put his own money into the race.

Spence told KMOX he will make a decision in the next two months. Kinder, whose campaign showed a lackluster financial quarter, has said he will make an announcement about his future sometime in November.

Will Kinder stay in — or bow out?

If he does decide not to run, the Missouri GOP has, for the first time, someone publicly saying they are ready to step up — even if it is someone whose name has never appeared on a ballot before.