EMILY’s List endorses Galloway, Parson courts GOP org as Missouri money hunt heats up
A national progressive organization with a history of big spending in support of women candidates formally endorsed Democrat Nicole Galloway for Missouri governor on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, her likely Republican opponent, Gov. Mike Parson, is headed to Florida for the annual gathering for an organization that spent millions boosting Missouri GOP gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens in 2016.
While Parson, 64, currently enjoys a massive fundraising advantage over Galloway, 37, interest in the race from national groups will likely ensure neither side is hurting for cash heading into the 2020 contest.
EMILY’S List announced on Tuesday it is endorsing Galloway, 37, because she “has made expanding access to affordable health care one of her top priorities, along with increasing funding to public schools,” Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, said in an email announcing the endorsement.
Last year, EMILY’s List played a major role in helping Democrat Sharice Davids win her party’s nomination and then defeat four-term incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder – the first time a Democrat won the suburban Kansas City Congressional seat in a decade.
The organization poured more than $1 million into Kansas in 2018, running ads both praising Davids and criticizing Yoder.
In 2018, EMILY’s List had eight endorsed gubernatorial candidates on the ballot, including Laura Kelly in Kansas. Six of those candidates won, including four who flipped seats from GOP to Democrat, and the organization says it spent $13.2 million on governor’s races last year.
The endorsement of Galloway, a Democrat currently serving as state auditor, doesn’t come as a huge surprise. And it doesn’t guarantee the organization will invest financially in the race.
But it opens the door for EMILY’S List to play a big role in Missouri in 2020.
“EMILY’s List is proud to support this champion for Missouri families, who would be the first woman governor in state history,” Schriock said.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Parson will be in Florida for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association — a group that spent $13 million in the final months of the 2016 campaign to help elect Greitens.
Greitens resigned in June 2018 as part of a deal to dismiss a felony charge in St. Louis. He was also facing likely impeachment in the Missouri House.
Parson, who was elected lieutenant governor in 2016, became governor after Greitens stepped down.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported on Parson’s trip to Boca Raton, where he’ll attend the RGA’s annual conference.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
