Missouri Gov. Parson, like Trump, bets campaign against ‘lawlessness’ will win votes

He has called defunding the police reckless. He’s vowed to fight violent crime in big cities. He’s said lawlessness cannot stand.

President Donald Trump? No, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.

Eight weeks until Election Day, the Republican governor is leaning hard into themes of law and order as he seeks election to a full term. It’s a strategy that is both local and national.

Following Trump’s lead, GOP campaigns across the country are painting a menacing portrait of urban crime. Parson is betting the focus on crime will have special resonance in Missouri at a time when both Kansas City and St. Louis are suffering a surge of homicides.

While Parson takes repeated hits over his response to the COVD-19 pandemic, his continued focus on crime may be working. A Real Clear Politics average of polls conducted between late June and early September gives him a 9.2 percent advantage over his Democratic opponent, State Auditor Nicole Galloway.

“I think the thing that’s on people’s mind, probably the highest priority is just the public safety going on in this country. Anymore, everything’s a national story,” said Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican.

Parson and his allies are pitching him as the right leader for a volatile moment, pointing to his time as sheriff of Polk County in southwest Missouri from 1993-2005.

Parson recalled lawmakers to the Capitol this summer to pass anti-crime legislation and his campaign features a steady stream of support for law enforcement and condemnation of calls to defund the police. Uniting Missouri, a pro-Parson PAC, has also run an ad that superimposes an image of Galloway over video of a burning American flag.

“Radical calls to defund our law enforcement are unacceptable. We MUST take a stand,” one recent Parson tweet said. “We cannot and should not allow lawlessness to stand in our cities,” read another.

In a statement, Parson campaign manager Steele Shippy said both Kansas City and St. Louis are experiencing “record levels of homicides this year, and Governor Parson knows that violent crime surging in these communities impacts the entire state.”

“That’s why he called the special session on violent crime and has been working to give law enforcement the tools they need to keep our communities safe,” Shippy said.

Democrats counter that Parson, who has been in office more than two years, has been slow to act – both on gun violence and COVID-19.

Galloway said the special session isn’t addressing the root causes of violence such as the lack of economic opportunity, education and health care. More than a month after it began, lawmakers have passed just two bills.

“Crime has gotten worse under his watch. He’s been governor for years, lieutenant governor for years, he’s been in the legislature for over the decade,” she said recently.

At least 142 people have been killed in Kansas City so far this year, compared with 106 at the same point in 2019. St. Louis’ 191 homicides to date nearly match last year’s total with more than three months to go.

Parson’s opponents are also scathing in their assessment of his pandemic response, arguing that his hands off approach left ill-equipped local governments to make vital decisions. Parson has defended his record and Republicans dismiss the idea Parson should have ordered more restrictions.

Shippy said after the start of the pandemic, the Parson administration worked for 62 straight days, logging 12-14 hour workdays, “putting the safety and protection of the people of Missouri first.” He said Parson’s early steps to increase testing, protective gear, keep hospitals from getting overwhelmed and controlling the virus’s spread made a difference.

Parson stresses support for police

Before Eric Greitens resigned in scandal two years ago, Parson was all but unknown outside of southwest Missouri and Jefferson City, where he served in the legislature for 12 years.

His early agenda as governor centered on the economy. In the 2019 legislative session, Parson pushed workforce development and infrastructure measures.

Parson also signed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, putting his signature to a ban on abortions after the eighth week of pregnancy.

“People still don’t really know him,” said Robynn Kuhlmann a professor of American politics at the University of Central Missouri. “There wasn’t a lot of information that went out about Mike Parson to the electorate where they could actually, properly assess where he stands. This is his real first campaign, of course, as governor.”

“I don’t necessarily see him as an incumbent because he hasn’t garnered that initial mandate to serve as governor,” Kuhlmann said.

But the crime issue is one that Parson can potentially make his own. Former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Republican who recently hosted a fundraiser for Parson, said his background as a sheriff makes him well-positioned for the current moment.

“He has been on the law enforcement side and he understands the challenges and the limitations that you have in law enforcement,” Colyer said.

Colyer said the challenge for Parson after two years in office is “he now owns all of those policies that he’s now instituted.”

His agenda has been dominated by crime and police issues in recent months. He wants the General Assembly to approve a package of roughly half a dozen measures he contends will give Missouri needed tools to drive down violence.

So far, lawmakers passed a bill to create a witness protection fund and another that blocks St. Louis from requiring police officers to live within city limits. Parson has yet to sign either one.

Other proposals would allow witness statements that are ordinarily inadmissible if defendants try to intimidate witnesses and increase penalties for knowingly causing children to take part in weapons or drug crimes.

The most divisive bill would give the attorney general the power to prosecute murder cases in St. Louis. The bill appeared dead in the House but was recently advanced by the Senate. Republicans have accused St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner of not prosecuting aggressively enough.

Democrats have framed violence in part as a public health issue. Judy Baker, a former U.S. Health and Human Services official who is running against Missouri Senate Republican Leader Caleb Rowden, said gun violence, trauma and poverty are all contributing factors.

“All of those play into why we’re where we are today,” Baker said.

COVID-19 criticism

Galloway has attacked Parson for his refusal to issue a statewide mask order and for not providing more guidance to schools ahead of reopenings this fall.

Missouri has recorded 150 cases per 100,000 people over the last week, according to data collected by The New York Times, putting it among the top 10 states with highest weekly totals per capita. In all, 97,591 residents have been infected and 1,691 have died, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

“It’s interesting the only 10 percent of Missouri schools are fully in person,” Galloway told reporters Wednesday. “So the governor’s current plan to address COVID is not working.”

In defending his response, Parson has argued he would face criticism no matter what course of action he chose.

“If there is ever a book that is written and the title of the book is ‘danged if you do and danged if you don’t,’ I will be in that book somewhere,” Parson said during a Sept. 2 speech in Kansas City.

In the speech, the governor recounted the early days and weeks of the pandemic when obtaining accurate information was almost impossible, he said.

He acknowledged the virus isn’t going away and framed the task ahead as a series of questions.

“We still got to continue to deal with the virus,” Parson said. “How are we going to start schools? How are we going to address that issue? How are we going to address the economy? How are we going to address civil unrest? All of these things over the last six months have come to the forefront.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.