Parson, Galloway try to land jabs in debate dominated by fights over crime and COVID
Republican Mike Parson and Democrat Nicole Galloway traded attacks over crime and the COVID-19 pandemic during the first and possibly only debate of the Missouri governor’s race on Friday.
The tone of the event was consistent with the negative turn the race has taken in the final weeks before the November election. Both candidates, desperately trying to land zingers, borrowed heavily from ads aired by their campaigns and allies.
The televised debate took place in a mostly empty auditorium in Columbia because of the pandemic. The candidates stood at physically-distanced lecterns as they were questioned by Missouri journalists for more than an hour.
The most fiery exchange came when both Parson, the current governor, and Galloway, the state auditor, tried to seize the upper hand on crime. High numbers of homicides have rocked both Kansas City and St. Louis this year.
Parson cited his experience as a county sheriff and attacked liberalism – and Galloway by extension – as contributing to rising crime.
“Her liberal agenda is the cause of this problem from decade to decade to decade,” Parson said. “And in two and a half years, we did everything we can and will continue to do that to fight crime in the state of Missouri.”
Parson recalled lawmakers to Jefferson City this summer for a special session focused on violent crime. After several weeks, the legislature passed just two bills creating a witness protection fund and temporarily lifting a requirement that St. Louis police officers live in the city to address a shortage of law enforcement personnel.
Parson had offered seven proposals, including a highly controversial measure that would have allowed the attorney general to intervene in murder cases in St. Louis.
“Even his own party rejected the majority of his proposals,” Galloway said, adding that lawmakers didn’t approve any dollars for the witness protection fund.
Galloway, auditor since 2015, noted Parson’s 20-year history in Jefferson City as lieutenant governor and as a legislator. “He wants to point the finger at everyone else instead of taking responsibility for his own actions,” she said.
Galloway accused Parson’s campaign of engaging in “racially divisive tactics” – a reference to a new attack campaign from the pro-Parson Uniting Missouri PAC that calls her “anti-police” and “pro-crime.” A website from the PAC features Galloway’s face superimposed over video of unrest and protests.
With the exception of Galloway, nearly all the individuals on the site are Black.
Parson responded by saying his campaign has never run a negative ad about Galloway. While that is true, Parson’s campaign has left most of the negative campaigning to Uniting Missouri, which is a separate entity.
“Cori Bush was the first person she went and endorsed, who does support defund the police,” Parson said, referencing the Democratic nominee for Missouri’s 1st congressional district. He added that “it does matter when you’re working with those people who do want to defund the police in this state.”
On the coronavirus pandemic, Galloway repeatedly faulted Parson for not taking more aggressive action as the virus swept across Missouri. Parson has refused to issue a statewide mask mandate, instead choosing to leave decisions about restrictions up to local officials. Galloway said she would issue a mandate.
“We continue to fall in the wrong direction. We are living the governor’s coronavirus strategy right now. It’s not working,” Galloway said.
As of Friday, 2,395 people have died from the virus in Missouri. More than 139,000 have been infected.
Galloway called for a “complete reset” of the state’s COVID-19 strategy. “This has been a failed test of leadership,” she said.
Parson said at multiple points that he took a “balanced approach” to the pandemic that allowed businesses to remain open while ramping up virus testing. He noted the death rate for Missourians who contract the virus is less than 1 percent.
“I invite the public, I invite anybody to look at our work calendars and really see who was at work for the last five months,” Parson said, a reference to an analysis of Galloway’s official calendar by Uniting Missouri.
While the sharpest exchanges of the debate centered on Parson and Galloway, the debate also featured Libertarian nominee Rik Combs and Green Party nominee Jerome Bauer.
During a question about Amendment 3, a ballot question that would repeal redistricting reforms approved as part of the Clean Missouri initiative in 2018, Combs said he was leaning toward voting yes on the amendment.
On one hand, he said, Clean Missouri merged several issues into a single ballot initiative. On the other, “the people of Missouri voted resoundingly for Clean Missouri, so I don’t want to upset the wishes of the people.”
Parson, who answered the question next, said he agreed with Combs. “Going back a second time, making sure the voters understand directly what it is they’re voting for … is never a bad issue,” he said.
Galloway said she opposes Amendment 3. When voters passed Clean Missouri, “they wanted a fair, transparent government and they wanted to get rid of gerrymandering,” she said.
Bauer also voiced opposition to Amendment 3 and support for Clean Missouri.
“To overturn that before it’s even been implemented, it’s an insult to the voters,” Bauer said.