Kansas City mayor endorses Democrat Nicole Galloway over Parson for Missouri governor
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas threw his support to Democrat Nicole Galloway for Missouri governor on Monday, an endorsement that represents a rebuke of Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who has worked with the mayor on controlling the spread of coronavirus and curbing violent crime.
With Galloway standing beside him, Lucas announced the endorsement Monday afternoon in front of Union Station, saying Galloway, who is currently Missouri’s state auditor, cares about Kansas City and Western Missouri.
“That’s why she has spent so much time here,” Lucas said. “This isn’t just somebody who’s stopping through during a campaign.”
Lucas said that Galloway reached out at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic offering to help and that she would follow facts and science in responding to the virus.
“She’s not listening to directions from Washington,” Lucas said. “She’s not listening to directions from anywhere else, and she’s not someone who will be biased or persuaded by a politician anywhere else who’s saying you need to do something that’s different from that which is in the best interest of Missourians.”
Galloway said she was proud to have Lucas’ endorsement and promised to put Missouri’s state government “back on the side of working families.”
“Governor Parson seems to think that by declaring ‘mission accomplished’ and reopening the state that everything would just go back to normal,” Galloway said. “We are living the consequences of his failed coronavirus strategy.”
Parson campaign manager Steele Shippy didn’t directly respond to Lucas’ endorsement in a statement but noted endorsements of Parson by Missouri law enforcement groups, including Missouri Fraternal Order of Police, Missouri Sheriff’s United and the Missouri Police Chief’s Association.
In offering an endorsement, Lucas risks complicating his relationship with Jefferson City if Galloway loses. The mayor is a nonpartisan office in Kansas City, and though he is a Democrat, Lucas has trod carefully in the past when speaking about the Republican governor.
Asked about the risk to his relationship with Parson, Lucas said they were both professionals who could respect each other and disagree.
“I will work with — and I’ve said this my whole time along — I’ll work with absolutely anybody,” Lucas said. “I’ll work with the governor if reelected. I’ll work with the state auditor if she’s elected governor, and I’ll continue to do that because that’s what our job is.”
Despite their different approaches to COVID-19, Lucas has been measured in his criticisms of the governor’s approach and lauded Parson and the state for not preventing Kansas City from imposing business restrictions this spring. When Parson issued a stay-at-home order in April, public health officials criticized it as “half-hearted,” but Lucas applauded it on Twitter, though he acknowledged its holes in an interview with The Star.
Since then, Lucas has gone on to issue a mask mandate while Parson has declined to do so on the state level.
Lucas turned to Parson earlier this year, urging him to hold a special session on violent crime. Parson, a former county sheriff, has made violent crime in Kansas City and St. Louis a central focus of his campaign.
More than 150 people have been killed in Kansas City in 2020. At this point last year, 120 people had been killed.
The governor recalled lawmakers to the Capitol for a special session this summer, proposing a bundle of anti-crime bills. Ultimately, the General Assembly approved just two bills — one of them pertaining only to St. Louis.
The other bill created a witness protection fund to aid law enforcement agencies with the costs of keeping witnesses safe. The fund had been sought by Lucas and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker as Kansas City police detectives have had to use their own money to relocate witnesses during murder investigations.
Still, lawmakers adjourned without appropriating money for the fund, which Galloway criticized Monday. She called the special session an attempt to change the subject from Parson’s response to COVID-19.
“After the session wrapped, the governor said that you (don’t always) hit a home run with the legislature, but when Missourians needed action from this governor, he instead stood up to the plate and struck out,” Galloway said. “It’s time for a change.”
During a debate last week, Parson said, “We didn’t strike out at all.”
“We did the things we needed to give law enforcement the tools they need,” Parson said.
Lucas’ immediate predecessor, Sly James, struggled to get face time with Parson’s predecessor, Eric Greitens. In 2018 when scandal forced Greitens to step down, Parson and James met. James was often critical of the legislature, especially on the issue of guns and violence.
Parson and Lucas met almost immediately on Lucas’ inauguration day and have spoken many times since. But Lucas said his endorsement of Galloway wasn’t because of some breakdown in that relationship.
“I’m a Democrat who supports issues that I think other Democrats support,” Lucas said. “I support making sure there’s access to health care for poor Missourians — for all Missourians. I support making sure that we don’t have domestic violence offenders running around with firearms. I support making sure we have a strong response to COVID-19.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 4:17 PM.
