Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll to talk about key issues in the contest against Gov. Mike Parson.
The Galloway-Parson showdown is one of the few governor’s races in the country that are seen as competitive, which is why both candidates have benefited from their party’s national governors associations pumping in millions of dollars.
Here’s what Galloway talked about on the show:
- How she would handle the COVID-19 pandemic differently than Parson, including why she would impose a statewide mask mandate. Parson has declined to do that, instead allowing individual counties to make that decision for themselves.
- Her approach to schools reopening during the pandemic, which has become a hot topic across the nation and Missouri with coronavirus numbers still increasing.
- Why the state should have a law requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions.
- How she would have managed a special session on violent crime differently.
- What she would do to reduce inequities between white and Black Missourians.
Galloway was first appointed to the state auditor’s office in 2015 after Tom Schweich’s death. She won a full term in 2018, defeating Republican Saundra McDowell by a little more than 6 percentage points. Before that, she served as Boone County treasurer.
Galloway’s victory was arguably the Democrats’ lone bright spot in 2018. But it also highlighted some of the party’s weaknesses. Even though Galloway’s opponent was attacked for her past financial troubles and spent less money than candidates for St. Louis alderman, she still won most rural and some suburban counties by sizable margins.
During the show, Galloway contended that the issues have shifted in her party’s direction over the past few months — most notably Parson’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also said that if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden does better in Missouri than Hillary Clinton did in 2016, that could affect the outcome of the governor’s contest.
St. Louis Public Radio has contacted the Parson campaign and is working on getting the governor on the podcast in the coming days.
Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR
Follow Nicole Galloway on Twitter: @nicolergalloway
Music: “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC
