Mike Parson was always pretty sure about what he wanted to do professionally, whether it be investigating crimes as a deputy sheriff or working his way up to being Missouri’s lieutenant governor.
But during a wide-ranging interview with St. Louis Public Radio as he readies to leave office as the state’s governor, Parson said his rapid ascension after Eric Greitens’ 2018 resignation turned everything “upside down.”
“It is an awakening that you've never experienced when you become governor of the state of Missouri,” Parson said. “Nobody has any idea what this job's like until you sit in that chair. I'll never be able to articulate enough what it's like.”
Parson’s tenure as chief executive was consequential. Thanks to Republican supermajorities and a flood of federal money, Parson was able to enact significant policy — and make appointments that shaped Missouri politics and the judiciary.
Parson also had to face historic challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, when some of his decision-making and statements faced intense pushback. He had to deal with criticism from the Republican Party’s right flank over his budgetary policies — as well as vexing staffing and operational issues within a post-COVID-19 state government.
COVID-19 put Parson in the spotlight
The pandemic may be the defining event of Parson’s governorship, because as the leader of state government he needed to make unprecedented decisions regarding the fast-spreading and deadly virus that was overwhelming hospitals and changing Missourians’ lives.
He let local governments make the final call on mask requirements or occupancy limits. He faced some criticism in 2020 for not getting behind a statewide mask mandate, which states like Illinois adopted. And the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine was troublesome — with demand being so high that Missourians in populated areas had to travel hours to rural counties to get inoculated.
Parson had regular press conferences that were streamed over Facebook. He recounted a time when he had been working anywhere from 12 to 14 hours for 42 straight days. That prompted his daughter to call him.
“She said: ‘Dad, you got to go home. You just look terrible,’” Parson said. “We just had to stay the course. So that was the most difficult time trying to get through — and then make the decisions you had to make.”
The federal government sent Missouri billions of dollars to deal with the impact of the pandemic. Parson ended up working with lawmakers to appropriate American Rescue Plan spending, which he said undoubtedly helped get the state through difficult financial waters.
He also said the budget is where he was able to accomplish two of his primary goals as governor: boosting workforce development programs and improving the state’s infrastructure. Missouri started the process of aggressively refurbishing roadways during Parson’s administration, most notably adding lanes to Interstate 70.
“We knew most of that could be done through the budgetary process,” Parson said.
His handling of the state budget earned him some praise, even from Missouri Democrats who often disagreed with his policy positions. But it also prompted a backlash among Republicans who didn’t like how the budget ballooned during his tenure in office.
Still, Parson almost always came out ahead in skirmishes with his own party — including in high-profile fights bolstering economic development incentives or getting his appointees approved. The big exception was the failure to make it more difficult to amend the state’s constitution, which ultimately never made it before voters thanks to GOP infighting and Democratic filibusters.
“We've had super majorities. And really to not get some basic, fundamental things reformed or done — it’s not a good look,” Parson said. “Not doing initiative petition reform and now seeing what happened. We didn't get it done, and it kind of came back and bit us.”
![From left: Kendyl Underwood, a 20-year-old St. Louis University student studying nursing, demonstrates in support of abortion rights on Friday, June 24, 2022, outside the Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. “The only thing we can do is push back,” Underwood said. “It’s not democracy for [the Supreme Court] to pass this and we have to make that heard.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2e34f6b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnpr.brightspotcdn.com%2Fdf%2Fd9%2F0785d3bb476d87884bab7ce7eec8%2F06242022-bm-pp-8a.JPG%3Forigin%3Dbody)
Missourians ended up adopting left-of-center ballot initiatives during his tenure, including:
- Expanding Medicaid, which GOP lawmakers tried to defund after passage until the Missouri Supreme Court forced the state government’s hand.
- Repealing Right to Work, which bars unions and employers from requiring workers to pay dues as a condition of employment. Passage of that policy seemed to be an inevitability after Greitens’ election as governor, but Republicans never brought it back up for consideration after voters emphatically repealed it in 2018.
- Legalizing marijuana, something that Parson and other Republicans opposed. Since voters authorized recreational marijuana, Missourians surpassed Colorado in cannabis sales.
- Increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, a move that business groups opposed but didn’t spend money to try to defeat. On Friday, they filed suit to block the change.
- Putting abortion rights in Missouri’s constitution, which effectively repealed a near-total ban on the procedure and could place scores of abortion restrictions in jeopardy.
“Inaction is what always leads to the initiative petition process,” Parson said. “If the legislative body doesn’t act, doesn’t come up with a solution, and this goes on year after year, and is an issue people really care about, sooner or later, they go to the initiative petition process. And they find a way to fund that. And they go around the legislative branch.”
Parson signed legislation in 2019 that ultimately led to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, with no exceptions for rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormalities.
Parson said he had no regrets about signing the bill into the law that Missourians ultimately rejected by about 3 percentage points.
“It goes back to my faith and how I believe that I think everybody should have a right to life,” Parson said.
Some opponents of the abortion legalization amendment have contended that voters were tricked or fooled into supporting the measure, thanks in large part to how the pro side raised more than $30 million and launched a sizable advertising campaign.
Parson, though, said that the people of “the state of Missouri voted for it, good, bad or indifferent.” He also said it’s likely that the battle over abortion access will continue, especially since Republicans can put a measure repealing or replacing abortion restrictions on the ballot.
“I mean, people come in here and dump millions and millions of dollars on lots of issues when it comes to the initiative petition process,” Parson said. “And it's sad, but that's the way the system works.”
What’s next?
Parson will leave office on Jan. 13. Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, whom Parson appointed to his post in 2018, will take over after being elected governor in November. Already, Kehoe has announced he’s keeping a number of cabinet appointees who have served under Parson.
Besides Kehoe, Parson filled four other statewide vacancies — as well as three appointments to the Missouri Supreme Court. One of his statewide selections, state Treasurer Vivek Malek, became the first non-white statewide official in Missouri history. And he appointed the first Black woman, Robin Ransom, to the Missouri Supreme Court.
In terms of what he plans to do next, Parson said he would like to start a charitable foundation. He also said he plans to drive his granddaughter to school “like normal grandparents.”
“I don't want to be in the political arena anymore,” he added. “I have no desire to stay in that.”
As for his legacy in state government, Parson said that’s for others to decide. But he hopes people see him as someone who was able to stabilize Missouri state government during turbulent times.
“Once upon a time, somebody had to settle this state down. Somebody had to be the captain of the ship. And somebody had to get us on the right track,” he said. “And like I said, if somebody says I did a pretty good job, I'll be content with that.”
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
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