2020 Missouri gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2020 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2020 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of Missouri, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Parson ran for and was elected to a full term in office.^[1] Parson was elected as lieutenant governor in 2016 but became governor on June 1, 2018, after incumbent Eric Greitens resigned under threat of impeachment by the state legislature. Parson declared his bid for a full term on September 8, 2019.^[2] State Auditor Nicole Galloway, Missouri's only Democratic statewide officer and only female statewide officer, was the Democratic nominee and if elected, would have become Missouri's first female governor.

2020 Missouri gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →
Turnout	69.75%
Nominee Mike Parson Nicole Galloway Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,720,202 1,225,771 Percentage 57.11% 40.69%
County results Congressional districts results Precinct results Parson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Galloway:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data
Governor before election Mike Parson Republican Elected Governor Mike Parson Republican

In October 2020, The Washington Post identified this state election as one of eight whose outcomes could affect partisan balance during post-census redistricting.^[3]

Despite most news agencies characterizing the race as only leaning Republican, Mike Parson went on to win the election by a landslide of 16.4%, widely outperforming all election polling as well as justifying the former swing state's trend towards the GOP. He even exceeded Donald Trump's statewide victory margin in the concurrent presidential election, which was actually greater than that in neighboring Kansas for the first time in 104 years. Galloway suffered the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Missouri since Betty Hearnes' 29-point loss in 1988. The 1988 election was also the last election until this one in which Missouri elected a Republican for governor by double digits.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mike Parson, incumbent governor of Missouri^[4][2] and former state senator

Eliminated in primary

• Saundra McDowell, U.S. Air Force veteran and Republican nominee for Missouri state auditor in 2018^[5]
• Jim Neely, state representative from the 8th district^[6]
• Raleigh Ritter, rancher and businessman^[7]

Declined

• Jay Ashcroft, Missouri Secretary of State^[8]
• Eric Greitens, former governor of Missouri^[9][10]
• Tony Monetti, retired bomber pilot, assistant dean of aviation at University of Central Missouri, and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018^[11]

Endorsements

Jim Neely

State officials

• Mike Moon, state representative from the 157th district^[12]
• Bryan Spencer, state representative from the 63rd district^[12]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Mike Parson	Eric Greitens	Other / Undecided
	March 31, 2020	Filing deadline, by which Greitens had not declared his candidacy
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	Jan 29–30, 2020	1,155 (LV)	± 2.9%	52%	22%	26%
American Viewpoint/Uniting Missouri[upper-alpha 1]	Jan 20–22, 2020	1,200 (LV)	–	56%	30%	11%

Results

Results by county:

Parson

•   >90%
•   80–90%
•   70–80%
•   60–70%
•   50–60%
•   <40%

Republican primary results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Parson (incumbent)	511,566	74.93%
	Republican	Saundra McDowell	84,412	12.36%
	Republican	Jim Neely	59,514	8.72%
	Republican	Raleigh Ritter	27,264	3.99%
Total votes			682,756	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Nicole Galloway, Missouri state auditor^[14]

Eliminated in primary

• Eric Morrison, community leader and pastor^[15]
• Antoin Johnson^[16]
• Jimmie Matthews^[16]
• Robin Quaethem^[16]

Declined

• Sly James, former mayor of Kansas City, Missouri^[17]
• Jason Kander, former Missouri Secretary of State, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016, former candidate for Mayor of Kansas City in 2019^[18]
• Claire McCaskill, former U.S. senator^[19]
• Scott Sifton, state senator from the 1st district and former state representative from the 96th district (endorsed Galloway)^[20]

Endorsements

Nicole Galloway

Federal politicians

• Kamala Harris, U.S. senator from California and 2020 Democratic nominee for vice president^[21]

Individuals

• Scott Sifton, state senator^[20]

Organizations

• 314 Action^[22]
• EMILY's List^[23]
• National Women's Political Caucus^[24]
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund^[25]

Results

Results by county:

Galloway

•   >90%
•   80–90%
•   70–80%
•   60–70%
•   50–60%

Democratic primary results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nicole Galloway	455,203	84.62%
	Democratic	Eric Morrison	32,403	6.02%
	Democratic	Jimmie Matthews	20,586	3.83%
	Democratic	Antoin Johnson	20,254	3.77%
	Democratic	Robin Quaethem	9,481	1.76%
Total votes			537,927	100.00%

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Rik Combs, the Libertarian nominee

Nominee

• Rik Combs, U.S. Air Force veteran^[16]

Results

Libertarian primary results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Rik Combs	4,171	100.00%
Total votes			4,171	100.00%

Green Party

Nominee

• Jerome Bauer^[16]

Results

Green primary results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Green	Jerome Bauer	862	100.00%
Total votes			862	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[26]	Lean R	October 23, 2020
Inside Elections[27]	Lean R	October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[28]	Lean R	November 2, 2020
Politico[29]	Lean R	November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[30]	Likely R	October 28, 2020
RCP[31]	Lean R	November 2, 2020
270towin[32]	Lean R	November 2, 2020

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Mike Parson (R)	Nicole Galloway (D)	Other / Undecided
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	October 28–29, 2020	1,010 (LV)	± 3%	50%	44%	5%[lower-alpha 2]
Cygnal (R)	October 18–20, 2020	600 (LV)	± 4%	48%	42%	10%[lower-alpha 3]
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	October 14–15, 2020	1,010 (LV)	± 3%	51%	43%	6%[lower-alpha 4]
YouGov	September 24 – October 7, 2020	931 (LV)	± 3.9%	50%	44%	7%[lower-alpha 5]
Garin-Hart-Yang Research (D)[upper-alpha 2]	September 28 – October 2, 2020	600 (LV)	± 4.1%	50%	48%	–
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	September 30 – October 1, 2020	980 (LV)	± 3%	51%	44%	5%[lower-alpha 6]
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	September 16–17, 2020	1,046 (LV)	± 3%	52%	43%	5%[lower-alpha 7]
We Ask America[permanent dead link]	September 1–3, 2020	500 (LV)	± 4.38%	54%	41%	5%[lower-alpha 8]
Trafalgar Group (R)	August 26–28, 2020	1,015 (LV)	± 2.99%	51%	36%	13%[lower-alpha 9]
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	August 12–13, 2020	1,112 (LV)	± 3.0%	50%	43%	7%[lower-alpha 10]
Saint Louis University Archived July 14, 2020, at the Wayback Machine	June 23 – July 1, 2020	900 (LV)	± 4.0%	41%	39%	20%[lower-alpha 11]
Garin-Hart-Yang/Missouri Scout (D)[upper-alpha 2]	June 16–22, 2020	800 (LV)	± 3.5%	47%	40%	–
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	June 10–11, 2020	1,152 (LV)	± 2.9%	50%	41%	9%
We Ask America Archived June 4, 2020, at the Wayback Machine	May 26–27, 2020	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	47%	39%	15%[lower-alpha 12]
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	April 28–29, 2020	1,356 (LV)	± 2.6%	52%	39%	9%
Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout	March 11–12, 2020	1,241 (LV)	–	52%	39%	7%
American Viewpoint (R)[upper-alpha 1]	January 20–22, 2020	1,200 (LV)	–	54%	36%	7%
Human Agency/Missouri Scout	December 20–24, 2019	415 (RV)	± 5%	51%	36%	13%
Missouri Scout/Human Agency (D)	November 17–20, 2019	400 (RV)	± 5.0%	51%	35%	14%
Public Policy Polling (D)[upper-alpha 3]	November 14–15, 2019	921 (LV)	–	45%	36%	19%
Missouri Scout/Human Agency (D)	October 18–20, 2019	550 (RV)	± 4.0%	50%	34%	16%
Remington/Missouri Scout (R)	October 9–10, 2019	1,451 (LV)	± 2.5%	53%	41%	6%
Missouri Scout/Human Agency (D)	September 16–18, 2019	825 (RV)	± 4.0%	45%	36%	19%
Remington/Missouri Scout (R)	August 14–15, 2019	855 (LV)	± 3.3%	50%	39%	11%
Remington/Missouri Scout (R)	June 26–27, 2019	960 (LV)	± 3.2%	50%	37%	13%
Remington/Missouri Scout (R)	February 27, 2019	893 (LV)	± 3.4%	51%	40%	9%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Eric Greitens (R)	Nicole Galloway (D)	Other / Undecided
American Viewpoint (R)[upper-alpha 1]	January 20–22, 2020	1,200 (LV)	–	44%	45%	7%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Mike Parson (R)	Jason Kander (D)	Other / Undecided
Remington/Missouri Scout (R)	February 27, 2019	893 (LV)	± 3.4%	51%	36%	13%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Mike Parson (R)	Scott Sifton (D)	Other / Undecided
Remington/Missouri Scout (R)	February 27, 2019	893 (LV)	± 3.4%	52%	32%	16%

Hypothetical polling

Eric Greitens vs Nicole Galloway

Mike Parson vs Jason Kander

Mike Parson vs. Scott Sifton

Endorsements

Nicole Galloway (D)

Federal politicians

• Joe Biden, 47th vice president of the United States and 2020 Democratic nominee for president^[33]
• Emanuel Cleaver, U.S. representative from Missouri's 5th district^[34]
• Kamala Harris, U.S. senator from California and 2020 Democratic nominee for vice president^[21]
• Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States (2009–2017), U.S. senator from Illinois (2005–2008)^[35]
• Elizabeth Warren, U.S. senator from Massachusetts and former 2020 presidential candidate^[36]

State officials

• Jay Nixon, former governor of Missouri^[37]

Local officials

• Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana (2012–2020) and former 2020 presidential candidate^[38]
• Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City^[39]

Individuals

• Andy Cohen, Bravo host^[40]
• Scott Sifton, state senator from the 1st district^[20]

Unions

• Missouri AFL–CIO^[41]

Organizations

• 314 Action^[22]
• Brady Campaign^[42]
• EMILY's List^[23]
• National Women's Political Caucus^[24]
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund^[25]

Results

Missouri gubernatorial election, 2020^[43][44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mike Parson (incumbent)	1,720,202	57.11%	+5.97%
	Democratic	Nicole Galloway	1,225,771	40.69%	−4.88%
	Libertarian	Rik Combs	49,067	1.63%	+0.16%
	Green	Jerome Bauer	17,234	0.57%	−0.18%
	Write-in		13	0.00%	±0.00%
Total votes			3,012,287	100.0%
Turnout			3,026,028	69.75%
Registered electors			4,318,758
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Parson won 6 of 8 congressional districts.^[45]

District	Parson	Galloway	Representative
1st	19%	78%	Lacy Clay (116th Congress)
			Cori Bush (117th Congress)
2nd	51%	48%	Ann Wagner
3rd	66%	31%	Blaine Luetkemeyer
4th	66%	31%	Vicky Hartzler
5th	40%	57%	Emanuel Cleaver
6th	64%	34%	Sam Graves
7th	70%	27%	Billy Long
8th	76%	22%	Jason Smith

State Senate districts results

State House districts results

See also

• 2020 Missouri elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Combs (L) with 2%; Bauer (G) with 1%; Undecided with 2%
3. Combs (L) with 2%; Bauer (G) with 1%; Undecided with 7%
4. Combs (L) with 2%; Bauer (G) with 1%; Undecided with 3%
5. "Other" with 3%; Undecided with 4%
6. Undecided with 5%
7. Undecided with 5%
8. Undecided with 5%
9. Combs (L) with 3%; Bauer (G) with 2%; Undecided with 8%
10. Undecided with 7%
11. Undecided with 17%; "Other" with 3%
12. Undecided with 15%

Partisan clients

1. Uniting Missouri is a PAC supporting Governor Mike Parson (R) in the 2020 Missouri gubernatorial election.
2. Poll sponsored by Galloway's campaign.
3. Poll sponsored by the Democratic Governors Association

References

1. Clare Foran (May 29, 2018). "Embattled Missouri Governor Eric Greitens resigns amid scandals". CNN. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
2. Suntrup, Jack (September 8, 2019). "Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a cattle-farming former sheriff, announces bid for 4-year term". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
3. Phillips, Amber (October 2, 2020). "The state legislative battles to watch in 2020". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
4. Parks, MaryAlice (May 30, 2018). "Missouri governor to be replaced by longtime traditional politician". ABC News. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
5. Gerber, Cameron (March 31, 2020). "Saundra McDowell files to run for governor, challenging Parson". The Missouri Times.
6. Erickson, Kurt (August 28, 2019). "State lawmaker announces plan to challenge Parson for GOP nomination for Missouri governor". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
7. Governor, Raleigh Ritter For Missouri. "Raleigh Ritter". Raleigh Ritter For Missouri Governor.
8. Star, Jason Hancock and Lindsay Wise Kansas City. "Parson faces unrest among Missouri conservatives as he heads into 2020". Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
9. Suntrup, Kurt Erickson, Jack (January 19, 2020). "A Greitens comeback? Supporters of the ex-Missouri governor are hopeful". STLtoday.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. "Greitens 2020? Could former Gov. Greitens run for governor again?". KOMU.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
11. Hancock, Jason [@J_Hancock] (April 8, 2019). ". @MonettiforMO went on @PeteMundo show this morning to announce he will not challenge @GovParsonMO in the GOP primary for governor in 2020. He'll dissolve his exploratory committee. #MoLeg #MoGOv" (Tweet). Retrieved April 8, 2019 – via Twitter.
12. "Jim Neely for Missouri Governor 2020". Jim Neely. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
13. "State of Missouri - State of Missouri - Primary Election, August 04, 2020". Missouri Secretary of State.
14. Lieb, David A. (August 12, 2019). "Democrat Galloway launches Missouri gubernatorial campaign". Associated Press News. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
15. "Eric Morrison for Missouri |". Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
16. "SOS, Missouri - Elections: Offices Filed in Candidate Filing". s1.sos.mo.gov.
17. Rosenbaum, Jason (December 4, 2018). "New Missouri Democratic vice chair says the party can attract both urban and rural voters". KSMU. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
18. Salter, Jim; Stafford, Margaret (July 28, 2019). "Jason Kander is back after quietly working through PTSD". Military Times. Associated Press. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
19. Raasch, Chuck (December 12, 2018). "McCaskill: I'll never run again, but I'll stay involved in politics". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
20. Suntrup, Jack (July 2, 2019). "Missouri lawmaker from Affton who considered run for governor backs Democratic auditor instead". stltoday.com. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
21. "Show-Me Senator Kamala Harris Sending Support To Missouri Lady Candidates". May 23, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
22. "State & Local". 3.14 Action. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
23. Schriock, Stephanie (November 19, 2019). "EMILY's List Endorses Nicole Galloway for Missouri Governor". emilyslist.org. EMILY's List.
24. "Endorsed Candidates". NWPC. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
25. Rodríguez, Yamelsie; Hill, Brandon (November 7, 2019). "Planned Parenthood Advocates and Votes Endorse Reproductive Health Champion Nicole Galloway for Missouri Governor". plannedparenthoodaction.org. Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes; Advocates of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
26. "2020 Governor Race Ratings for October 23, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
27. "2020 Gubernatorial Ratings". insideelections.com. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
28. "2020 Gubernatorial race ratings". Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 2, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
29. "We rated every gubernatorial race in 2020. Here's who we think will win". Politico. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
30. "2020 Governor Race Ratings". Daily Kos. June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
31. "2020 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
32. "2020 Gubernatorial Elections Map". 270towin.
33. "Biden endorses Nicole Galloway for Missouri governor. Here's why it matters". The Kansas City Star.
34. "Nicole Galloway for Missouri". Nicole Galloway for Missouri. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
35. "Second Wave of 2020 Endorsements". Medium. September 25, 2020.
36. "Nicole Galloway Tops Week of Momentum with Endorsement From Sen. Elizabeth Warren". Democratic Governors Association. July 10, 2020.
37. "Former Missouri Governor Jay Nixon hopeful that Galloway will unseat his successor in November election". October 29, 2020.
38. "Join Pete Buttigeig in supporting Nicole Galloway!". ActBlue.
39. "KC mayor endorses Galloway over Parson for Missouri governor". The Kansas City Star. October 12, 2020.
40. "Nicole Galloway, CPA on Instagram: "You won't wanna miss this: Join me, @bravoandy, @karliekloss, and @derekblasberg on Monday for a virtual grassroots fundraiser for our…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
41. "2020 Labor Endorsed Candidates". moaflcio.org. July 14, 2020.
42. Gerber, Cameron (July 23, 2020). "Galloway endorsed by national gun violence prevention group". The Missouri Times.
43. "All Results State of Missouri - State of Missouri - General Election, November 03, 2020". Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
44. "Statistiques" (PDF). www.sos.mo.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2020..
45. "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.

Further reading

• Amber Phillips (October 2, 2020), "The state legislative battles to watch in 2020", Washingtonpost.com, Missouri governor's race. (About redistricting).

External links

Official campaign websites

• Rik Combs (L) for Governor Archived 2021-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Nicole Galloway (D) for Governor
• Mike Parson (R) for Governor