Missouri's new governor was sworn into office on Friday, following months of scandal surrounding former Gov. Eric Greitens (R) that forced his resignation. Michael Parson, who previously served as the state's lieutenant governor, becomes Missouri's 57th chief executive following the exit of Greitens, who resigned in the face of mounting pressure from the legislature and prosecutors looking into several areas of alleged misconduct. Political observers in the state say Parson, who previously ran a gas station and worked as a county sheriff for years before entering politics, is likely to represent a clean break with Greitens, who left office after just 17 months. ADVERTISEMENT Greitens was a bombastic former Navy SEAL who refashioned himself as a conservative and had his eyes on an eventual White House bid. Parson is an Army veteran and a third-generation farmer from the southwest corner of the state who spent a dozen years in the legislature after serving as sheriff. “He’s the antithesis of Eric Greitens. Mike is low key, he is a collaborative worker, and a consensus-builder, and he’s got really outstanding relationships with the general assembly, in both parties,” said John Hancock, a GOP strategist and former chairman of the state Republican Party. Acknowledging the unusual circumstances under which he will assume the governorship, Parson held a private prayer service before being sworn in Friday. He formally took the oath of office, administered by state Supreme Court Judge Mary Russell, in a small ceremony in the Capitol in Jefferson City. Parson spoke with all 16 of Missouri’s Cabinet officials earlier this week, and it is unlikely he plans wholesale changes throughout the administration he inherits. Staffers who served Greitens were invited to submit résumés if they wanted to keep their jobs, though it was not immediately clear how many staffers Parson would keep onboard. In the legislature, Parson amassed a conservative voting record, though he collaborated across party lines — most notably, Hancock said, on a measure to reform a ballot initiative banning puppy mills. Parson’s work allowed legitimate dog-breeding businesses to continue uninterrupted, after voters passed the ban on puppy mills by a wide margin. “He’s a conservative, but if you had to pick his two top priorities right now for the state, one is infrastructure and the other is workforce development. He’s got a good grasp of policy from having done it for so long,” Hancock said. In another contrast with Greitens, who fought tooth and nail with the Republican-led legislature over legislative priorities, Parson is expected to leverage his relationships with legislative leaders. He plans to speak to a joint session of the legislature on June 11 in what is expected to be a measured, sober address. Parson’s ascension marks the end of months of scandal in Missouri politics, during which Greitens was accused of taking a nude photograph of a paramour and threatening to make it public if she revealed details of their affair. Those charges were eventually dropped by a St. Louis prosecutor, though both the state legislature and another prosecutor were looking into the matter. Greitens also faced charges of improperly obtaining a list of donors from a veteran’s charity he ran in order to fundraise for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign. Those charges were dropped in exchange for his resignation. Parson will be the fifth lieutenant governor to assume the governor’s office because of a predecessor’s resignation since 2016. Three of those new governors — South Carolina’s Henry McMaster (R), Iowa’s Kim Reynolds (R) and Kansas’s Jeff Colyer (R) — took office after their predecessors quit to take ambassadorial jobs in the Trump administration. The fourth, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R), took office when, like Greitens, her predecessor stepped down amid scandal.<doc-sep>Many of Greitens’ top aides won’t be back after the weekend. “I am deeply grateful for having had the chance to serve the people of Missouri. And I will always remember the team that I had the opportunity to serve alongside,” Greitens’ policy director Will Scharf tweeted. Parson, meanwhile, called his ascension a “huge undertaking” but said he would bring stability to the office. “We’re in the planning stage. We’re in the transition part,” Parson told reporters outside his office before his swearing-in ceremony. “It is a daunting task in two or three days to prepare to be governor of the state of Missouri.” Afterwards, in short remarks before family, friends and the media in his new office, Parson pledged to restore order to a state government that has been besieged for the past five months after Greitens admitted having an extramarital affair in 2015. “We have an opportunity today to have a fresh start in state government. I believe now is a time for Missouri to come together,” he said.<doc-sep>Now, some organizations that use the credits are hopeful Parson will take a less confrontational stance with the industry. Both Republican statewide officeholders sit on the housing commission, and while Greitens voted against the issuance of state credits, Parson decried the move and argued any reforms to the program should be debated in the Legislature. Past attempts to reform the credits have failed there. “If we want to talk about reform, let’s talk about reform,” Parson said at the November MHDC meeting. “If we’re going to do away with it, it should be the governor and the Legislature that do away with it.” The MHDC has typically approved matching the amount of federal low income housing credits allocated to Missouri, and the late 2017 action by the commission withholding the state match sent developers who use the credits to finance projects scrambling to adjust their plans. Mark Stroker, director of real estate development at St. Louis nonprofit Rise Community Development, said he expects about one-third fewer housing units to be financed due to the lack of state credits this year.<doc-sep>
Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Lt. Gov. Mike Parson has been sworn in as Missouri’s new governor after the state’s previous leader resigned amid scandal. Parson replaces fellow Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, who had been facing possible impeachment in the Missouri House. Start your day with the news you need from the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our new Morning Report weekday newsletter. The 62-year-old Parson is a cattle farmer who spent 12 years as a county sheriff and another dozen years in the Missouri Legislature before winning election as lieutenant governor in 2016. The Missouri Constitution automatically elevates the lieutenant governor when the governor leaves office. Parson will serve the remainder of Greitens’ term, which runs until 2021. Greitens had been facing allegations of sexual misconduct related to a 2015 affair and accusations of campaign finance violations. He denied criminal wrongdoing but cited growing financial and personal strains from the investigations. Just hours before he left office Friday, Greitens signed scores of new laws, including a measure that makes it a crime to try to threaten a person using a private sexual image — the same allegation that led to his downfall. In the flurry of last-minute activity, the governor approved 77 new laws, granted several pardons and commutations and won at least a temporary reprieve in a court battle over campaign records. He posted a long Facebook message touting his accomplishments — without any mention of why he was quitting — and quietly left Capitol about an hour before his 5 p.m. resignation took effect. The “revenge porn” law creates a felony that will apply to cases when someone threatens the nonconsensual dissemination of a private sexual image by coercing another person to refrain from an action. The governor has been accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015 and warning her he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter.