Gov. Parson picks his primary candidates, criticizes attack ads in State of State address

In his final State of the State address hosted by the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and just a week before a tight primary election, Gov. Mike Parson shared choice words for candidates running for state offices and advised future leaders on the path ahead.

The 57th governor took the stage at the Great Southern Bank Arena on Tuesday donning a tie with "57" to deliver his State of the State address to the largest Springfield audience of 580, largely composed of representatives from the local business, education and nonprofit spheres as well as elected officials. Parson's term will conclude at the end of the year after serving in the post since 2018.

The address came a week before the primary election, which will see a tight race between nine candidates on the Republican ballot and five candidates running on the Democratic ballot vying to replace Parson. While so far Parson has not officially endorsed anyone for the office, or any of the other statewide races, on Tuesday he shared his support for State Treasurer Vivek Malek and Attorney General Andrew Bailey, both hoping to be elected to their current offices, along with Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who is running for governor. Parson appointed all three to their respective positions.

"It's pretty simple for me," Parson said on picking who to support in the races. "[They] have been with me for six years through thick and thin. I put them in the positions to go to work. Every one of them come from a humble beginning and I will stand behind people that stood behind me."

Parson scolds political strategies, sets agenda

Attack ads have become an ever more common political strategy. But at the beginning of his speech, Parson made it clear that the negativity and often blatant lies must stop.

"I've never seen the likes of negative things happen in the political arena towards one another," he said. "We're going down a trail, a road of no return. We need to quit trying to destroy people's character, their honor and their integrity."

Instead, Parson encouraged candidates to focus on their role, qualifications and goals if elected to office and persuade voters on their own attributes.

"We've got a great foundation in the state of Missouri, we just need somebody to call up the foundation we started," he later told the media regarding the future of the governor's office.

While most of the address included goals accomplished and successes realized while in office, Parson also emphasized the need for his successor to focus on childcare and called on other local and state leaders to "get on the same page."

"The number one reason employees don't go to work is the lack of daycare," he said. "I'm not saying it's the government's job to do that, but I am saying we need to partner with the private sector, and we need to find solutions to take care of our kids."

Gov. Mike Parson boasts of success ahead of departure

Parson recounted the challenges and celebrated the successes and accomplishments from his six years as the state's leader. Calling them the "craziest six years," he highlighted workforce development achievements, large investments in infrastructure both locally and across the state, earmarking more funding for higher education and expanding free kindergarten programs, while celebrating the plan to connect everyone in the state to broadband internet over the next five years.

Throughout the list of triumphs were also plenty of unprecedented advances. Among them, the first female majority at the Missouri Supreme Court, the largest infrastructure project in the state's history with improvements to Interstate 70, the most tax cuts delivered within six years, competing for over $2 billion investments for five business opportunities and setting the bottom line at a record $1.9 billion for the next administration. He also highlighted investments made within the southwest Missouri region, including to widen and improve Interstate 44 in the newest budget , calling the new and improved highway the "economic engine" of the city and Greene County.

More: Which Ozarks area projects made (and didn't make) the cut in the final state budget

During this last address, Parson announced the fifth income tax cut of his tenure, which will reduce the top income tax from 4.8% to 4.7% starting Jan. 1.

He ended the State of the State by using his own backstory as a testament that through hard work, anything is possible.

"I truly do love this state," Parson said as his final remark before being greeted by a standing ovation. "We've lived the American Dream."

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at mmieze@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Gov. Parson picks his primary candidates, criticizes attack ads in State of State address