'So many firsts': Missouri Gov. Mike Parson reflects on tenure as he enters final year

This story has been updated with corrections to the spelling of state Treasurer Vivek Malek's name, the appointments that Gov. Parson has made while in office, and his time spent as Polk County Sheriff.

As 2023 comes to a close, Gov. Mike Parson is looking ahead to his final year in office.

It will be an election year, which may stymie progress on some issues in the legislature as lawmakers seeking office try to score political points.

“I don't expect a lot of major things to happen, to be right honest about it,” Parson said. “I think the big thing for us next year is getting the budget through and trying to get the priorities done.”

Though he expects few sweeping changes in his final year, Parson is confident in the strong foundation built in Missouri during his tenure in office in terms of workforce development, infrastructure and the attraction of new businesses. He feels that foundation will lead the state to success in the coming years.

“Right now, we've got a good foundation. We want to maintain what we've got,” Parson said. “I want to make sure that when I leave, I'm turning it over in good shape. When I leave the office, the next governor’s gonna be able to walk up and have a good foundation to build on.”

Parson has not yet officially endorsed a candidate for governor, but he plans to get involved in supporting candidates sometime next summer.

“Right now, my focus has got to be on this last legislative session. I’ve got to do that,” Parson said. “We're gonna get involved in the political arena, probably in June or July.”

During his time in office, he has chosen five people to serve in vacated statewide positions after the office holder was elected to another position.

Of the five people he has appointed, three are seeking statewide offices, including State Treasurer Vivek Malek and Attorney General Andrew Bailey, both hoping to be elected to their current offices, and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who is running for governor in 2024. Parson appointed former attorney general Eric Schmitt, who is now a U.S. Senator and former state treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, who is now state auditor.

”I asked those guys to come in, in not the most ideal situations, to help me,” Parson said. “I'm a loyal guy, and I think a great deal of those people who have done that. So it's a little unusual, because many times governors say, ‘Hey, I’m going to stay out of this.’ It's kind of difficult to stay out of it when you pick the guy.”

Parson’s biography offers insight into his early life

As Parson reflects on his life leading up to his time in office, he recalls the various points when he was struck by the realization that there was no turning back, inspiring the title of his forthcoming biography.

“Where the phrase 'no turning back' really came from is the day I became governor, when I was sworn in,” Parson said. “We were walking into the governor's office, and it was just more media than I think I've ever seen in my life. It was cameras, clicks, noise.”

“When they opened the doors and windows, and I’m facing them for the first time, the author of the book said, ‘What were you thinking at that point?’ I said, ‘Well, there's no turning back.’ That was the moment that you had to go up there, take your oath, and face the press for the first time in that capacity.”

“No Turnin’ Back” is a biography of Gov. Michael Parson written by Jim Jones, husband of the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Kelli Jones. Beneath the title is G57, referring to Parson’s nickname earned as the state’s 57th governor. It will be released in March 2024.

“He always wanted to write a book, so we just kind of came together and said, ‘Look, I didn't know I was ever gonna write a book. I'm probably gonna only ever have one. You’ve never wrote one, so let's just do this thing and see how it comes out,'” Parson said.

The Parsons will not keep any of the proceeds from the book but instead donate them to the Moving Missouri Forward Foundation. This nonprofit, founded by first lady Teresa Parson, supports programs such as Jobs for America’s Graduates in Missouri, as well as initiatives helping children with special needs, and other programs focused on children across Missouri.

“As you go through the book, there's one recurring thing that will happen all the time. It's that people have helped me along the way,” Parson said. “There's just so many people in my life that have just kind of helped me along the way. So I hope by giving the proceeds that maybe we can help some kids along the way.”

Parson hopes that by sharing his story, kids who grew up in similar situations as him will feel inspired to dream without self-imposed limits on their future. Parson, who grew up in Wheatland, is the youngest of four sons and the first to be born in a hospital, to parents Victor and Helen Parson.

“In the book, it starts off talking about my mom and dad, and it says, ‘Little did they know at that time, they were giving birth to the 57th governor of the state of Missouri.’” Parson said. “That just kind of struck me like, wow, that's a long way from where I come from in Wheatland.”

His parents worked as sharecroppers when he was a child, and he recalls not having a lot of material things as he grew up. But he did have a supportive, nurturing, faith-based community of neighbors.

“When I was running for lieutenant governor, there was a lady up in Warsaw, who was everyone’s grandma, who said, ‘Oh honey, you must have been poor,’” Parson said. “It was the first time in my life that anybody had referred to us as poor, and she didn’t mean anything by it, but the truth of the matter, looking back on it, we probably were but we just didn’t know it at the time.”

As a young adult, Parson recalls a few run-ins with the law, which he feels influenced his decision to enter law enforcement as a career later in his life.

“I was young and disappointed my parents a little bit, to say the least, did some things I wish I hadn’t done,” Parson said.

“I can kind of joke around about it now, but probably the reason why I got into law enforcement is because of all the trouble I got into when I was younger. It probably did give me an insight into how to become a better law enforcement officer in my career.”

Following this time, Parson decided to join the Army, where he spent six years. After he was discharged, he returned to Missouri, making a home in Bolivar and later spending 22 years in law enforcement, 12 of those as Polk County sheriff.

He and his wife, Teresa, have two adult children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Parson is a small business owner, operating a cattle farm near Bolivar.

He served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2005-2011 before being elected to the Missouri Senate, where he served from 2011-2017. He was lieutenant governor in 2017-2018, taking over as governor in 2018 following the resignation of Eric Greitens.

Parson, a graduate of Wheatland High School, hopes that his ascent to the state’s highest elected office will serve as an example to Missouri’s youth that they can achieve great things even if getting a college degree isn’t their goal.

“If I was to address those kids as governor, the first thing they're probably gonna do is to sum you up and think you're somewhat privileged to get to do that, that you come from a different background than them,” Parson said.

“But then when you tell the story of how I grew up, the things that I did, the mistakes that I've made, you can tell all of a sudden, you're capturing the attention of everybody in there. Then when they find out you've got a high school degree, and you don't have a fancy pedigree behind you, you get a lot of people listening.”

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Building a strong foundation based on infrastructure, workforce development

During his term as governor, Parson has led the state through some trying times and had the opportunity to experience a lot of firsts for any Missouri governor.

“Picking five statewide elected officers, that's never been done before in the state’s history. Becoming governor the way I've become governor, that hadn't happened before, under circumstances like that. Picking three Supreme Court judges, that hadn't been done for over 30 years,” Parson said. “Facing COVID, facing droughts, floods, civil unrest, and all these things that happened — it seemed like there were so many firsts in everything.”

When Parson was appointed governor in 2018, he already had a good deal of life experience under his belt, including business management, law enforcement, military service, agricultural expertise and various elected offices within state government.

“When I became governor, I had a good knowledge of the political process, so the question really became ‘OK, now the ball’s in your court, in your hands, what are the things that you want to do as governor?’” Parson said.

In response to that question, Parson said he hoped to find a way to provide opportunities for the people of Missouri. He chose to focus on workforce development and infrastructure improvements, which by their nature give way to the attraction of new businesses to the state.

These were topics that he touched on in his annual State of the State addresses, as well as the platform that he ran on during the 2020 election, in which he won with 57.1% of the vote, coming in at 16.4 percentage points higher than Democratic challenger Nicole Galloway.

“It's about helping everyday people, all the way from preschool education to high school and to make sure a high school kid knows you don't have to go to college to be successful,” Parson said. “Some of them will, but a lot of them are not going to, and it's OK to find another profession, that you may have to have the skill and the training to be able to do it.”

Missouri is currently second in the nation for new apprenticeships and third for completed apprenticeships as of November.

“I knew that would change the environment of the workforce and bring jobs to Missouri and things of that nature,” Parson said. “Then the infrastructure piece, there’s highways, airports, rail, river ports, all of the things that we've been able to do over the last five years, it's just incredible.”

While he’s been in office, a new terminal was constructed at the Kansas City International Airport, while significant improvements were completed at the Columbia Regional Airport. Interstate 70 will be widened to three lanes, and I-44 is slated to receive improvements.

“Those kinds of things make a difference in whether businesses come here, or they don't come here, which means more people go to work,” Parson said. “One thing I have learned as governor in trying to recruit businesses or companies is, if you're not doing something to develop a workforce for tomorrow, they're not confident. But somebody else will, and that's where the businesses are gonna go.”

More: Missouri Partnership launches “Missouri Loves Company” campaign to attract new businesses

Parson looks to life after politics

With one year left in office, Parson is looking forward to enjoying some time with his family when he leaves office. While he didn’t say exactly what he plans to do after leaving office, he and his wife will be exiting the state’s political scene.

“We're definitely looking forward to finishing out our political career,” Parson said. “I have no desire to stay in politics after this. There's not a future in that arena for me, and nor do I want it to be.”

He looks forward to spending time in his home, which was purchased shortly before he took office.

“We've never really got to live in this house since I've become governor,” Parson said. “We'd actually just moved in here about four weeks before I got called to be governor. We've never just lived here actually.”

Above all, he hopes to make up for lost time with his family, including his grandchildren and great-grandson. During his time as governor, he’s kept a busy schedule attending events across the state, the nation and the world.

“It's a grueling pace. If you're going to be the governor, you gotta do it right,” Parson said. “You're gonna give up a certain part of your life for the schedule that you have to try to maintain, whether you want to or not. You just don't have much control over time.”

Parson has also sacrificed his own private life for the sake of being governor. He is generally accompanied by members of his staff and his security team, which have become as close as family members to him.

“I think people need to understand that when you’re the governor of the state of Missouri, you lose your private side of your life,” Parson said. “Just going out doing the simple things in life, you just can't do that easily, for a lot of good reasons.”

However, Parson is grateful that the people of Missouri elected him to serve in this role and happy to have given those years of his life to improving the state. To him, being governor is less about the person in office than about serving the people of the state as best he can.

“If you sit in that seat, you realize it's never about the last name. It's about the office of governor. That's what's really important,” Parson said. “It's about what you do in the short period of time you're there to maintain who we are as Missourians. That's the job of governor.”

Parson feels that if Missourians can say that he did a pretty good job as governor he’ll be “the happiest guy there is.” For him, it's never been about personal advancement, but rather about laying a strong foundation for Missouri to continue to grow.

“I had a time in history that I was governor of this great state, and my job was to maintain that integrity of who we are as Missourians, no matter where you live or who you are,” Parson said. “It's not about politics. It's about the office.”

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Mike Parson reflects on time as Missouri governor, final year in office