JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — State Sen. Scott Sifton has decided to forgo a gubernatorial bid and has endorsed Nicole Galloway for the office instead.
Galloway, the lone Democrat holding a statewide office as Missouri’s auditor, has begun preparations for a 2020 bid, calling donors and union leaders, The Missouri Times has learned. Republican Gov. Mike Parson is expected to announce his bid in August.
“I am grateful to all who have given their encouragement and pledged their support,” Sifton said Tuesday. “Nicole Galloway is the right person to lead the Democratic ticket in Missouri in 2020. I look forward to campaigning relentlessly to help get her elected.”
Sifton pointed to Galloway’s re-election successs in 2018 as an indicator she would succeed in her gubernatorial bid, telling The Missouri Times she “won a lot of counties few, if any, Democrats have won in recent cycles.”
“And she’s done a great job as state auditor,” Sifton said.
Galloway, 37, had nearly $65,800 cash on hand by the April quarter filing date. Sifton, who represents SD 01, had more than $313,000 cash on hand. Although he had been considering a run for governor, Sifton didn’t completely rule out a different bid for a statewide office in his Galloway endorsement, saying: “One major life decision at a time.”
“There was never any doubt that I was going to be with Nicole if she ran, and I made that clear from the beginning to all who asked,” Sifton said.
Sifton, an attorney, was first elected to the state Senate in 2012. He represents St. Louis County in the General Assembly.
Galloway was appointed state auditor by then-Gov. Jay Nixon following the death of Tom Schweich. She was elected to the same position in November 2018. Prior to her tenure as auditor, Galloway served as the Boone County treasurer since 2011 when she was appointed to fill a vacant post; she won re-election to that position in 2012.
https://themissouritimes.com/62707/nicole-galloway-gears-up-for-gubernatorial-race/
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
