Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 Missouri Governors Debate 20240712

Good afternoon. Komu, welcome to the Missouri Press association governors forum. This is an event of the press Association Sponsors every four years, and we are pleased the university of missouri has partnered with us to broadcast this year event from the historic missouri theater. Like everything in 2020, things are little different, beginning with the fact that the theater is not open to the public. Our stage does allow everyone to stay physically separated, so that is why i am not wearing a mask. A few Campaign Staffers and members of the media are joining us in the auditorium, but i still need to remind everyone to avoid applause or other reactions during todays forum. Stage, our candidates on the executive editor of the colombian missourian ruby bailey, gary castor, managing editor of the Jefferson City news tribune, tricia miller, editor and publisher of the washington missourian, along with myself representing komu. I am pleased to announce our moderator from the Associated Press david leap. David i would like to introduce the candidates and go over the rules. Today the candidates drew numbers to the term of the order in which they will be making opening remarks. They are arranged on the stage in that order, starting farthest from me, Democratic State auditor Nicole Galloway, Libertarian Party candidate rik combs, republican governor mike parson, and green Party Candidate jerome bauer. After opening statements, i will ask the first question. Then we proceed to questions from our panelists. Candidates will have one minute to answer each question. After each has had a turn, i will decide whether any rebuttal time is necessary. If so, candidates will receive an additional 30 seconds, but rebuttals will be reserved only for those candidates involved in criticisms. If candidates fail to answer a question, i was are the right to ask them to try again during rebuttal time. The first question goes to the candidate farthest away from it, the second question will begin with the second candidate, and so forth. Candidates will receive two minutes for a closing statement. Closing remarks will be delivered in reverse order from opening remarks. Audio and visual notifications will look arrest time is about to expire. Candidates, please adhere to the stop signs. Finally, due to the coronavirus, todays forum has occurred in front of a limited audience of media members and a few supporters of each candidate. Audience, please hold your response and applause until todays event is over. With that, lets begin. Nicole galloway, you may deliver your opening statement. State auditor galloway thank you. This election comes down to whose side you are on and who you are fighting for. I am running for governor to put Jefferson City back on the side of working families, and act with urgency to protect fellow missourians. The most important thing the next governor will have to do is contain the spread of the virus and rebuild missouri economy. The question is, will we rebuild in a way that helps working people get back on their feet, or continue to ignore science, distract, and rebuild only for wellconnected special interests . Governor parson has been part of a broken system for years that delivers for insiders. He asks what is in it for himself as missourians struggle. Missourians deserve a governor that will act to defeat this virus, rebuild our broken economy, Lower Health Care costs and fight crime before an election year. Governor parson has failed the test of leadership and it is time for a change. Moderator rik combs. Rik thank you, david. It is an honor to be here. I want to thank the Missouri Press association, komu, and the missouri theatre for hosting this. Our campaign is based on limited government, smaller government, more Efficient Government, Free Enterprise always and to protect private property. With that in mind, what missourians will have to figure out soon is what type of government they want. Do they want a large government . Do they want a limited government . Missourians are going to have that choice on november 3. Thank you, very much. Governor parson thank you for having me up here. I think the Missouri Press association and all the candidates on the stage today for being part of the process. For me, it started as a humble beginning in wheatland, missouri, i grew up in a town of 300 if t6 people with a family of strong christian values, moral values, what part work means, would being a Good Neighbor means, what respect means to individuals. I went to work at 14 years old. I served in the u. S. Army for two tours of duty overseas and learned how to respect one another and learn what i am fighting for. I became a local sheriff. I was a Small Business owner. I am a farmer today, a husband, father, grandparent. Those life skills are what makes you to be a leader in the state of missouri. Those are the qualities that will bring to Jefferson City. Moderator jerome bauer. Jerome im jerome bauer, stressing ability and equity. My time spent without health care almost cost me my life three times in the last decade, before i got disability and medicare at the missouri pension with medicaid. I almost lost my medicaid. I received one of those adverse action two years ago, along with 100,000 who got kicked off medicaid. Not everybody is so lucky. Health care is a human right. If elected, i promise to work cooperatively to establish cooperatives of all time and also of all kinds and work for universal basic income in exchange for universal basic service. Lets bring back the civilian conservation corps and other rooseveltarea work project. Lets have training for all. Thank you. Moderator we now move to the questions. The first question is for you, Nicole Galloway. The most recent report from the White House Coronavirus task force listed missouri in the red zone for new covid19 cases. Among the top10 states nationally at hospitalizations for the virus recently reached an alltime high for missouri. How do you rate the state response to the coronavirus, and what if any additional steps should be taken . State auditor galloway we need a complete reset on our coronavirus strategy. I have outlined a plan based on data, on containment, mitigation, on masks, sciencebacked, dataproven ways to get this virus under control and prevent Community Spread so we can get our lives back. Weekend open our schools again and we can repair our economy. Governor parson talks a lot about the four pillars of his plan, but the pillars are crumbling upon each other because hospitalizations are up today, we have the highest reported number of deaths, today. This is not over. The white house is imploring us to take action, yet Governor Parson refuses to listen to that expert advice. 2400 missourians have died from this virus since march. And when Governor Parson was asked if he took responsibility for his governments response to this virus, he said no, and compared to car crashes. This is a failed test of leadership. Moderator rik combs. Rik thank you, david. First of all, i would not have agreed to a stayathome order. The reason is, i like the swedish model, where the swedes implore people to do all the safety procedures, but they didnt close anything down. It is not the governments position and i dont think the government has the authority to make people stay home. I dont think it is the government, place to have people deemed essential or nonessential. And i think what we could do was open the state up fully. And i believe herd immunity would take control, and attenuation would help as far as lowering the death rate on the virus. Moderator mike parson. Governor parson thank you. We took a balanced approach from day one. We reached out to Washington University, m you, Missouri Hospital Association, experts in missouri, and put a plan together, they show me strong Recovery Plan with ppe, with testing. We went from 2000 tests a week to over 125,000 today. In a couple weeks, we will have testing in every school. The hospitals, we can build hospitals in 10 or 11 days in this state. The Missouri Hospital Association has been part of this planning every day, taking care of our citizens every day. The data weve got from 10 of the most expert Infectious Disease experts in missouri has helped us guide our state. In april, our death rate was close to 8 today it is 8 . Today, it is close to. 7 . We have to fight the virus, fight the economy and get our kids back in school. Jerome i agree with what Nicole Galloway said, but i want to stress the importance of wearing a mask and setting a good example by wearing a mask. I am not wearing mine right now because it would probably muffle my voice. But every time i go outside walking around, i wear a mask, even though it is probably not strictly necessary, just because i want to set a good example. Lets have a mask mandate. But we cant enforce it if people dont follow it. The model of my alma mater, the university of pennsylvania is [speaking latin] laws without laws are useless. There should be a legal sanction if people dont obey, so there is some recourse. But people have to want to do it. And we all have to sit set a good example for each other. Moderator i want to follow up on a statement auditor galloway made. She cited a quote from Governor Parson in which she said the governor failed to take responsibility, or when asked, are you responsible for what is happening in missouri, that he said that that he responded no. Governor, kenny respond . Governor parson i have never said that it wasnt responsible. When you are governor, you are responsible for everybody in the state. You have to go to work and make sure you are doing your job, as we have done from the beginning but every day we get up, we are concerned about the citizens of this state. We will continue to do that and put everything on the table we cant. We will bring all the experts in our state and make sure people are safe. We converted 200 businesses in the state to make ppe in this state, simply because they were trying to help us. I think those businesses and those frontline employees for what they are doing. Moderator the governor says he has never stated that. Back to you, nicole. State auditor galloway this summer, he was asked by what i believe was a komu reporter, whether he took responsibility for the government response, he said no wendy compared it to car crashes. He is doing isnt working. We continue to be in a red zone. You have to act urgently to contain the spread of this virus, so we can get our economy open again, get our schools open again, folks can get back their lives, we can go to mizzou games again. We are living the governors coronavirus fighting strategy right now. It is not working. Moderator we never took questions from our panelists. Governor, if you need more time to respond, you can do so in this question. Governor parson i would like to respond when she says we havent been at work. I invite the public, anybody to look at our work calendars and see who was at work the last five months. Moderator first question, tricia miller. We have seen different hotspots around the state. When it comes to covid19, how much control should the state exert over local control on topics such as stayathome orders, mask ordinances and covid liability protection. Moderator this question goes first to rik combs. Rik the governor has a big part in setting the tone and tenor of the state. When the governor comes out and says i am going to leave it to local folks whether they do mask mandates or business shutdowns, things like that, i think that is an abrogation of our responsibility. As governor, i would strongly encourage municipalities and counties and the like to open up for business and open up as normal. Moderator Governor Parson. Governor parson to answer the question, a balanced approach is what we have done. We want local officials to have input. No one person should be making mandates for the entire state. It is a diverse state, whether you have urban areas or early areas. We should support the local levels, School Systems, counties, health care. When we got the cares act in the state of missouri, we had the money out the door in 10 days to get to local levels to help with testing, contact tracing, make sure schools could start backup as we move forward. It is a partnership. It is a partnership with the state and local communities. But people at home should have a say in the rules and regulations that are placed on them, and should have representation on that. We stated that balanced approach from the beginning. Moderator jerome bauer. Jerome i agree we need as much local control is possible, but also a rational, sciencebased policy. In the State Government certainly has an important role, not just to make rules for everybody, but especially to set a good example. So i agree with a balanced, sciencebased approach, and also being flexible and responsive. Thank you. And responsive to new facts that we learned about, and to keep the public informed at all times, and also, the politicians shouldnt be the ones at the podium when we are talking about Public Health issues. Because in any given room, half the people didnt vote for that particular politician, and would do the opposite of what he or she says. Moderator Nicole Galloway. State auditor galloway i support a statewide mask rule for missouri, because it is a sciencebacked, dataproven way to contain the virus. The majority of missourians agree with that. They see it as their ticket to freedom so we can get our schools open again. The virus doesnt respect county lines or town lines. Some of our highest surges in cases are in our rural areas. Governor parson has a do as i say, not as i do approach. When he is in the Governors Office during the week, he encourages masks. When he goes to campaign rallies, he tells folks, dont wear a dang mask if you dont want to. He is telling even his supporters to northern local government guidance at how they can ignore it and dont have to wear a mask if they dont want to. We need a leader that is more engaged in containing this virus. Moderator Governor Parson, 30 seconds on that. She says you have a do as i say, not as i do approach. Governor parson this is starting to look like the bickering on the national level. I think the people of missouri are aware of what is going on. I have never said those things in my career. I have told people to take a balanced approach. Every day, we want the safety of missourians, but we are going to do that all together. And to try to blame somebody for a virus, there was a lot of people out there doing incredible things every day, our hospital associations, our hospitals, the nurses and the doctors. It is a virus. It is dangerous. We have said that from day one, to take the necessary steps. We will continue to do that. Moderator Nicole Galloway . Governor parson we do have incredible healthcare workers, First Responders that are on the front lines of this virus, and leaders of our hospital groups. Physician leaders are asking for statewide mask rule because it is a proven way to contain the spread of this virus, protect the Public Health, get our economy going again. We need a governor that will act with urgency to protect us from this virus. Moderator the next question comes from emily. What has the covid19 pandemic exposed about missouris health care system, whether strengths are the weaknesses whether strengths or weaknesses . Governor parson one thing we learned is that we were way too dependent on foreign countries. The other thing, there is no playbook on how to deal with this virus. And the experts on the east coast and west coast didnt know. We had to develop our own data plan using the Missouri Hospital Association, those Infectious Disease doctors, wash u to do that, and you mu, and all the experts we could. We developed a model dashboard for america, such as mobile testing sites, where do we little liver where do we deliver hundreds of thousands of masks, and when the executive director of jackson county, frank white, ask asked, we delivered that the next day. The Meat Processing plants, the people at high risk, the africanamerican community, that is what we did by taking a balanced approach and built the show me strong Recovery Plan. Moderator jerome bauer. Jerome our nation once had a first rate Pandemic Response task force. The Trump Administration gutted it and left everything to local control, very chaotic, no system at all. I would work to develop a Pandemic Task force in the state of missouri, eight i was certainly rely and i would certainly rely on the first rate resources of our universities, especially Washington University in st. Louis university, two firstright medical schools. I am really intrigued to learn that wash u and slu have opened their campuses and are not having clusters of covid. So they are doing something right. Moderator Nicole Galloway. State auditor Galloway Covid has shown cracks in our system that have existed for a long time, but they have gotten wider and deeper with covid 19, particularly on the issue of health care, we have seven rural hospitals that have closed in the last seven years. We have a quarter million working missourians who dont have access to insurance, because we have yet expand educate, although voters did approve that in august. And it is estimated that because of this pandemic, 100,000 missourians have lost their Health Care Care they got through their employer. I support Medicaid Expansion and implementing it in a way to keep our rural hospitals open, the mixer working people can have access to health care to make sure working people have access to health care. Where you live shouldnt dictate if you have access to health care. It is particularly cruel Governor Parson opposes Medicaid Expansion in the midst of this pandemic. Moderator rik combs. Rik i look at our health care systems, the ones i am familiar with are the ones around Jefferson City where i live, and we have an over reliance on foreign equipment and medicines and things to make medicines with. We have gotten over reliance on that end we need to react. And we need to react. As this pandemic got rolling and there was an overemphasis on covid19, and i saw a lot of people being laid off or furloughed in our medical systems, and a lot of procedures being put on the back burner, i think the stayathome and lockdowns creates a lot of health issues, such as depression, suicide, and a lot of other issues. Once again, no mandatory masks, no mandatory vaccines, and open the state up. Moderator the next question is from ruby. The covid19 pandemic is led to an economic downturn that has impacted state and local governments. As governor, what would be your first steps to mitigate that impact . Moderator jerome bauer, you are first. Jerome i would have universal basic income for all. And also, we can do much better than Medicaid Expansion. We need medicare for all. We need a singlepayer system. How are we going to pay . The missouri green economics platform which we passed four years ago recommends a wall street transaction tax. I personally dont know how we would implement that. Im not a computer scientist, but this is an idea that has been around for quite a while. So having universal health care, we can do much better than Medicaid Expansion and we can do much better than obamacare. That is just a stopgap measure. We really need to recognize that health care is a human right. Moderator Nicole Galloway. State auditor galloway our state and local budgets are hurting because of the Economic Impacts of covid. So the first thing to do is take action to contain the virus so that we can get our economy going. We have seen an increase in jobless claims, even this week. We are continuing to slide backwards. We also have hundreds of millions of dollars of cares act money that is just stuck at the state. And governor, i would be much more engaged in deploying these resources to help our local communities, to help Small Businesses, help those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own because of the Economic Impact of covid. As state auditor, i have seen waste, fraud, abuse and government. I have identified 370 million worth. I would look for efficiencies within government so we have the resources needed to help our communities. Moderator rik combs. Rik when it comes to the economy, as everybody knows, i am a big proponent of Free Enterprise. There is over reliance on government, and over reliance on government to answer all the Big Questions in control and run our lives. The Free Enterprise system needs to be unleashed. We need fewer regulations, fewer rules, and we need to get the government out of health care and other aspects of the economy as much as possible. I have trust and faith in missouri businesses and i have trust and faith in is a repeat, and there is nothing missourians cannot do if they put their mind to something thank you. Moderator mike parson. Governor parson with a balanced approach, we are 12th in the United States getting people back to work. At the peak of this, 306 he 5000 people lost their jobs 365,000 people have lost their jobs. Over 200,000 of those people have went back to work. We got our economy open. Consumer spending was up 6. 3 . All the experts said our state would have 16 unemployment this time of year, right now as i stand in front of you. It is at 7 and we continue to bring new businesses. We just opened up a pet food company with 1200 new jobs. We got our schools back in place. We brought new businesses here as the virus goes on. This is a balanced approach. You have to be able to deal with the virus, the economy, get kids back in school safely, and by doing the plan we have in place, we have accomplished all of those and continue to move forward. Moderator one more question before a break, it comes from gary. There was substantial learning loss this spring when schools switched to Remote Learning due to the pandemic. What strategies should the state pursue to regain lost ground and put schools on a better path for instruction . Moderator Nicole Galloway. State auditor galloway my kids go to school up the street from my house. I want our schools to open. It is vital for our kids, but also for our economy so parents can get back to work. And i have outlined a plan for appropriate learning models to keep kids safe, to keep teachers safe, so we can get our schools open again based on positivity rates within the community. I have laid out plan. Schools may tough decision this spring to shut down. And Governor Parson did little planning to help them fully reopen this fall and instead, went on the radio in july and said it didnt matter how bad covid was in our state, that kids were going to get covid when they go back to school, and they will just get over it. Thats not good enough. We need a real plan to open our schools. Plaintiff that was his plan, its not working, because thousands and thousands of our children are learning online or are only at school one or two days a week. Moderator rik combs. Rik schools opening are a very important thing. We should have the schools open. Im a big proponent of local control. There is too much state and federal control over education systems. But we have to get these schools open and get the kids in school. The Virtual Learning or Online Learning will prove to be a failure for a myriad of reasons, but i really do believe we need to get kids in school. The danger to the children is not so great as it is to older folks and folks with comorbidities. And i think we need to get the kids right in there to school. They are going to be exposed to a lot of things besides covid19, but it is important we get the children in school and get our children educated. Moderator mike parson. Governor parson first of all, 85 of our schools are open. 75 of our kids in our state are in class or in hybrid education because of actions we took to make sure these kids were safe to go back to school. I think administrators around the state for their input and making sure those kids can go back. I trust local levels, i trust those board members, i trust them to do the job they are. 900,000 kids in the state of missouri. When everybody was saying shut it down, 465000 of those kids 125,000 are disabled, with learning disabilities. You have got to have a plan in place, how are you going to feed them, get them health care, keep them safe . It is not as easy as shutting things off and going home and putting the covers over your head thinking everything is going to be ok someday. You have to have those plans in place. You have to work and nothing is more important than keeping those kids safe. We have done that all summer long and that is why kids are back in school and they are in a safe environment. Moderator jerome bauer. Jerome sending kids back to school is really important. But it is important to keep the pandemic in perspective. It is not going to last forever, and it is important to err on the side of safety when our Childrens Health is at stake. I think it is really, really Important School administrators be flexible, and do the right thing and close the schools down, or go back to Distance Learning if an outbreak occurs. In order to make that effective, everybody, all students, every income level has to have access to computer equipment and broadband internet. And it should be accessible and universally designed so people like me, who really cant see, can use it as well. One think i have learned since going blind, since losing my eyesight, is that we are an afterthought. Almost nothing is really set up for us. Moderator that concludes our first round of questioning. We are going to take a short break and when we return, we will be opening up with a new topic. Stay tuned. Welcome back to the 2020 missouri gubernatorial debate. We are ready to begin our next round of questions. The first round of questions will come from tricia miller. The state recently held a special session devoted to addressing Violent Crime. You believe there are additional steps necessary to address crime and what would you propose . Moderator this goes to you, rik combs. Rik Violent Crime and crime in general is a big issue, especially in our natural areas. I dont think our emphasis is in the right place. Our emphasis needs to be on drugs and gangs. That is a big part of what we are seeing in our metro areas. I would like to get together a good task force involving federal agents, state police, and locals, to start working on some of these gang issues and some of these drug cartel trafficking routes we have through kansas city, st. Louis, and now even springfield, and i believe there is more Gang Activity in columbia and Jefferson City than what is admitted to our what we want to believe or admit to. That is what i would like to do, a joint, combined effort on gangs and drugs and drug cartels. Thank you. Moderator Governor Parson. Governor parson i dont think there is any governor that took interest in this, simply because i have 22 years of Law Enforcement experience and have been working with people on the street, working with the urban league, getting them a grant to deescalate crime, to work with clergy in st. Louis to understand what grill for glory events are, to meet people in the streets, hoots on the ground. We need more Police Officers is what we need. We need to do that to fight Violent Crime. We need to partner with the federal, state, and locals, which is what we have done. Yesterday, we are going to get more Police Officers because of the special session we did. The numberone issue for all mayors, st. Louis, kansas city, columbia, springfield, Law Enforcement was the witness protection plan. That is why i called the special session, why i got those things done, why we are fighting crime every day. And i will continue to do that and support the men and women that wear the uniforms every day. Moderator jerome bauer. Jerome i coorganized a panel, a black and green wednesday panel in st. Louis, on gun violence. We had a couple of speakers from the curb violence program, which the city of st. Louis is supporting. This is based on an epidemiological model and involves people from the Community Working to interrupt violence when it occurs. So please, can we let that work, instead of trying to send in more Police Officers and over Police Communities of color . That only makes it worse. It just escalates the situation. Concerning crime in general, the green party believes addiction problems of all kinds should be treated, to the extent possible, more as Mental Health and Public Health issues and not so much as criminal justice issues. Moderator Nicole Galloway. State auditor galloway as a mom, nothing is more important than the safety of our communities, which is why i have introduced a comprehensive plan to get to the root causes of crime, the lack of economic opportunity, disinvestment in education and health care that has been happening for a long time, and i stand with the 90 of missourians that want commonsense gun safety rules like background checks. Violent crime has been rising for years under Governor Parson, last year, as communities were begging for action, he called a special session to give tax breaks for used car and boat tradeins. This year on the eve of an election, he called a special session on law order, and his own party rejected the majority of his proposals. He said sometimes, you dont hit a homerun. Well, when we needed him to step up to the plate, he didnt hit a home run. He struck out. The Witness Protection Fund doesnt even have funding. Im going to give you 30 seconds, Governor Parson. She said you struck out, governor, 30 seconds. Governor parson we didnt strike out at all. We did the things we needed to do to give Law Enforcement the tools they needed we protected victims and witnesses. I might add, the state auditor, her liberal agenda is the cause of this problem, from decade to decade to decade. In two and a half years, we did everything we can and will continue to do that to fight crime in the state of missouri and we have done just that. This wasnt a problem that happened in two years. We teamed up with the federal government when nobody had done that, state and local levels, to put our resources together, and we are with legends have good results in fighting crime in the state and will continue to do that when it comes to fighting crime in the state. Moderator he says your liberal agenda is the cause of crime in the state. Nicole galloway, would you like to respond . Governor parson he has been governor for two years, Lieutenant Governor had in the legislature for a decade before that. He wants to point the finger at everybody instead of taking responsibility for his actions. Look, i know what he is referencing. I dont support defunding the police. He knows that. The only person on this stage that has defunded the police is Governor Parson, when he cut 1. 8 million from our state s police force. Budgets are about priorities, and we need to prioritize budgets for our Law Enforcement. Moderator we only have one rebuttal opportunity, but we will move on to the next question, which comes from emily. The black lives Matter Movement has captured the countrys attention after the death of george floyd in minnesota, the death of Michael Brown in ferguson years ago continues to bring our state in the national spotlight. If elected governor, what if any social justice changes you advocate for . Moderator mike parson, you are first. Governor parson we have been working on that from day one. First of all, let me say black lives matter. All lives matter in the state. No matter who you are, where you are from, rich, poor, wherever you come from is important. When you are in the military like i was, in a foxhole, it doesnt matter what color somebodys skin is, doesnt matter what your gender is, is about taking care of one another. That is what we have done in this state. We are doing reforms. The post commission adjusted reforms across the state we teamed up with Lincoln University to have the first africanamerican Police Academy in the state. By putting more Police Officers on the ground, making sure we are doing better in Community Policing around the state, all those things have been enacted, all of those things through my administration. We are not just talking about plans and there is no plan, we are talking about action, doing things for the people that need it the worst. Moderator jerome bauer. Jerome i do support reparations, perhaps not by that name if reparations has a bad connotation from the last century. We could call it perhaps restitution or something. But a serious attempt to redress the legacy of our slavery and racism. Race, we really need to abolish that idea, stop thinking in terms of blackandwhite. I know it is easier said than done. It might take another 400 years to abolish race and racism. And maybe then, we can go on to address class and income equality. I hope it doesnt take 400 years to do that, but we really do need to think differently. Moderator Nicole Galloway. State auditor galloway after the killing of george floyd, there have been rightful calls for change, and amazing demonstrations of unity with Law Enforcement and members of the Community Standing together and calling for change. I have put forward a comprehensive criminal justice and policing reform package that can build trust between Law Enforcement and the communities they serve. Governor parson has implemented some of these recommendations just this week. At the same time though, his campaign is engaging in racially divisive tactics. This is hurting our state. It is holding us back. Lets just call it what it is. When his campaign and his apparatus wants to try to divide us on racial lines, they think we are pointing the finger at each other and then will be too busy to point the finger at him and hold him accountable for his failures to address Violent Crime. Moderator rik combs. Rik first and foremost, missourians are missourians, no matter what their race is, their sex, the religion. I few missourians just as i feel missourians just as i view missourians just as missourians, no more, no less. I am not into identity politics. When it comes to antifa and black lives matter, i am for life, i think all life matters. Antifa and blm as organizations are marxist in nature. I will never be marxist. I spent 20 years in the air force to oppose communism and socialism and will be till the day i die. That is my promise to missourians. Moderator Nicole Galloway, you said the Governors Campaign was engaging in racially divisive tactics. I want to give you 30 seconds to explain and then give the governor 30 seconds to respond. Governor parson sure, his Campaign Apparatus put up websites saying incorrectly that i am pro crime, and listed pictures of many prominent black leaders in the state. He was called out, and his Campaign Apparatus and allies were called out in the media, for engaging in raciallydivisive tactics. Moderator Governor Parson . Governor parson first of all, my campaign has never run a negative ad about the state auditor. My campaign has not. But i will tell you the truth. Elizabeth warren was endorsed by our state auditor, who does support defund the police. Cory bush was the first person she went and endorsed, who does support defund the police. The head of the Democratic Party and the state of missouri is walking down the street with a bullhorn, with cars and businesses being broken into and on fire. That is the truth of what is going on. You might not say it in this forum with everybody watching, but the point is, it does matter who you run with. It does matter when you are with those people who want to defund the police. I will never defund Police Officers and will always stand up for Law Enforcement officers. Moderator staying on this topic, ruby, next question is for you. Certainly, thank you. Staying on this topic, i wonder whether any candidate supports reducing the amount of funding going to local and state Law Enforcement agencies and shifting some of that money to types of community service, which is what some would refer to as the intent of defunding . Moderator jerome bauer, you are first. Jerome absolutely i support that. That is what we are doing in st. Louis with the curb violence the kill violence project. For the police, it is not fair to expect them to be psychologists and social workers and marriage counselors and everything. I mean, really, they should be expected to do what they are trained to do. Defund the police is really a rhetorical deescalation from ftp, and i am not going to say what that is, because i dont like that awful fword. Rhetorical deescalation, it works well on the street. Defund the police, what does that mean . Does it mean cut their salary, or stop paying them . What would happen if we did that . They would go to work for private University Police forces and private security and gated communities, and the rest of our cities would be vigilante justice, and that is not right. Moderator Nicole Galloway. State auditor galloway to be clear, i do not support defunding the police. There is only one person on this stage who has defunded the police, and that is Governor Parson when he cut one went 8 1. 8 million from our state police force this summer. I have proposed reforms to build trust between Law Enforcement and the communities they serve. Our Law Enforcement do incredibly difficult work and they need support, they need resources, but there shouldnt just be one slice of the pie. You know, we should fund our police and fund support services. That is why i support Medicaid Expansion, so folks have access to health care. I support funding our School System to the highest amount, so folks can have access to a good education. Unfortunately, we rely on Police Officers for quick resolution instead of giving these deep problems we have throughout our state the attention and resources they deserve. Moderator rik combs. Rik yes, when it comes to defending police or shifting funds, im opposed that. Speaking to Law Enforcement officers and peace officers from across the state, they tell me one of two things happens if you take away money. They lose officers, or it hits the training budget. I think training is at the core of a lot of what we are talking about, the training of Law Enforcement officers and how they treat and interact with the public. That training, those training dollars are so important, and losing Law Enforcement officers, or the prospect of doing that, is not in the best interest of missourians, certainly not in minority communities. Moderator mike parson. Governor parson i would never defund the police and never have defunded the police. We just put 1 million in the urban league to help with Police Officers to deescalate crime, passed legislation to put more officers on the ground. You dont have to do both. You can get social workers out there. We have strengthened our social workers in urban areas and continue to do that. The state auditor, every Law Enforcement organization in the state of missouri has endorsed my candidacy. Two weeks after that, she released an audit criticizing our Law Enforcement officers for doing their jobs and working overtime, in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of civil unrest. These guys are working there tail ends off to keep missourians safe, and to be critical of them at times like this for Police Officers working overtime, when you are 160 officers down, the entire state is having trouble hiring Police Officers. The Highway Patrol is having trouble. The last thing we need to do is take anything from our Law Enforcement officers in this state and i wont do that. Im going to put more Law Enforcement officers on the street. Moderator the governor cited an audit released by auditor Nicole Galloways office, in which you he says you criticized police were working overtime. 30 seconds to respond. State auditor galloway Governor Parson must be confused or not understand how audits work. I released an audit requested by the city of st. Louis to look at how the Police Department was following their own rules to keep officers safe to make sure they are not working too much, overtime, that they are not working too much, to protect themselves. That when they are healthy, they can protect the committees they serve. I have worked handinhand with Law Enforcement at the state, local, and federal levels to get real results for taxpayers. The Highway Patrol might be having a hard time recruiting officers because he cut their budget. Governor parson i dont know why she is talking about on cutting the budget on that. All i will tell you is i support Law Enforcement all the time. I just dont think you dont use your political position to attack and use your office for political gain, whether it is the attorney general, whether it is writing op eds on abortion, theres nobody who supports Law Enforcement more than i do. And i dont believe what she said about how that audit took place. You dont just get off work at 5 00 when you are a Police Officer in the middle of domestic violence, working homicide, domestic violence, people in the local levels know how to address that. Moderator the next question comes from gary. We are going to change the subject a bit too clean missouri. In 2018, voters passed the clean missouri amendment, which change the states lobbying laws, Campaign Finance limits, and legislative redistrict process. This year, the legislature put amendment three on the ballot to reverse parts of the measure. Do you support amendment three . Why or why not . Moderator Nicole Galloway. You are first. State auditor galloway i support clean missouri. I do not support amendment three. In november 2018, over 60 of voters said they want to fair, transparent government and want ed to get rid of gerrymandering. I support the voters in their decision to support clean missouri. Within days and weeks of that passing, Governor Parson did an interview and said voters got it wrong, that they were confused, didnt know what they were doing, and Governor Parson is going to fix it for you. He doesnt trust the voters. He doesnt respect their voice. I do. And so, that is why i am not supporting amendment three. Moderator rik combs . Rik that is a tough call on amendment three. On one hand, you have clean missouri, which i thought was wrong to begin with because it merged a bunch of issues together in one ballot initiative. I didnt think that was right to do to the voters, sort of a package deal. This is going to be good for missouri, and that is how it was promoted. On the other hand, the people of missouri voted resoundingly for clean missouri. I dont want to upset the wishes of the people. We want to abide by their wishes. At this time, all i will say is, im leaning toward a yes vote on three. If somebody can compel me to vote the other way, i might be compelled, but right now i am leading toward yes on amendment three. Moderator mike parson. Governor parson i agree with mr. Combs. You know, there are a lot of things on these ballots and none of the big money behind this ever talked about how redistricting would work. They talked about everything but that. This is a major shift on how we do elections in the state of missouri. I dont know if everybody understood our didnt understand, but going back a second time, making sure voters understand directly what it is they are voting for, how that is going to look, is never a bad issue. It is a good thing to go back, for voters to take a second look at something this major, of how we are going to change elections in the state. And how it is going to work, and now, we can talk about redistricting for the state of missouri where everybody understands that, and make it very clear, and not have five different issues mixed in to talk about. That is what they always do on these initiative petitions. It is never the main issue, it is about all the other things, and that is exactly what they did and that is why they spent a lot of money doing it. So to go back to voters and say, is this really what you want, i dont think it is bad. People get to vote on it and see and we will live with whatever they vote on. Moderator jerome bauer. Jerome i am against amendment three and so is the Missouri Green Party. The Missouri Green Party strongly endorsed clean missouri in the first place. Our party is really very democratic. We work as a team, so i, in line with the Missouri Green Party, am opposed to amendment three. Clean missouri passed by over 60 of the missouri voters. To overturn that before it is even implemented is an insult to the voters. Lets implement clean missouri. And then, if there are issues with it, there can be other Ballot Initiatives that we can tweak it and fix it and make it work properly. Instead of trying to overturn it. Thanks. Moderator we move to our next round of questions. This comes from tricia miller. Lets talk transportation. The Missouri Department of transportation says it needs hundreds of millions of dollars for roads and bridges. Voters defeated a fuel tax increase two years ago. Since then, the coronavirus has further impacted state revenues. What is your plan to improve the state Transportation System . Moderator rik combs, you are first. Mr. Combs yes, that is very, very important. Missouri is in the top six or seven in the country in road mileage, bridges and all that. It is quite an expensive system. J. Millett j. Millett it is quite an expensive system. And anybody that has been out and about in the state, using the roads are deteriorating, bridges are deteriorating. I dont think new taxes are the answer. One thing i think about taxes, it seems like, if we do a tax in missouri, somehow it ends up in the general fund and gets squandered on something else. But with a budget of over 35 billion, you cannot tell me we cant find money within the current budget to fund 100 million, 200 million, 300 million. It is there in the budget. We need to cut the fat and pay for roads and bridges. Moderator mike parson. Governor parson we have been working on that since day one. Infrastructure was one of my priorities of my administration when i started. That is why when we did the general revenue, we did the bonding plan we did. 250 new bridges in the state of missouri through that bonding plan. Over 1 billion worth of construction in the state of missouri. We made 5050 money available for counties and cities to partner with on projects they have in their towns and everything. And the last Revenue Bonds that we just renewed, 178 million we renewed at. 038. Those are Wise Investments in our state, but we have to keep moving, whether it is the highway system, airports, rail, whether it is the rivers or whether it is broadband, we have to continue to do that. We just released 22 million for broadband to help in our state with infrastructure, to also help with telemedicine, telehealth, and we have been doing that since day one. We will live within our means and still do as much as we can for infrastructure in the state, but we definitely need a Funding Source at some point to address this issue. Moderator jerome bauer. Mr. Bauer lets have universal basic income in exchange for universal basic service. That includes not only a revived civilian conservation corps, but also getting people at work rebuilding roads and bridges in exchange for free coverage. Well, there is nothing free. You pay for it with your labor. Definitely we need infrastructure, paying more taxes to build it, i would be fine with that because i am not averse to raising money when it is necessary to pay for public. Public works, but there are many other ways we can do it. Also, not just roads and bridges, but bicycle paths or relay areas, not just the kd trail, but practical bicycle paths and carpal cooperatives. There are a lot of things our carpool cooperatives. There are a lot of things our governor could do to facilitate voluntary cooperatives. Moderator Nicole Galloway . Miss galloway the first thing we could do to help pay for transportation is to contain covid because its Economic Impact are putting our budgets in peril and as state auditor, i have found giveaways and loopholes that are providing no value to taxpayers. One of our most generous giveaways in the country to corporations gives away 20. 121 million just last year, so i would look to government itself. I am the most fiscal conservative statewide officeholder. Not only have i found waste in abuse and abuse, ive returned taxpayer money in the process. Governor parson cannot lead our states in a fiscally responsible way because he is not a fiscal conservative. Hes asked the state to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a personal driver. Hes renovated his office, he takes airplane flights back and forth between his home and Jefferson City. We need true fiscal responsibility, particularly in this economic downturn. Moderator governor, i will give to herseconds to respond comments about your desire for a personal driver, taking your airplane flights. Gov. Parson the real truth is here is what i asked, to hire somebody so the Capitol Police did not have to park statewide weicials, the state reps, had the Capitol Police parking cars in the basement for all these people. They needed to be upstairs protecting the public, protecting schoolkids. You dont need a Police Officer moving your cars around parking them. I never asked for anybody to park my car. That is what that was all about. Another misleading statement totally. Not what i was referencing. When Lieutenant Governor, he asked the legislature for tens of thousands of dollars for a driver and the Legislature Said no to that. Moderator im told it is time to take another break so stay tuned and we will be back with another round of questions. Moderator welcome back to the missouri gubernatorial debate. We are ready for our next round of questions and this comes from emily. What are your plans to increase Economic Development and bring jobs to the state of missouri, and how would your plan support rural areas of our state . Moderator Governor Parson . Gov. Parson weve been doing that from day one, infrastructure, Workforce Development is the hugest thing you can do in the state. Had thewhy our state lowest unemployment in our history at 3. 1 , africanamerican unemployment was at alltime lows. Why businesses were coming to the missouri. Even in the pandemic, 1400 new jobs expanded, pet food opened in belton, missouri. Consumer spending is up 6. 3 in the state of missouri. Unemployment is at 7 , where we predicted to be at 14 , 16 . We are doing the right things because we are keeping our business is open, getting people back to work. 200,000 of the 300,000 people on unemployment are back in the workforce because we are leading the way in this nation. 12 in the nation getting people back to work. You have to focus on two things. Infrastructure and Workforce Development. That is not a democrat or republican issue. That is jerome bauer. I would have loan Debt Forgiveness for graduates who want to buy farmland and start organic farms. New york state has that, why cant we . Have former roommate a recent graduate of Weber University whose ambition was to be an organic farmer, but he will not be able to afford farmland with his student loan debt. So, that it is one thing that i ould do. And, yeah, and also investing in rural infrastructure, such as our broadband network. For example. Rural bicycle paths and rebuilding the roads and bridges. That would certainly employ a lot of people. Hanks. Nicole galloway . Galloway unfortunately, we still have record high unemployment. Often times, our Economic Development strategies focus on chasing big outofstate companies to come. I think that we need to refocus on our Small Businesses and Community Businesses that are rooted in the community, provide good paying jobs for people close to home. And we need to focus on Workforce Development. That means providing a good education for our children k12, and in Higher Education. It is unfortunate that the governor had to cut 100 million from our Higher Education budget this year, after it was restored by the legislature. Nd 250 million was cut from our k12 budgets this year. It is very shortsighted because we often hear our Small Businesses, large businesses, they are wanting a skilled and trained workforce more than anything else. As governor i would do everything i could to reverse those cuts. Rik combs . This is a very important issue about the Economic Development in the state of missouri. When we moved here, my wife and i moved here 11 years ago, i like to do as Much Research as i can bout estate, and i noticed that from 20102020, missouri really has not grown. As governor, i would work with the legislature to try to get id of our draconian income tax, personal property taxes that are regressive and do away with corporate taxes. That will encourage businesses to come into the state, encourage people to move to missouri, and retain the people we have in missouri. If you get rid of the corporate taxes, one thing you do is get rid of the good ol boy system of tax credits. Thank you. Governor, the auditor mentioned she would restore the cuts you made. Would you like to explain or respond . Yeah. First of all, i think you have to understand what a balanced budget means. Unfortunately, if the state auditor makes a comment like hat we didnt cut 250 we cut 220,000 because everybody in missouri had to tighten their belts, what we were going through with the pandemic. The government does not get a free pass on that. We were up front with that, how we were going to implement that, and we were think full we could release some of that because of the policy we put in to get the findings back up. Verybody had to make it cut. Make a cut during the andemic. State auditor galloway if we want to talk about a free pass, lets talk about illegal gambling machines that have popped up across our state, diverting millions from k12 education. The operators of the machines have given his Campaign Apparatus thousands of dollars and as a result, he cut funding to the investigators of these illegal machines. Under his watch, he figures out a way to benefit himself while education continues to struggle. Next question from ruby bailey. Thank you. Missouri generally has one of the lowest tax rates in the country. Does the state need to raise more tax revenue to support your agenda, and if so, how much and where will it come from . Jerome bauer, you are first. Well, i would certainly raise corporate taxes. And also sin taxes, including taxes on recreational drugs, which we would like to legalize and regulate. That doesnt mean anything goes, it just means to the extent possible drug problems should be treated as Mental Health and Public Health issues. So, certainly raising taxes from taxing drugs. And stock market transaction tax, that is something that we greens would like to experiment with, see how we can make that work. But certainly thanks. Nicole galloway. State auditor galloway i am not proposing increases in taxes for the agendas i have laid out. And as state auditor, i have found and identified loopholes and giveaways that provide no value to our taxpayers whatsoever. For instance, we have the most generous discounts to corporations in the country. These are taxes that people pay, they pay sales tax and think it is going to their roads or public safety, but instead the bigbox stores keep it for turning their sales tax into the state on time. We dont get a break for paying taxes on time, why should they have the most generous discount . That cost the state 121 million last year. We can do it in a way that protects Small Businesses, but really provides value to taxpayers, so they get a value for every dollar they put into overnment. Rik combs. As i said, if we reduce the taxes, these terrible taxes, the draconian state income tax, personal income tax, and do away with corporate taxes, i think see businesses, industrieses, i think it will help our Small Business people across the state and people will have more disposable income. When they spend that money, hopefully within the state and in their local communities, the revenues will rise. A rising tide raises all ships. So when you slash taxes, when you slash taxes and cut state spending right now the spending is out of control, but once we get that under control and we cut some of that, it makes life easier to live under. And i think you will see a missouri that is much more prosperous than right now. I will not raise taxes unless the people want their taxes raised. I will look at fraud and waste, like in the medicaid system. When i became governor, i put a new director in there. And the assumption that we kicked 1000 kids, we did not kick one child off the medicaid road, we simply verified if they were qualified to be on there are not. Which is supposed to be done annually by the state auditor, according to senator mccaskill at the time. What we have done is we have not verified the roads. For 10 years, for a decade under the leadership of other governors, and the state auditor. We have people we found who were making 650,000 a year and owned six homes. We had a lady in florida we paid for having a child in florida who didnt even live in missouri, and she was receiving benefits. We had people from illinois, signing up for our benefits, because nobody was auditing. They have it for a decade. So by doing those things, you can find money to pay for programs, but you have to get the waste and fraud out. No matter where it is at. We have time for one more question if we move quickly, guys. Voters approved a Medicaid Expansion for lower income adults. How would you implement Medicaid Expansion and how would you cover the states share of the funding . Nicole galloway . State auditor galloway i support Medicaid Expansion, just as the majority of missourians do. I know it can be implemented in a fiscally responsible way without raising taxes or gutting other accounts. We can look at independent studies that have shown that Medicaid Expansion in missouri is budget neutral and it saves our state billions of dollars in the long run. We can look at the experience of 37 other states that have expanded medicaid. And we can have those benefits they have seen in other states, here in our state. The governor has a terrible record on health care. He did kick 100,000 kids off their health insurance. He has the state of missouri in a lawsuit right now to take away coverage for preexisting conditions for over 2 million missourians, and he opposes Medicaid Expansion in the midst of this pandemic. I believe missourians deserve access to health care, it is one of the most important determinants of social mobility n our state. I think that the Medicaid Expansion is a difficult question for missourians. I think some people can see the benefits, but on a ledger, when you look at the money that it is going to cost the state, it has to come from somewhere. No new taxes would be my pledge on that. We would reach into the budget to help pay for it. But that said, the danger of doing expanded medicaid, and other federal government comes in with a lot of money for that, but the federal government is 27 trillion in debt, so there may be a day when they say, we have no money for you and her than the entire bill will fall to missourians. That is a lot of money. I do not think there is a uestion, the state auditors research she left out one part, 02,000,000 200 million would be the estimated cost. I think the big question is why didnt we audit these roles before . Why didnt we look at the medicaid and verify all these people . These are the people, they voted for this. We will have to implement it, but it will not be free. Anytime there is an expansion in State Government, it is never free. Trust me, i have been around long enough to realize that every program expands, it costs more money, and so does medicaid. Even in its normal settings it would engage about 200 million a year, just under the old formula, in the state. We will have to account for that money again. But the people voted for it, so we will have to put in place and balance the budget at the same time. I signed a petition to get Medicaid Expansion on the ballot. And i voted for it. And i am glad it passed because that is an improvement over what we have right now. 100,000 kids should not have been kicked off of medicaid with adverse action notices and i almost lost my medicaid, too, so i feel strongly about this. Health care is a human right. We can do better than Medicaid Expansion. We can have singlepayer health care for all. That is the position of the Missouri Green Party. And we have organized a number of panels to discuss how to do this, how to implement this with missourians for singlepayer. And missourians for singlepayer people wrote much of our platform. But we want to do more of those panels in the future to discuss how we can make this work. Because it does work in many uropean countries. And health care for all will ay for itself. We need to move to our closing statements. As we indicated at the start, candidates will deliver them in the reverse order that they delivered opening statements. That means the first to deliver Closing Remarks is the green Party Candidate, jerome bauer. Why vote green . Isnt that a wasted vote . No, it is not. We seem to be running to the left of just about everybody on just about everything. But we are really fiscally quite conservative, especially when it comes to regressive sales taxes that disproportionately affect the poor to pay for boondoggle stadiums and trolleys and other big boondoggles that we cannot afford, that we cannot even seem to feed and house and transport our own people reliably, sustainably and ffordably. We do not take corporate money and for that reason, we are not beholden to anybody, so we will raise issues other parties and candidates will not raise. That is the function of a third party, to talk about things other people do not want to talk about, to raise interesting ideas, talking points and get the discussion going. When we get rank choice of voting, you will be able to vote for all four of us in the order of your choice. Unfortunately, we do not have that yet, so you will have to make a choice. I want to thank the voters that have told me personally that they will vote for me when they see me on the ballot. I thank you for your continued people expect the top of the ticket races to be especially close this year, so if you want to vote for our down ballot candidates for the Missouri Green Party, then we will be able to maintain Ballot Access and keep on working on grassroots alternatives. I also want to recommend that you may want to cast a vote for the libertarians as well, to keep them on the ballot, because the more voices, the better. Republican Party Candidate, overnor mike parson. Governor parson thank you. Thank you to everybody for listening in. Thank you to everybody on the stage, being part of the process. For me, it started in the beginning, a humble beginning, about work ethic, christian values, moral values, about serving this country in the United States army, understanding what the pledge of allegiance means, understanding what the tarspangled banner means, and what this flag of this country means that people before me who died for this country, to give us the fundamental rights of a constitution, the bill of rights, the declaration of independence. Nobody on this stage will have more experience in Law Enforcement then i will, 22 ears, all the way from the losing an officer in the line of duty, shot six times and surviving. Losing a brother in. Law as an emt those reallife experiences is what makes you a leader. Owning your own business, understanding what it takes to run a business for years. To be able to raise a family, to be a good husband and father, to have six. Grandchildren, to make sure you understand the value of all missourians. No matter what color your skin is, woman or man. The one thing i know, as far as where we are with women in the workforce, we have to do something everyday to make sure we have a balanced and fair approach to that. 16 of my cabinet members in the State Government, 10 of the 16 are women and half the appointments i have made are women, not because they were women, but because they were ualified to do their jobs. I believe everybody is equal. I believe everybody has a right to the american dream. The only way that happens is if we stand up for basic freedoms and we protect individual rights. And we make sure that those next generations, my kids, your kids, our grandkids have the same opportunities we have had, but you have to fight for that every day. That is why i want to run for governor and request humbly for your vote. And it is an honor and privilege to be the 57th governor of missouri. Libertarian Party Candidate rik combsr. On the third of november you will have a choice as to who your next governor will be. My campaign is based on Free Enterprise and smaller government, more Efficient Government. Freedom, slashing taxes, reducing waste, cutting spending and protection of personal property. It is ideal for working people, its ideal for the middle class. Ranchers, farmers and Small Businessmen all across the state that are suffering through some hard times. Make no mistake, the middle class is under assault politically, socially and culturally all across the country, including missouri. I am a champion of the middle class. I came from the middle class nd i view myself in that light. If you feel disaffected, ignored, taken for granted, ignored by the two Major Political parties, we are a good choice for you. The quintessential question for missourians is what type of government do you want in the future . O you want a large expensive expansive government that is involved in every facet of your life, or do you want freedom . Do you want independence at a smaller and more Efficient Government . What do you choose . Our special interests, lobbyists and machine politics are going to rule the day, as they have done for decades, or do we have true freedom . As in air force officer, i spent over 20 years fighting for this country. And i am very proud of that. Im honored to be able to run in missouri for governor. Growing up on a cattle farm, if you had told me i would be running for governor in missouri many decades hence, i would say, you are out of your mind. But this has been a wonderful ride. And it shows how Great America is. I ask for your vote on november. Thank you and god bless. Democratic Party Candidate, state auditor Nicole Galloway. State auditor galloway when i launched the campaign, i never couldve imagined the challenges and crisis we would be facing in 2020, but i knew then that missouris working families needed a change and i am even more certain of it now. Missouri is facing so many challenges, a virus impacting our most vulnerable communities, the worst economic shock since the great depression, chronic underinvestment in health care and education, persistent gun violence in cities across our state, and tough conversations about how to make missouri more equitable and just. And with our biggest challenges, Governor Parsons solutions are just too small. If he had answers, we would have seen them. He had the chance, he failed the test of leadership. Heat is in over his head. The corruption of politics is. How he got where he is he rose through the ranks of the establishment with help from powerful friends that are now spending millions so they can hold onto power, so they can get what they want while missourians struggle. I am offering a new way, where the working people of the state and their needs are at the center of everything i do with working people at the table. As state auditor, i have looked under the hood of government and i have found that it is broken. Its not working. I have identified over 370 million in government waste, abuse and fraud. And i have worked hand in hand with Law Enforcement to bring 63 criminal counts against corrupt officials in this state, republican and democrat. I have demanded efficiency, accountability and transparency. I have put forward comprehensive plans to lower the cost of health care, to contain the virus and provide ore missourians economic opportunity. We cannot just go back to where we were on the eve of this crisis because where we were was not good enough for too many people. As governor, i will put the wellbeing and security of every missourian at the center of what i do. Join me at Nicole Galloway. Com. Thank you. This concludes the 2020 gubernatorial debate, sponsored by the Missouri Press association and in conjunction with kmnu, coming to you from the missouri theater in columbia. We want to thank each candidate for participating. And for the voters, the next decision is yours. You can make your voice be heard by casting a ballot. Thank you for viewing and listening today. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] our campaign 2020 coverage continues with candidates campaigning and debating. Cspan, your unfiltered view of olitics. Next, cindy mccain, the widow of the late arizona senator john mccain. She spoke about the need for civility across the nation. She took nart the restoring respect conference and talked out the late senators this is 45 minutes. Thank you, jeff, and thank you to our audience for being with us. A special thanks to misses cindy mccain for joining us today for a discussion on civility. Mrs. Mccain is joining us less than a month before our general election. The first question i would like to post to her, americans good to see you there. Americans are more divided than they have ever been in my lifetime. We have got people in the majorities of both parties saying they would be upset if their kid married to someone from the other party, that they think the other party is a threat to our republic. Your husband, the late senator