Races for governor take top billing in Missouri, Montana

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson steadfastly refused to mandate mask-wearing even as the coronavirus spread across his state this year, telling a group of cattlemen in July, “You don’t need government to tell you to wear a dang mask. If you want to wear a dang mask, wear a mask.”

In late September, the Republican governor and his wife both tested positive for the coronavirus, and COVID-19 is now spreading rapidly throughout the state, with rising cases and deaths.

Parson, who took office in 2018 after Eric Greitens resigned, said he did not have symptoms and has since returned to campaigning. His Democratic challenger, state Auditor Nicole Galloway, is emphasizing pandemic response and health coverage as key issues in one of the most contested of the 11 races for governor across the U.S. on Nov. 3.

Galloway's message has been gaining traction as the virus spread worsens. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Missouri has risen from 1,528 per day on Oct. 17 to 2,247 as of Saturday.

In St. Louis, Mark DuBro, 64, a retired executive chef and a Republican, said Parson's handling of the virus persuaded him to cast his ballot for Galloway.

“I think he was a little lax, not as on top of it as he might have been,” he said.

The race is the best hope for Democrats to flip a governor's seat this year. Republicans hold the governor's office in 26 states and are hoping to retake the top job in Montana, where Democrats have held it for the past 16 years.

Which party holds the governor's office could be especially consequential over the next few years. In the majority of states, though not the ones with the most competitive races this year, governors have a role in the process of drawing congressional and state legislative district maps starting...