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ST. LOUIS – Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway is the only Democrat and the only woman to be elected on a statewide ballot. She hopes that her success thus far translates into a win for the highest elected office in Missouri.

Galloway announced that she was running for governor in August. She says that her candidacy is entirely focused on giving “working families” a voice in Jefferson City.

“If you are a well-connected insider in Missouri, you pretty much get what you want,” she says. “But if you are a family, you don’t get what you need.”

Galloway believes her role as an auditor and fraud examiner gives her a unique set of qualifications.

“In my role as state auditor, I am the state’s watchdog,” she says. “I hold Democrats and Republicans accountable alike because that’s what taxpayers in this state deserve.”

She also believes that she will be able to win over Republicans who are dissatisfied with the status quo of bickering on all levels of politics.

“When it comes to policy, I don’t care about who’s right,” says Galloway. “I care about what’s right and getting results for people in this state who want to keep moving forward.”

In her time as auditor, she has generated four dozen criminal counts against public officials across the state, recouping an estimated $350 million in misused funds.

“Think of what we could do if we got rid of that waste? If we put that $350 million in mismanagement and put that towards things that really matter for people, like investing in our local school districts and address health care costs throughout this state?”

She acknowledges that crime will be a hot-button issue for 2020 and she is running against a former law enforcement official. But she believes the approach by Governor Mike Parson isn’t working.

“St. Louis, Springfield, and Kansas City are all in the top 12 most dangerous cities in the nation. In Virginia Beach, when there was a shooting, and 12 people lost their lives, the governor and legislature went back into session and immediately debated common-sense gun safety laws,” says Galloway. “Twelve kids have died in St. Louis and (the governor) says it’s not his problem and he needs to stay in his lane. Well, if helping Missouri families is not in his lane, then he needs to get out of the way.”