Mike Parson | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2021 | |
| 57th Governor of Missouri | |
| Assumed office June 1, 2018 | |
| Lieutenant | Mike Kehoe |
| Preceded by | Eric Greitens |
| 47th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri | |
| In office January 9, 2017 – June 1, 2018 | |
| Governor | Eric Greitens |
| Preceded by | Peter Kinder |
| Succeeded by | Mike Kehoe |
| Member of the Missouri Senate from the 28th district | |
| In office January 5, 2011 – January 4, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Delbert Scott |
| Succeeded by | Sandy Crawford |
| Member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 133rd district | |
| In office January 5, 2005 – January 5, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Ronnie Miller |
| Succeeded by | Sue Entlicher |
| Sheriff of Polk County | |
| In office 1993–2004 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Simmons |
| Succeeded by | Steven Bruce |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Lynn Parson September 17, 1955 Wheatland, Missouri, US |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Teresa Parson (m. 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Missouri Governor's Mansion |
| Website | Government website |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1975–1981 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | Military Police Corps |
Michael Lynn Parson (born September 17, 1955) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of Missouri since 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Parson assumed the governorship upon the resignation of Eric Greitens, under whom he served as lieutenant governor from 2017 to 2018. Parson served the remainder of Greitens's term and was elected governor in his own right in 2020.
Parson served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011 and the Missouri Senate from 2011 to 2017. He was elected lieutenant governor in 2016. He assumed the governorship on June 1, 2018, upon Greitens's resignation. As governor, Parson signed a bill criminalizing abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy and opposed Medicaid expansion. He oversaw the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing a temporary stay-at-home order in April 2020 but allowing school districts to decide whether to close.
Parson placed restrictions on mail-in voting during the 2020 U.S. elections, and oversaw Missouri's reaction to the George Floyd protests, which included pardoning a couple who pointed guns at unarmed protesters on their private street. He shortened the sentence of the son of Kansas Chiefs Coach Andy Reid, who seriously injured a child while drunk driving. Controversially, Parson declined to stay the 2024 execution of Marcellus Williams, whose guilt was in doubt.