2020 Missouri gubernatorial election

The 2020 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Governor of Missouri, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike Parson ran for and was elected to a full term in office. Parson was elected as lieutenant governor in 2016 but became governor on June 1, 2018, after incumbent Eric Greitens resigned under threat of impeachment by the state legislature. Parson declared his bid for a full term on September 8, 2019. State Auditor Nicole Galloway, Missouri's only Democratic statewide officer and only female statewide officer, was the Democratic nominee and if elected, would have become Missouri's first female governor.

In October 2020, The Washington Post identified this state election as one of eight whose outcomes could affect partisan balance during post-census redistricting.

Despite most news agencies characterizing the race as only leaning Republican, Mike Parson went on to win the election by a landslide of 16.4%, widely outperforming all election polling as well as justifying the former swing state's trend towards the GOP. He even exceeded Donald Trump's statewide victory margin in the concurrent presidential election, which was actually greater than that in neighboring Kansas for the first time in 104 years. Galloway suffered the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Missouri since Betty Hearnes' 29-point loss in 1988. The 1988 election was also the last election until this one in which Missouri elected a Republican for governor by double digits.

Nominee

 * Mike Parson, incumbent governor of Missouri and former state senator

Eliminated in primary

 * Saundra McDowell, U.S. Air Force veteran and Republican nominee for Missouri state auditor in 2018
 * Jim Neely, state representative from the 8th district
 * Raleigh Ritter, rancher and businessman

Declined

 * Jay Ashcroft, Missouri Secretary of State
 * Eric Greitens, former governor of Missouri
 * Tony Monetti, retired bomber pilot, assistant dean of aviation at University of Central Missouri, and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018

Results
[[File:Missouri Governor Republican primary, 2020.svg|thumb|Results by county: Parson

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Nominee

 * Nicole Galloway, Missouri state auditor

Eliminated in primary

 * Eric Morrison, community leader and pastor
 * Antoin Johnson
 * Jimmie Matthews
 * Robin Quaethem

Declined

 * Sly James, former mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
 * Jason Kander, former Missouri Secretary of State, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016, former candidate for Mayor of Kansas City in 2019
 * Claire McCaskill, former U.S. Senator
 * Scott Sifton, state senator from the 1st district and former state representative from the 96th district (endorsed Galloway)

Results
[[File:Missouri Governor Democratic primary, 2020.svg|thumb|Results by county: Galloway

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Nominee

 * Rik Combs, U.S. Air Force veteran

Nominee

 * Jerome Bauer

Polling

 * Eric Greitens vs Nicole Galloway
 * Mike Parson vs Jason Kander
 * Mike Parson vs. Scott Sifton