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Covering state lawmakers, bills, and policy emerging from Jefferson City.

Politically Speaking: Missouri Auditor Galloway on her bid for a full, 4-year term

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway
Jason Rosenbaum I St. Louis Public Radio
Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway

State Auditor Nicole Galloway returns to the Politically Speaking podcast to talk about her quest for a full, four-year term in office.

The Democratic official was appointed to her post in 2015 after the suicide of Tom Schweich. She’s squaring off against Republican Saundra McDowell in the Nov. 6 election. McDowell’s episode of Politically Speaking will be posted on Wednesday afternoon.

A native of Fenton, Galloway graduated from Missouri University of Science and Technology with degrees in applied mathematics and economics. She also earned an MBA from the University of Missouri-Columbia. As with recent state auditors, like Republican Margaret Kelly and Democrat Susan Montee, Galloway is a certified public accountant.

Then-Gov. Jay Nixon appointed her to be Boone County treasurer in 2011 after the death of incumbent treasurer Jan Fugit. Before she took the plunge into county politics, Galloway worked as corporate auditor for Shelter Insurance in Columbia and as an actuarial analyst with Allstate Insurance. She also worked at Brown Smith Wallace, where she audited insurance and reinsurance companies throughout the country.

After much speculation, Nixon picked Galloway in April 2015 to serve out the balance of Schweich’s second term. She’s carried on Schweich’s practice of rating governmental entities on an “excellent” to “poor” scale and following up on state institutions that receive an unfavorable audit. She’s also been called in to do an audit of St. Louis’ city government.

Here’s some of what Galloway had to say during the show:

  • Galloway said she has a “strong track record of getting results for taxpayers and I’m proud of those accomplishments.” She’s questioned McDowell’s competency for the job, pointing out financial and residency issues that have flared up during the campaign.
  • She’s been outspoken against undisclosed donations in Missouri politics, particularly a politically-active nonprofit that allies of former Gov. Eric Greitens set up. Galloway has also been critical of millions of dollars of money from unknows sources flowing into a campaign to raise the minimum wage.
  • A measure known as “Clean Missouri” would give the state auditor responsibility in picking a demographer to draw state House and Senate districts. Galloway said she would make sure that process is done in a fair manner. “The demographer should not be a political hire,” she said. “It should be someone based on qualifications and experience — things that I value.”
  • Some Democrats have floated Galloway as a possible gubernatorial nominee in 2020. But she said she’s focused on winning a full term as auditor. “I’m running for this because I want to be auditor for four years. I do. I want a full term,” she said. “I am an auditor by trade. I feel so passionately about this job and making government work better.”


Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter:@jrosenbaum

Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter:@jmannies

Follow Nicole Galloway on Twitter:@nicolergalloway

Music: “Baby Blue” by Wolf Parade

Copyright 2018 St. Louis Public Radio

Since entering the world of professional journalism in 2006, Jason Rosenbaum dove head first into the world of politics, policy and even rock and roll music. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rosenbaum spent more than four years in the Missouri State Capitol writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri Lawyers Media and the St. Louis Beacon. Since moving to St. Louis in 2010, Rosenbaum's work appeared in Missouri Lawyers Media, the St. Louis Business Journal and the Riverfront Times' music section. He also served on staff at the St. Louis Beacon as a politics reporter. Rosenbaum lives in Richmond Heights with with his wife Lauren and their two sons.
Jo Mannies has been covering Missouri politics and government for almost four decades, much of that time as a reporter and columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first woman to cover St. Louis City Hall, was the newspaper’s second woman sportswriter in its history, and spent four years in the Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau. She joined the St. Louis Beacon in 2009. She has won several local, regional and national awards, and has covered every president since Jimmy Carter. She scared fellow first-graders in the late 1950s when she showed them how close Alaska was to Russia and met Richard M. Nixon when she was in high school. She graduated from Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, and was the daughter of a high school basketball coach. She is married and has two grown children, both lawyers. She’s a history and movie buff, cultivates a massive flower garden, and bakes banana bread regularly for her colleagues.