Missouri Governor Eric Greitens relented today, and tendered his resignation. The scandal, which has dragged on for 148 days of excruciating discussions that included forced sex acts and illegal campaign finance reports roiled the state, and left Republicans looking for an out. This included proclamations that Greitens maybe wasn’t a Republican at all in the end, but a “Democrat in disguise” elected only to sabotage the Republican party — a large about-face from their earlier defenses and support of his anti-labor, anti-gun control measures.
Greitens will be replaced by his LG, Mike Parsons, who is very similar on issues — except for one: he believes Missouri legislators should be free to accept lobbyist gifts.
From St. Louis Today:
Parson has split publicly with the governor on some issues. While Greitens banned people in his office from accepting lobbyist gifts, Parson was accepting gifts. Of the seven statewide officeholders last year, only Parson accepted freebies from lobbyists. He took almost $4,000, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records.
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