SubscribeLog inPolitics For Missouri Governor, Test at an Uneasy Time Gov. Jay Nixon, right, prayed on Thursday with St. Louis clergy members in Florissant, Mo. Whitney Curtis for The New York Times By ALAN BLINDER and JOHN ELIGON August 14, 2014 BELLERIVE, Mo. When Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri stepped to the lectern at a university here on Thursday afternoon, he confronted one of the toughest challenges of his political career: the police killing of an unarmed black teenager in suburban St. Louis and the violent unrest that followed. As he announced that he had ordered the State Highway Patrol to take over command of the police in the troubled city of Ferguson, he was by turns defensive and resolute, sentimental and personal. He pushed away broad questions about healing by saying, “We’re a little focused right now on operational specifics.” At another point, when asked about his relationship with the black community, he spoke of the relationships he had with “so many of my friends over so many years” and went on to say, “I don’t think this is a time to divide.” Mr. Nixon, 58, has had a successful political career by most measures. He is finishing his second and final term as a Democrat in a solidly Republican state. But when he first ran for national office, seeking a Senate seat in 1988, he was trounced by the incumbent Republican, Senator John C. Danforth. Mr. Nixon rebounded, serving for years in the State Senate, then as attorney general, and winning the race for governor in 2008.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 08:48:05 +0000
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