Frank White raises abortion issue in final campaign days; opponent calls it desperation

Democrat Frank White is raising abortion as an issue in the waning days of what promises to be his tightest re-election battle since becoming Jackson County executive in 2016.

White issued a news release early Tuesday outlining a proposal to spend $1 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds the county has on hand to help women get abortions outside of Missouri, which has an almost total abortion ban.

His Republican opponent, Theresa Galvin, who has avoided taking a public stance on abortion, called White’s announcement “a desperation move” to get votes by focusing on an issue that is not germane to county government.

She also said in the same interview that the American Rescue Plan Act funds that White proposes using to pay for the travel costs of women seeking abortion cannot be used for that purpose.

“It’s just kind of suspicious why he would bring this up one week before an election, and that’s just exactly what he’s doing is he’s trying to buy taxpayers’ votes,” she said. “If we weren’t in the middle of an election, he would not be putting this out.”

White’s campaign manager, Mindy Brissey, countered that White has brought up the abortion issue numerous times since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 gave pregnant women the right to have an abortion.

“She wants to talk about timing, because her views on choice are really, quite frankly, extreme and don’t reflect the values of the Jackson County voters on this issue,” Brissey said.

When a reporter pointed out that Galvin has not made her views on abortion public in this campaign, Brissey said: “So what is her position on abortion? That right there is a statement in itself.”

White said in his news release that the $1 million would not go to pay for abortions, but would rather cover transportation, lodging and child care for women traveling outside the state for the procedure. To become effective, the legislature would have to approve the measure.

“As elected leaders, it is our responsibility to take action when our community is in danger and it is clear that the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade has created a major health crisis in Jackson County,” he said.

The news release also quoted Democrats Jalen Anderson and Crystal Williams, arguably the two most liberal members of the nine-member county legislature, as supporting White’s proposed “Reproductive Equity Fund.” They are co-sponsoring the legislation, but are unsure when it will be introduced, Williams told The Star. The city of St. Louis passed a similar proposal in the summer.

Democrats nationwide have been counting on the issue of abortion to motivate voters in the fall election. But Galvin has maintained throughout the campaign that abortion is a state and not a local issue and that she doesn’t believe that county elected officials should take partisan stands on divisive issues like abortion or gun rights.

Without naming Galvin, White challenged that position in Tuesday’s news release:

”Some politicians may try and tell you that this is not an issue for local government. I could not disagree more.”

He said local officials have a responsibility to “step up and do everything we can to provide the support necessary while also working to ensure that reproductive health services are once again legal, safe and accessible and affordable in Jackson County.”

The $1 million White proposes spending would come from the $129.5 million in COVID relief dollars that the county has in the bank. Much of that money is already earmarked for a variety of purposes, a county spokeswoman said.

This is not the first time White has attempted to distinguish himself from Galvin on the abortion issue.

In August, Galvin abstained on an ordinance that would have placed an advisory referendum on the November ballot to measure Jackson County voters’ support for repealing Missouri’s abortion ban.

According to the minutes of that meeting, Galvin stressed that the referendum would do nothing but stir up “unnecessary emotions,” because it would not affect state law one way or the other.

“Whether you’re pro choice or whether you’re pro life, this ordinance is creating a lot of emotions for people that is unnecessary,” she said while chairing that day’s meeting.

When that proposed ordinance got only four of the five votes it needed, White criticized Galvin, again without naming her, in a news release. He noted that two years earlier she and others supported an advisory referendum on whether to remove the statues of President Andrew Jackson outside the county courthouse in downtown Kansas City and outside the Historic Truman Courthouse in Independence.

“It is unbelievable that the same people who voted to put the location of a statue on the ballot,” he said in an Aug. 29 news release, “refused today to give Jackson County voters a voice about their own bodies or those of their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters. I cannot understand how anyone could stand in the way of allowing Jackson County voters the opportunity to voice their opposition to a law that makes it a crime for a victim of rape or incest to terminate their pregnancy.”

Galvin was absent in July when the legislature, with White’s support, passed a resolution urging Congress to pass a law ensuring abortion rights nationwide.

On Tuesday, Galvin said her personal views on abortion, which she did not elaborate on, are not germane to the issues county officials should be focusing on.

“”We have enough on our plate,” she said. “We need to be focusing on the jail, we need to be focusing on this courthouse that is crumbling in front of us. We need to be focusing on county issues. Let the state deal with their state issues.”

Serious challenge

Galvin was first elected to the legislature in 2014 to represent the heavily Republican 6th District in eastern Jackson County. White was elected countywide for the first time that same year as an at-large legislator.

He was appointed county executive by his fellow legislators in January 2016 after Mike Sanders resigned. He was elected in his own right that fall, then against in 2018.

This is the first time he has faced any kind of serious opposition in either a primary or general election. A Republican has not won a countywide contest since the current form of county government was installed 50 years ago. But both candidates have been running as if that string of Democratic victories could come to an end.

Despite his popularity for the many years he played second base for the Kansas City Royals, White has taken some hits in recent years for his handling of the county’s reassessment process, mask mandates during the pandemic and his battles with the legislature over a variety of issues during his tenure.

One of his more pointed critics, Galvin gave up her seat on the legislature to run against him in hopes of capitalizing on his perceived political vulnerability.

No public polling information is available gauging how the candidates may fare in Tuesday’s election, but Galvin said White’s announcement indicates to her that the race is close.

According to their Oct. 31 campaign finance reports, White had raised $134,344 and spent $80,489 so far on this election. Galvin had raised $115,340 and spent $73,384.