JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Among the Democrats swept into office Tuesday was Chris Koster, the state senator and former Cass County prosecutor who will become Missouri's 41st attorney general in January.

Koster, of Raymore, campaigned on his background as a prosecutor, but will have plenty of administrative work to do as he succeeds Gov.-elect Jay Nixon, a Democrat who’s held the office for the past 16 years. He spoke with The Kansas City Star about the transition process and how the office might change under his leadership.

Q. What made the difference in your race against Republican Mike Gibbons?

A. I hope what made the difference was a willingness to run a clean campaign that looked people in the eye and simply told them who I was, what I wanted to accomplish and where I wanted to lead the office. No fancy tricks — just talking straight to folks.

Q. In the Democratic primary and the general election, the criticisms against you were often personal and sharply negative. How did that affect you?

A. Negative campaigning doesn't appeal to me, and so I assume that it doesn't appeal to other people as well. I ran the campaign that my mom and dad would want me to run. I consider the individuals who ran against me in the primary and in the general friends, and I don’t take this stuff personally. I put the past behind me relatively quickly, and all I care about is taking the good work Jay Nixon has done and building upon it going forward.

Q. Describe the transition that must occur between now and inauguration day.

Read the full story at KansasCity.com.

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