AP Photo/Jeff Roberson Missouri Gov. Mike Parson speaks after being sworn in as the state's 57th governor following the resignation of Eric Greitens Friday in Jefferson City, Mo. Parson moved from lieutenant governor to governor after Greitens stepped down Friday amid investigations of his political and personal life.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Top Missouri Republicans are welcoming new Gov. Mike Parson to office.

Parson took office Friday, shortly after former Gov. Eric Greitens stepped down amid allegations of both personal and political misconduct. Both are Republicans.

Greitens often clashed with Republican lawmakers and other members of his own party as a self-proclaimed political outsider.

Parson assumes office with more than a decade of state government experience and relationships in politics.

Parson earned praised from former Republican Missouri governors John Ashcroft and Matt Blunt, along with a number of sitting members of Congress. U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner touted him as a “seasoned statesman.”

The Missouri Constitution automatically elevates the lieutenant governor when the governor leaves office.

Parson will serve the remainder of Greitens’ term, which runs until 2021.

Just hours before he left office Friday, Greitens signed scores of new laws, including a measure that makes it a crime to try to threaten a person using a private sexual image — the same allegation that led to his downfall.

Greitens had been facing allegations of sexual misconduct related to a 2015 affair and accusations of campaign finance violations. He denied criminal wrongdoing but cited growing financial and personal strains from the investigations.

In the flurry of last-minute activity, the scandal-plagued governor approved 77 new laws, granted several pardons and commutations and won at least a temporary reprieve in a court battle over campaign records. He posted a long Facebook message touting his accomplishments — without any mention of why he was quitting — and quietly left Capitol about an hour before his resignation took effect.

The “revenge porn” law signed by Greitens creates a felony that will apply to cases when someone threatens the nonconsensual dissemination of a private sexual image by coercing another person to refrain from an action.

The governor has been accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015 and warning her he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter.

He has acknowledged having the affair but denied criminal wrongdoing and refused to directly answer questions about whether he took the photo.

Greitens cannot be charged under the new law because it was not in effect at the time. But a special prosecutor is still weighing whether to refile an invasion-of-privacy charge against Greitens under a different law.