Saint Louis, Mo. — The 3rd quarter of the financial year is in the books, and in a few short weeks Missourians will head to the polls on Election Day. Here are some things we learned on filing day.
The Governor’s Mansion
-Catherine Hanaway’s campaign is struggling, and the whopping $750,000 check from Rex Sinquefield only underscores how little Hanaway raised in the last few months. Hanaway failed to raise serious dollars on her own.
Hanaway is the only Republican who has declared a gubernatorial run in 2016, and has a loyal following of former House members ready to stump for her across the state. But it’s likely Hanaway will first have to survive a bloody primary with State Auditor Tom Schweich. Schweich hasn’t officially announced his big yet, but his intentions to take Hanaway on were made clear yesterday. A few hours after Hanaway filed her quarterly report, a Schweich spokesperson released a statement on his behalf blasting the former House Speaker, Hanaway.
“Catherine Hanaway reported today one of the worst financial quarters for a major party Governor candidate in Missouri political history,” Nathan Adams, a Schweich spokesperson, said in a statement. “Her candidacy was in complete free fall.”
Adams went even further, targeting Sinquefield himself, who is frequently the subject of scrutiny as Missouri’s single largest political donor.
“…under no circumstances will we sit idly by while one person — who has already had his cronies sue the Auditor’s office more than 10 times — appears to be attempting to buy Missouri government.”
Schweich’s harsh words for Sinquefield are unsual, given that the retired financial executive donated more than $9 million to conservative Missouri candidates and causes in 2014 alone. And while the first-term Auditor still has to win his unopposed re-election bid in 2014, the statement all but confirms long held rumors that he intends to challenger Hanaway for the party nomination.
Hanaway’s political director, Nick Maddux, offered only a brief response.
“His statement pretty well speaks for itself.”
While Republicans can almost certainly look forward to a bloody gubernatorial primary in 2016, the Democratic frontrunner for the office will likely be avoiding any serious challengers. Attorney General Chris Koster reported more than $2 million in the bank on Wednesday, and has donated $200K to the state party in an effort to build the party.
Koster’s available cash dwarfs anyone else eyeing the governor’s mansion, and Democrats are already set to rally around him in 2016.
Statewide
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-St. Louis County, is sitting on one of the single largest war chests in the state just one quarter removed from his announcement that he’ll run for treasurer in 2016. Schmitt will likely scare away most primary challengers with the record-breaking haul.
More importantly, Schmitt once again filed a financial report reflecting that the young and charismatic state senator can raise major cash, further solidifying his status as one of the up-and-comers in the party.
Secretary of State Jason Kander is two years away from his re-election and sitting on more than $600,000. His only declared challenger thus far, Sen. Will Kraus, raised more than $150,000 this quarter but has a modest war chest of about $275,000.
Sen. Kurt Schaefer, the only officially-announced candidate to replace Koster, is still sitting on an impressive war chest of more than $1 million, only a few thousand more than outgoing House Speaker Tim Jones, who has hinted, but not confirmed, that he will seek the office.
No Democrat has yet declared a desire to succeed Koster as AG, but a handful of party members are rumored to have their eye on the prize. State senator Scott Sifton of St. Louis is a leading contender among Democrats to take the office. Sifton’s $250K+ in the bank and $80K+ 3rd quarter certainly won’t hurt his chances.
Senate
The state’s most competitive legislative races are both in the state senate. The unofficially dubbed “Battle for JeffCo” has long been considered too close to call and Wednesday’s filings only confirmed that. Former Rep. Paul Wieland, a Republican, is sitting on $376,867.95 in the bank in no small part thanks to a few hefty checks from the campaign committee of senate Republicans. Former Rep. Jeff Roorda, the Democrat, has only a little less, notching $352,990.64 in the bank. Both men have raised a little more than $500K in the race which may be the closest of the 2014 cycle.
Things aren’t quite so close in the St. Louis County senate race between Rep. Jill Schupp and Jay Ashcroft. Ashcroft has $466,309.84 in the bank after a decent quarter, taking in more than $200K. But Ashcroft is still struggling to catch up with Schupp and her $603,128.16 on hand. Schupp’s campaign has been a fundraising juggernaut, netting $1,065,024.82 in total donations for the election compared to $729,660.70 for Ashcroft.
Big Spenders
No campaign finance reports in Missouri would be complete without a mention of Rex Sinquefield. The mega-donor has pumped nearly $1 million the Hanaway campaign, $250K to Schmitt, and $100K to St. Louis County Executive candidate, Rick Stream.
Sinquefield donates sizeable shares of money in his own name, but he also has at least three committees of which he is the primary donor. Sinquefield funnels cash through GrowMissouri, Missourians for Excellence in Government and Missouri Club for Growth PAC in every campaign cycle to the tune of millions of dollars.
While Sinquefield largely supports conservative causes and candidates, he’s not unknown among Democrats. He gave former St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley $200K during his 2014 primary loss to councilman Steve Stenger, and in the past he’s donated to both Koster, Schupp, and state senator Jamliah Nasheed.
Sinquefield is also a donor to the mysterious Republican State Leadership Committee, which has dumped $200K into the account of Brian Stumpe, the Republican running in the Cole County 19th Judicial Circuit Court.
Sinquefield isn’t the only one giving out big checks. Koster and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill are bankrolling Missouri Democrats in a major way. Koster has dropped $200K into party coffers in 7 months with the promise of another $200K to come before the 2016 election. McCaskill has done even more. Since February of this year alone McCaskill has given $490,000 to the Missouri Democratic Party.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
