JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Most observers expected the governor’s race to be contentious and after several weeks of simmering tension, the campaigns reached full boil Wednesday.
Just after Labor Day marked the unofficial start of general election campaign season, it started when Democrat Chris Koster started airing an ad criticizing Republican Eric Greitens for taking more than $700,000 in salary and bonuses while running the charity he founded, The Mission Continues.
The ad also said the charity used more than $650,000 on image consultants to promote Greitens’ political aspirations.
The Greitens campaign hit back hard, accusing Koster of attacking a veterans charity rather than just his opponent.
“Eric Greitens served four tours of duty for his country, came home, and then proudly served his fellow veterans. Sadly, the only thing big spending career politician Chris Koster has ever served is himself,” said campaign manager Austin Chambers in a statement.
In a list of details about the charity, the campaign reiterated the message that Greitens started the foundation with his combat pay and that he slept on an air mattress during the foundation’s first two years.
They also said the supposed image consultants were a media firm used to increase the charity’s profile and grow its reach to help more veterans.
But the Democrats pushed back themselves, saying Greitens cannot be trusted and comparing his foundation to the Clinton Foundation.
“Eric Greitens has proven to Missourians he can’t be trusted,” said Kristin Sosanie, a spokesperson for the Missouri Democratic Party. “According to the Associated Press, he lied about working in Bosnia when he was in Croatia, he’s broken his own ethics pledge time and again, and now he’s been criticizing the Clinton Foundation when it actually has a higher rating than Greitens’ own charity. Eric Greitens is as hypocritical and untrustworthy as they come, and unfit to be Governor of Missouri.”
Last month, Greitens penned a column for Fox News criticizing how the Clinton’s ran their Clinton Foundation and later he went on the network’s “Fox and Friends” show to discuss it.
“The Clintons have taken what should be a system of generosity and they’ve turned it into a system of personal greed,” the Republican candidate said on the show. “They’ve taken what should be about public service and instead they’ve created this foundation system that just served as an easy paycheck for their political cronies.”
But this year, Charity Navigator scored the Clinton Foundation 94.74 out of 100 compared to The Mission Continues’ 94.34. (The score is based on tax documents from Fiscal Year 2014, after Greitens stepped down as head of the charity.) The difference in the score’s comes down to the financial transparency category, where the Clinton Foundation scored a 93 while The Mission Continues scored a 92.
Both charity’s received Charity Navigator’s highest rating of four stars, meaning they “Exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its cause.” The charity watchdog also said on its website the four star rating means, “Donors can be more confident that in supporting those charities rated highly by Charity Navigator, they will be supporting organizations that are more financially healthy, accountable, and transparent.”
The campaigns’ battle didn’t end there. It moved onto Twitter as Greitens campaign staffers criticized Koster for using $3.2 million, most of which was seized during consumer protection investigations, to renovate parts of the attorney general’s building in Jefferson City.
Greitens’ supporters criticized Koster for buying new couches for the offices and launched a “Couches for Koster” Twitter hashtag.
When Koster went through the legislature to get the money appropriated for the renovations, he said the plans were meant to turn the office into a “modest, model-quality law office.”
But he also received criticism for his plans at the time from Republican Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit.
“I’m a little concerned that we’re making significant cuts in other parts of our budget, and we’re putting in new carpet and new furniture,” said Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit. “The general public out there is probably not going to understand that.”
The plans reportedly also included heating and cooling system improvements.
