JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As the day of the August primary election draws near, hundreds of thousands of dollars continue switching hands and funneling into – or against – campaigns.
One of the latest developments is that one of the Republican candidates for the Senate District 18 race, Cindy O’Laughlin, who seems to be right in the crosshairs of the latest attacks. And the fingers are pointing to trial attorneys as the ones behind the attacks.
Radio ads against the candidate began running this week, and a website popped up against O’Laughlin, listed as insidercindyolaughlin.com. The webpage states that O’Laughlin is “right in the political mix,” citing her company, Leo O’Laughlin, Inc. had hired a lobbyist in 2017 and received “nearly $40 million in state contracts and payments” over the last 12 years. It also claims that she is using part of her personal fortune to buy a state senate seat. The page lists at the bottom that it’s paid for by Conservative Leadership for NEMO, listing Kansas City attorney James C. Thomas III as the treasurer.
“We knew this day would come – we would pull ahead in the polls and then Jefferson City special interests would come after my head to support the Jefferson City politicians I’m running against,” O’Laughlin said in response to the attacks. “They say I didn’t support Donald Trump until I was a candidate. That is ‘FAKE NEWS.’ The people funding the attacks are trial lawyers that donated to Obama and Clinton. I knew that when I entered the race that I would be fighting an uphill battle. I’m running to shake up the establishment, to fight for the people, not to maintain the status quo. And of course, the establishment fought back. In short, liberal special interest groups do not want to see me elected. They are afraid of what a real Conservative in office will do. Recently, they launched an all-out attack against me on the radio, claiming that I am opposed to President Trump. I support our President and thank God every day that we have President Trump. I am running in full support of our President, a man I supported two years ago, too. I know people will recognize these manipulative tactics for what they are: a smear campaign run out of fear to try and stop a Conservative from holding office.”
On her Facebook page, O’Laughlin posted a list of trial lawyers she said paid for radio ads, saying she’s “not Trump enough” and calling that allegation “fake news.”
“They know unlike career politicians, I can’t be bought,” she said. “Feel free to give them a call.”
The law firms O’Laughlin listed were:
$16,800 from Langdon & Emison LLC (Lexington, MO)
$15,000 for Dollar, Burns, and Becker L.C. (Kansas City, MO)
$20,200 from Simon Law Firm (St. Louis)
$12,400 from Strong-Garner-Bauer (Springfield)
O’Laughlin is expected to be a pro-tort reform candidate if elected into the Missouri Senate, as a business owner of Leo O’Laughlin, Inc.
But it’s not the first accusation at trial attorneys this week. Early on Thursday, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry released a statement saying that, following the recent $4.7 billion verdict against Johnson & Johnson, trial attorneys have poured more than $7.5 million into political campaigns since the 2014 election cycle.
According to the website Money Trail, a website that tracks trial attorney political contributions, more than $350,000 has been invested by trial attorneys in the upcoming 2018 elections.
The chamber points to trial attorneys seeking to affect the votes against potential tort and legal reform measures, legislation that the Chamber has been strongly advocating. One of the chief topics for reform is the issue of joinder and venue, which the Chamber says efforts to pass those changes to keep unrelated claims out of Missouri courts have fallen short.
“Missouri courts are an increasingly dangerous place for businesses,” said Missouri Chamber General Counsel Justin Arnold. “It’s no accident that St. Louis City court dockets are jammed with product-liability cases – cases that often have little or no ties to St. Louis or our state.”
“Trial attorneys have strong influence in the Missouri Legislature,” Arnold said. “They are a well-funded force, and protecting Missouri’s lax venue law is their top objective.”
The Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys’ president responded to the Chambers’ release on Thursday afternoon.
“Johnson and Johnson manufactured and profited immensely from a product that poisoned 22 women and gave them cancer. Six of those women are dead,” MATA President Steve Gorny said. “Each of the women – all heavy users of J&J talcum products containing asbestos – developed ovarian cancer requiring major surgery, chemotherapy, and follow-up treatment. And that’s just this case.”
Gorny says testimony and internal documents from the 1970s offered at trial indicated that J&J rigged testing to ensure asbestos would not be found in their products, which are manufactured, marketed and used in Missouri.
“The Chamber thinks Missouri courts are ‘dangerous’ for business?” Gorny asked. “I think the verdict shows that this business was dangerous for Missourians.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said that O’Laughlin’s company “faced seven product liability/personal injury cases that have been filed so far this year. Since 2005, the company has been listed in 37 product liability or personal injury cases, according to Case.net.” That company was O’Laughlin Industries, a company based out of New Jersey with no affiliation to the candidate or her company. O’Laughlin’s company is Leo O’Laughlin, Inc., and Case.net shows no product liability/personal injury cases involving that company.
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
