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November 2018 general election: What we learned from the 8 Day Out reports

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The final financial figures that Missourians will see before casting their midterm ballot are in, with campaigns and committees submitting their 8-day out reports.

Here is what we learned one week before the general election:

State auditor

Current Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway continued to pull in big fundraising numbers, dwarfing her Republican opponent when it comes to funds.

Galloway brought in another $211,114.27 upping her campaigns total to just more than $2.1 million for the election. She enters the final stage of the race with $546,497.80 cash on hand.

According to the reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission, Galloway, who was appointed to her position in 2015, has far outspent her opponents. The sole Democratic statewide office holder has spent more than $1.5 million to retain her office, more than $1 million of which was spent in October alone.

In contrast, Republican candidate Saundra McDowell has only spent $38,634.27 in total, with $20,409.07 being spent in October. McDowell’s campaign paid off its debt — which was reported as $23,809 as of the previous filing report.

McDowell brought in $41,871.05 in recent weeks, bringing her campaign coffers to $80,798.57 in her bid to become state auditor. She has $24,027.47 cash on hand with less than a week until election day.

Constitutionalist Jacob Luetkemeyer brought in $675.00 for the period, upping his funds to $3,903.15 for the election. He has $224.82 cash on hand, having spent $1,296.18 on the race.

8 day before 2018 general filings: State Auditor

Ballot measures

In the final push before the election, big bucks poured into the campaign advocating for and against the questions being put forth to voters on the November ballot.

SaferMo.com put up the biggest numbers, racking in nearly $2 million in October alone. In total, the group backing Proposition D has raised $4,469,547. They spent $3.1 million in recent weeks and $4.1 million total advocating for an increase to Missouri’s motor fuel tax. SaferMo.com has $347,603.01 cash on hand.  

The campaign backing an increase to the state’s minimum wage shelled out the most money in October, spending just more than $4 million dollars. In total, Raise Up Missouri has $5.6 million in support of Proposition B. The group has raised $6.5 million for the election and has $599,357.49 cash on hand.

Clean Missouri, the campaign advocating for the passage of Amendment 1, has continued to put up big numbers all around. The group brought in $1.1 million in October, upping their total funds raised to nearly $5.1 million. Clean Missouri has spent $4.2 million — $2.1 million in October alone — advocating for the ethics reform measure. They have $341,445.86 cash on hand.

The campaign advocating for the defeat of Amendment 1 raised $201,500.00, of which $200,000 was donated by a single donor — Rex Sinquefield. Missourians First has spent $57,339.13, leaving the group with $144,160.87 cash on hand.  

All the campaigns involved with the different medical marijuana measures, for and against, showed activity in the final countdown to election day.

Find The Cures, which is backing Amendment 3, brought in $344,245.00 of which more than $300,000 came from a single donor — Brad Bradshaw — in the form of loans. The group has brought in $2.1 million in total, the majority coming from Bradshaw in the form of loans. The campaign has spent $2 million in total, of which $299,411.05 was spent in October. Find The Cures has $89,285.21 cash on hand.

Bradshaw is the sole funder of the campaign advocating against Amendment 2. The Springfield doctor and lawyer has loaned a total of $248,925.00. The group has spent nearly $130,000 on advertising, mainly television ads.

In contrast, the group backing Amendment 2 has spent $132,259.32 in the last reporting period and $1.5 million in total. New Approach Missouri brought in $191,723.00 bringing their total to $1.5 million. They have $99,341.20 cash on hand.

Missourians for Patient Care brought in $92,536.91 and spent no money in October. The group backing Proposition C once again declined to disclose its donors.

Legislature

The House Republican Campaign Committee spent $1.5 million and raised $538,014.00 in October. The Democrats’ Missouri House Victory Committee raised almost $136,000 and spent $220,000 in the same time frame.

The five biggest spenders in October for the Missouri Senate were Tony Luetkemeyer at $359,261.65, Sen. Mike Cierpiot at $267,832.54, Martin Rucker at $174,465.98, Sen. Jill Schupp at $168,941.43, and Lincoln Hough at $156,167.78.

The five biggest spenders in October for the Missouri House where Rep. Mark Ellebracht at $54,548.84, Rep. Elijah Haahr at $51,584.98, Rep. David Gregory at $49,495.54, Keri Ingle at $47,167.49, and Rep. Dan Shaul at $41,247.78.

8 day before 2018 general filings: Missouri Senate

8 day before 2018 general filings: Missouri House