It may have already started.

This race was a close one:

Unofficial Election Returns

State of Missouri General Election  – 2008 General Election

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

State Representative – District 121 – Summary

Hoskins, Denny L. REP 7,004 50.5%

Jackson, Jim DEM 6,875 49.5%

Total Votes   13,879

After the smoke had cleared on the night of the election the difference between the two candidates was less than one per cent. The republican candidate in the open seat race, Denny Hoskins, assisted by ungodly amount of republican state party money paying for nasty radio, cable television, and mail, managed to barely eke out a win over Jim Jackson (D).

It was the normal republican campaign play book. Nasty and full of crap:

Meet your Missouri GOP: an unholy alliance with Missouri Right to Life

Denny Hoskins (r) in the 121st Legislative District: attack piece ignores the NRA

The “Missouri Club for Growth” and Denny Hoskins (r) in the 121st Legislative District

But, the republicans will continue to do this nasty campaign stuff because it works.

That remorse? The Warrensburg Daily Star Journal prominently published a letter to the editor on their opinion page today:

…I felt compelled to set the record straight on an issue that was bantered around during the recent campaign for Missouri House seat for 121st District….

…Every aspect of Jim’s service has been conducted as a gentleman. To the community: You passed your chance to have the best-qualified candidate to serve you in the Legislature. It appears to me, the rejection was based on questionable information about his past record…

Bill Brame, Higginsville

And of course, the local media didn’t call the republicans on it (and that’s being charitable) until after the election.

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing and hearing a lot of priceless stuff come from Denny Hoskins (r – “noun, verb, CPA”) in Jefferson City. All those right wingnut chickens are going to come home to roost – and the voters in the 121st Legislative District won’t like it one bit.

Chris Benjamin (D) and David Pearce (r – advocate of automotive deer hunting), the two candidates for the open seat in the 31st Senate District, have had groups sending a lot of mail.

A nice, positive, Democratic mail piece in support of a candidate with the right qualifications for tough times:

Working families paid for this positive piece.

Same day, same photo, nasty republican mail piece, just for contrast.:

Paid for by the Missouri republican state committee – the usual suspects.

Here’s the “B” side of the republican mailing:

Yeah, right. A shill for banking PACs and a rubber stamp for the republican leadership in the General Assembly is looking after the little guy. Give us a break. And you’d think he’d get a new tie at this stage of the campaign.

Meanwhile, in the 121st Legislative District race, we also received this positive piece on behalf of Jim Jackson (D) from Working Families. Hmmm. Another candidate with the right qualifications for tough times.

See, Denny Hoskins (r – “noun, verb, CPA”), how an independent mailer that’s positive can work for a candidate?

The 121st Legislative District cuts a horizontal swath through the central part of Johnson County and includes the cities of Holden, Knob Noster, and Warrensburg.

Do you remember this?:

Official Election Returns

State of Missouri General Election  – November 2006 – General Election

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

JOHNSON

Constitutional Amendment No. 2 – 2006 Precincts Reporting 21 of 21

Stem Cell Initiative

Yes 8,544 55.7%

No 6,796 44.3%

Total Votes   15,340

Uh, support for stem cell research in Johnson County during the 2006 election was substantial.

And this republican’s view?:

“I wouldn’t spit on Missouri Right to Life if they were on fire,” the usually affable Griesheimer said. “They are a bunch of liars who don’t care about anything but themselves.”

Denny Hoskins (r – “noun, verb, CPA”) had an attack piece sent on his behalf by the Missouri republican party touting his endorsement by Missouri Right to Life:

Ooh, a warm fuzzy picture!

Missouri Right to Life is no fan of stem cell research. Do you think that Denny Hoskins (r – “noun, verb, CPA”), with that endorsement, agrees with their fringe stance? Uhhh.

So, the Missouri GOP says this about Jim Jackson (D):

Note the “scary” Halloween type for Jim Jackson’s name.

You’d think they’d have reconsidered this attack piece given the 2006 ballot initiative results in Johnson County.

Nah. They’re just plain mean, nasty, and desperate.

Uh oh, no pleasant pastel colors?

Isn’t that the “sun” baby? I didn’t know the Teletubbies did political endorsements, especially since, you know, the right wingnuts have been more than a little snippy about certain things. Like that marriage stuff. And children’s television show fictional characters carrying a purse.

Who paid for this crap? Ah, the usual suspects:

…some Missouri lawmakers who consider themselves against abortion rights – particularly Republicans – have increasingly become frustrated with the criteria Missouri Right to Life uses to rate lawmakers and make endorsements. As a result, the group’s Capitol influence has waned…

They all must have made nice with each other. Or, Denny Hoskins (r – “noun, verb, CPA”) is on the fringe. It’s gotta be one or the other. Or both? What’s your guess?

The third quarter campaign finance reports are getting filled with the Missouri Ethics Commission. In the 121st Legislative District open seat race between Jim Jackson (D) and Denny Hoskins (r – “I really, really want to be a CPA in the General Assembly, plese, oh please, oh pretty please”) we’re seeing a rough parity in the amount of money raised by each candidate. What is not evident from these reports is the ungodly amount of money on mail and radio spent on this particular race by third parties. We see (and hear) it in the district.

Jim Jackson (D) filed his third quarter 2008 campaign finance report today:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: JIM JACKSON 2008

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $49,560.00

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $20,091.96

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD

(SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $0.00

[emphasis added]

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: JIM JACKSON 2008

Report Date: 10/14/2008

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $1,030.00

[emphasis added]

Hey, there’s grass roots small dollar fundraising going on in there.

Let’s look at the same for Denny Hoskins (r) who also filed his third quarter 2008 campaign finance report today:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: DENNY HOSKINS 2008

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $42,412.88

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $23,149.02

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD

(SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $2,000.00

[emphasis added]

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: DENNY HOSKINS 2008

Report Date: 9/30/2008

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $0.00

[emphasis added]

Why, that’s positively not grass rootsie. Leave it to the Missouri republican party to try and buy an election.

I do love these kinds of anecdotes. An individual recounted to me that Denny Hoskins (r) told a group of oldtimers that he would “vote just like David Pearce” (I suppose that means he’s an advocate of automotive deer hunting). The oldtimers just nodded and said, “That’s nice.” They were far from impressed. Big mistake. Big. Huge. David Pearce had never impressed them either.

Under the dining tents early in the event.

Approximately 200 individuals attended a Sunday afternoon outdoor rally and fundraiser for Jim Jackson, Democratic candidate in the 121st Legislative District, at the rural eastern Johnson County home of supporters. The event included picnic fixin’s, great weather, and the Nace Brothers Band. Jim Jackson briefly addressed the crowd during the band’s break.

Jim Jackson (right) speaks with supporters.

The Nace Brothers Band provided (very high quality) entertainment.

[applause] Thanks so much. I’d like to thank my lovely wife who did so much preparation for this, too…

…This is, you hear it every election cycle it seems, that this is one of the most important elections in your lives. Well, by golly, this is one of the most important elections of your lives…

…There is so much going on at every different level…from the county level, the state level, the national level, we have so many different changes that might come about this year. Change is the big word. And I really think we’re going to see a lot of changes.

And from what’s been going on in the stock market, what’s been going on in our economy, we certainly need some changes here. So, I’m out to help make some changes for the State of Missouri…

We’ve got twenty three days…and a couple hours [laughter] left, so…with your help we can win this election…

We need some good people…in Jefferson City to represent our area well…We’ve got so much going on, so many needs for education, we’ve got so many needs for health care, we’ve certainly got so many needs for the economic environment that we’re in today.

I would like to take my small business experience, my community service experience, and continue that in Jefferson City…

I am excited about this race, we can do it…with your help. Thank you for coming. Do go out and vote on November the 4th…

Enjoy yourselves, have a good time [here], and remember to vote on November the 4th. Thanks again for coming [applause]

Jim Jackson speaking with folks in the crowd. Note the front end loader in the background. The bucket was lined with a plastic sheet and filled with ice, pop and bottled water.

Part of that long hard slog of local politics for candidates, the retail aspect as it were, is in showing up at the many meetings in a district. It’s a good thing. Voters hear from the candidates and if the voter is engaged they might even ask a few questions.

The Johnson County Democratic Club holds a monthly meeting at a local eating establishment on West Pine Street in downtown Warrensburg. Activist Democrats and an occasional new face will show up for the dinner meeting. Candidates attend and, as time permits, they are handed the microphone with the invitation to say a few words.

Tonight we had one such meeting. Jeffrey Alvarado and Jim Jackson, candidates in the 121st Legislative District, and Kristi Kenney, candidate in the 120th Legislative District, were given the opportunity to speak at the meeting.

Jeffrey Alvarado:

…I am in the race for the 121st along with Mr. Jackson here. And also Mr. Arton. But, if you vote for me I will represent you to the best of my ability.

My number one priority is to restore Medicaid to the people who have lost it. My number two priority is to come up with a catastrophic insurance where Medicaid would be billed for it, versus businesses…

…I’m not collecting money at this time [soliciting campaign contributions], which is a good thing. [laughter] I have lots of signs from two years ago. I’m gonna recycle them later on…

…If you vote for me I appreciate it…Thank you. [applause]

Note: the single photo I was able to take of Jeffrey Alvarado didn’t turn out.

Jim Jackson, candidate in the 121st Legislative District

…yes, I’m running for the 121st Legislative District. I’ve been traveling around the district and found a number of different issues that have been very important to a lot of us, including of course, health care. Including adequate funding of education. Including the ability for people to be able to afford health care. Including economic development which we’re going to learn a lot about in just a few minutes. [The evening’s program included a presentation by the director of the local economic development entity] We’ve got very good economic development here in Johnson County.

We’ve got a lot to look at in Johnson County, we’ve got a lot to look at in the state. I was in Jefferson City the other day and saw the infighting that was going on there and it was absolutely disgusting. Coming from a business man’s point of view I couldn’t believe these people can’t even get along to get things passed.

I can do that…I can do a good job as your state rep…Thank you. [applause]

Kristi Kenney, candidate in the 120th Legislative District

…120th District…I ran in 2006 [against Shannon Cooper] and many of the problems that, the reasons I ran in 2006 are still present today. There are thousands of children and lots of people that are uninsured. The education formula gets twisted every year, but it’s never quite fully funded. There’s an increasing, alarming rate of children entering foster care in residential centers…over the years I’ve learned that children need loving and secure families. We need to have portable affordable health care and education has to be funded…Most everybody [Democrats] are addressing those same issues. We’re going to get some ideas on how we think we can remedy those issues. So, I look forward to meeting you all again…I appreciate your support, I had great support two years ago…Thank you. [applause]