Democratic
ElGene Ver Dught 8290 BEAR GROVE RD HIGGINSVILLE MO 64037 817 2/23/2016 11:31 a.m.
Republican
Denny Hoskins PO BOX 118 WARRENSBURG MO 64093 580 2/23/2016 2:17 p.m. Mike McGhee 5538 GRUBB RD ODESSA MO 64076 3/28/2016 10:45 a.m.
Libertarian
William Truman (Bill) Wayne 431 SE COUNTY ROAD Y WARRENSBURG MO 64093 3/8/2016 11:51 a.m.
[emphasis added]
David Pearce (r) is term limited. Denny Hoskins (r) is term limited out of the House. Mike McGhee (r) spent a whole lot of other people’s money challenging David Pearce (r) in the primary four years ago. Maybe it’ll be a similar story this time – the money part we mean.
6. In-kind Contributions Received This Period [$] 69,990.42
8. Total All Receipts This Election $344,470.86
27. Money On Hand at the close of this
reporting period $68,741.17
[emphasis added]
We’ll assume that the candidate spent most of their remaining cash on hand since that money won’t do any good after you lose an election. And, given the free spending support he received from big money in the past we’ll assume he wasn’t too concerned about an inability to raise more funds for the general election.
$344,470.86 cash raised divided by 6,653 votes = $51.78 (rounded up) per vote. Mike McGhee probably would have done better for less money if he had taken everyone out for dinner.
And for David Pearce (r), the republican primary victor?
27. Money On Hand at the close of this reporting period $152,082.72
[emphasis added]
We’ll make the same assumptions (okay, we’ll also acknowledge that a confident campaign that spent $17,000.00 on a poll would probably not spend everything in the primary).
$312,297.15 cash raised divided by 12,452 votes = $25.08 per vote. Still enough for a good dinner. But he did win. There is this gem in the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal:
….Pearce said Tuesday that working closely with people in each county within the district made the difference in the race. He said he would rather have grass roots support from voters than tens of thousands of dollars from people who do not live in the district….
Oh, really? This, a sampling of contributions, from a single 8 Day Before Primary Election report filed right before the primary:
St. Louis Teachers COPE Fund 2710 Hampton Ave. St. Louis MO 63139 7/12/2012 $1,000.00
Smithfield Foods Inc. P.O. Box 9004 Smithfield VA 23431 7/16/2012 $500.00
Missouri Freedom P.O. Box 1792 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/16/2012 $2,500.00
Ameren UE PAC P.O. Box 780 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/17/2012 $2,500.00
Missouri Association of Municipal Utilities 1808 I-70 Dr. SW Columbia MO 65203 7/17/2012 $500.00
Coventry Health Care 8320 Ward Pkwy. Kansas City MO 64114 7/17/2012 $750.00
Anheuser Busch Companies One Busch Place 202-8 St. Louis MO 63118 7/17/2012 $1,000.00
MO Optometric PAC 100 E. High St. Suite 301 Jefferson City MO 65101 7/17/2012 $1,000.00
Fred Dreiling LLC 7325 Summit Kansas City MO 64114 7/17/2012 $250.00
HCA Missouri Good Government Fund P.O. Box 305 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/17/2012 $1,000.00
MO Criminal Defense Lawyers PAC P.O. Box 1543 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/17/2012 $500.00
CenturyLink 220 Madison St. Jefferson City MO 65101 7/18/2012 $2,500.00
American Traffic Solutions 2737 Hereford Ave. St. Louis MO 63139 7/18/2012 $500.00
LeadingAge Missouri 3412 Knipp Dr. Suite 102 Jefferson City MO 65109 7/18/2012 $500.00
W.E. Shoehigh LLC P.O Box 104232 Jefferson City MO 65110 7/20/2012 $500.00
Credit Union PAC 223 Madison St. Jefferson City MO 65101 7/20/2012 $200.00
Missouri CPA PAC 540 Maryville Centre Dr. Suite 200 St. Louis MO 63141 7/21/2012 $500.00
MO Bev PAC P.O. Box 1865 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/21/2012 $500.00
Engler for Missouri 108 W. Columbia Farmington MO 63640 7/24/2012 $1,000.00
Community Health Access Committee P.O. Box 6621 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/24/2012 $250.00
Xcaliber MO PAC 215 E. Capitol Ave. Jefferson City MO 65101 7/24/2012 $250.00
Noranda Aluminum Inc. P.O. Box 70 New Madrid MO 63869 7/25/2012 $4,000.00
Phillips 66 Company 201 NW 63rd St Suite 300 Oklahoma City OK 73116 7/25/2012 $750.00
Citizens for Jay Wasson P.O. Box 1231 Nixa MO 65714 7/26/2012 $2,500.00
[emphasis added]
Nope, not actually in the district. Yeah, so maybe some of these entities do business in the district (beer, anyone?), but let’s not pretend that republican internal struggle for control primary campaigns are funded exclusively by little old ladies who live in the district writing $20.00 checks, mkay?
Captain Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
Here’s the punchline – ElGene Ver Dught, the Democratic Party candidate in the 21st Senate District, having spent and raised a minimal amount of money in the campaign to date is by far the candidate currently least beholden to outside of the district interests:
Money. An obscene amount of money. A struggle for control. Spent by a small number of big money donors, on one hand, to prop up a useful idiot who is a teabagger, birther, tenther, and not exactly a friend of public education. And also spent by corporatist interests, on the other hand, to prop up an establishment republican. The thing is, if you take out most of the crazy of the first candidate you really can’t find much of a difference with the second.
Some of the mail sent in the 21st Senate District republican primary.
The amount of mail we’ve been receiving in the 21st Senate District race can only be described as a flood. Some of it from a third party. Most of the content is not relevant to the every day lives of people in the district.
In the Texas republican lieutenant governor runoff election this week:
….Texas had two chances to resist the blandishments of Tea Partier Ted Cruz, whom it is overwhelmingly likely to send to the United States Senate, the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body, in favor of a bland lump of conservative muenster named David Dewhurst. On the issues, there is no logical reason why this should have happened, much less why it should have happened once in a preliminary election, and then again on Tuesday night. Dewhurst was as pure a cultist as Cruz is….
….This was a signal that conservative extremism knows no limits and recognizes no national boundaries. The Tea Party now has morphed into a movement made up solely of three elements: corporate money, television hucksters, and suckers. The first of these make the other two elements possible. If you are a Republican officeholder, especially in a staunchly Republican state, and you don’t see what can happen to you in what happened to David Dewhurst, you should begin your search for a second career right now…..
The campaign finance summaries for the 8 Day Before Primary Election reports in Missouri’s 21st Senate District republican primary between Mike McGhee and David Pearce:
When the special interests fight for control, the voters and Democracy get trampled.
One has to wonder what the old style republican corporatists are thinking now that the right wingnut crazies are the dominant force of nature in their world. It’ alive, it must be fed, and they helped create it.
Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission, contributions by a right wingnut astroturf organization to one each of the republican candidates in the 31st and 21st Senate Districts:
C121090 07/20/2012 CITIZENS FOR ED EMERY Missouri Club for Growth P O Box 2068 St Louis MO 63158 7/20/2012 $40,000.00
C051254 07/20/2012 MCGHEE FOR SENATE Missouri Club for Growth P.O. Box 2068 St Louis MO 63158 7/20/2012 $20,000.00
[emphasis added]
They’ll always have all the money they’ll ever need.
Information Reported On: 2012 – July Quarterly Report
Beginning Money on Hand $1,414.78
Monetary Receipts + $0.00
Monetary Expenditures – $0.00
Contributions Made – $0.00
Other Disbursements – $1,000.00
Subtotal ($1,000.00)
Ending Money On Hand $414.78
[emphasis added]
Well, that isn’t very much money (up to June 30th).
And then:
C091269 07/13/2012 FREEDOM PAC Herzog Contracting Corp 600 S Riverside Road St Joseph MO 64507 7/13/2012 $54,409.15
[emphasis added]
What on earth would they spend that kind of money on?
Today we received a fifteen inch by twelve inch slick mail piece – that’s huge and very expensive:
An attack piece directed at Senator David Pearce (r) who is facing an August primary with Mike McGhee (r).
And on the other side of the mail piece:
Why, that’s Mike McGhee with a tractor.
And who paid for that mail piece?:
Well, look at that. You’ve got to wonder if it was $54,409.15 worth of mail.
Here’s an interesting detail:
How’s that previous support for Mike McGhee working out for you, AFL-CIO?
…Mike McGhee took on union bosses to protect the right to secret ballots, and stop union bosses from taking money out of workers’ paychecks without permission…
Yeah, that filthy union money, via the Missouri Ethics Commission:
2. All Monetary Contributions Received This Period $65,220.00
10. Expenditures made by cash or check this period $17,201.54
27. Money On Hand at the close of this reporting period $194,420.31
[emphasis added]
That’s a healthy cash on hand, but there is also a well financed primary opponent with a base in the district. Money sitting around in the campaign account doesn’t do any good the day after you lose a primary.
Some of the contributions:
CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED – SUPPLEMENTAL
PEARCE FOR SENATE 7/15/2012
MO Assessor’s Assn. Legislative Acct. P.O. Box 339 New London MO 63459 4/6/2012 $1,000.00
Ronnie Porter 323 Cambridge St. Marshall MO 65340 self — business owner 5/2/2012 $500.00
Committee to Elect Ron Richard P.O. Box 2523 Joplin MO 64803 5/4/2012 $5,005.00
MPCA PAC 205 E. Capitol Ave. Suite 205 Jefferson City MO 65101 5/14/2012 $1,000.00
Dempsey for Senate Two Westbury Drive St. Charles MO 63301 5/19/2012 $5,500.00
Anheuser Busch Companies One Busch Place St. Louis MO 63118 5/26/2012 $1,000.00
Mike Kehoe 3589 Gettysburg Pl. Jefferson City MO 65109 Self 6/1/2012 $5,005.00
2. All Monetary Contributions Received This Period $43,765.00
13. Total All expenditures made this period $20,745.78
27. Money On Hand at the close of this reporting period $47,031.26
[emphasis added]
Remember, there’s been quite a bit of money from some of the usual suspects coming in to Mike McGhee’s (r) campaign coffers after the reporting period.
Let’s look at the contributions from the report:
CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED – SUPPLEMENTAL
MCGHEE FOR SENATE 7/16/2012
Missouri Club for Growth P.O. Box 2068 St Louis MO 63158 6/29/2012 $40,000.00
Salley’s Propane 1010 E. Highway Z Bates City MO 64011 6/29/2012 $500.00
D & T Carwash, LLC P.O. Box 325 Blue Springs MO 64013 6/30/2012 $500.00
[emphasis added]
Uh, yep. That’s one monster contribution.
A slick mail piece (at least in look, not so much in content) from Mike McGhee’s (r) campaign. And, there’s no indication of party affiliation.
Typical. Touting useless legislation (“right to pray”) and support from a big money astroturf (fake grassroots) organization. And, of course, the republican brand is missing on the mailing.
Some of Mike McGhee’s (r) campaign expenditures:
ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES OVER $100 SUPPLEMENTAL FORM
MCGHEE FOR SENATE 7/16/2012
Orscheln Farm & Home 1661 N. Highway 13 Higginsville MO 64037 6/25/2012 T-Posts for signs $641.37
Victory Enterprises 5200 S.W. 30th Street Suite 7 Davenport IA 52802 5/31/2012 Signs $11,228.36
Signs!
Hmm. Nothing, as far as we can tell, about that slick mail piece yet.
C051254 07/05/2012 MCGHEE FOR SENATE David Humphreys P.O.Box 4050 Joplin MO 64803 Tamko Building Products 7/2/2012 $50,000.00
[emphasis added]
The right wingnut money folks appear to prefer the lunatic fringe right wingnuts in their party.
Apparently an occasional success or even attempts at making state government work through the legislative process is anathema to the right wingnut money folks. They aren’t even trying to keep up appearances anymore.
