There are a lot of candidates running in the 121st Legislative District. Three Democrats and two republicans to be exact. We’ve previously written about the race:

121st Legislative District – first quarter campaign finance reports

121st Legislative District: 3 Democrats and 1 republican in the race

Three Democratic candidates in the 121st

Jim Jackson (D) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 9th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[ ]: JIM JACKSON 2008

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $11,435.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $5,525.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $16,960.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $9,055.70

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $7,904.30

[emphasis added]

Let’s take a look at contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: JIM JACKSON 2008

Report Date: 7/8/2008

Missouri State Council Firefighters PAC St. Louis, MO 06/24/2008 $325.00

Citizens for Mike Talboy Kansas City, MO 06/27/2008 $325.00

Operative Plasterers’ & Cement Masons’ Local Union #518 PAC Independence, MO 6/27/2008 $325.00

Operating Engineers Local 101 Kansas City, MO 06/17/2008 $325.00

Teamsters Local Union No. 541 Blvd. Kansas City, MO 06/23/2008 $325.00

Roofers Local #20 P.A.C. Raytown, MO 06/23/2008 $300.00

Kuessner Committee John C. Kuessner Ellington, MO 05/15/2008 $325.00

Comm. to Elect Jeff Roorda Barnhart, MO 05/15/2008 $325.00

I.B.E.W. Local 53 Voluntary Political Fund Kansas City, MO 06/03/2008 $325.00

St. Louis Labor Council AFL-CIO Bridgeton, MO 06/12/2008 $200.00

Labor’s Educ. & Political Club Independent Kansas City, MO 06/17/2008 $300.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $950.00

[emphasis added]

Organized labor, Democratic house members, and individual contributors. Let’s take a look at expenditures:

Postage $26.00

Advertising $55.00

Advertising material $61.01

Midland Printing Sedalia, MO 05/16/2008 advertising $563.29

Midland Printing Sedalia, MO 05/06/2008 advertising 410.02

Heiman Lumber Holden, MO 06/19/2008 fence posts $304.79

Inks & Images Warrensburg, MO 06/10/2008 advertising $416.41

Woods & Grey Lee’s Summit, MO 64081 06/03/2008 advertising $5,000.00

Signs, brochures and advertising.

Anthony Arton (D) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: ARTON 08

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $2,523.40

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $675.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $3,198.40

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $2,181.78

20. TOTAL ALL CONTRIBUTIONS MADE THIS ELECTION (SUM 16B + 19A) $973.76

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $543.22

[emphasis added]

Let’s take a look at contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: ARTON 08

Report Date: 7/15/2008

Judy Elsberry Warrensburg, MO Elsberry Realty 04/03/2008 $250.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $425.00

Let’s look at expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: ARTON 08

ReportDate: 7/15/2008

Office Supplies $16.32

Stamps $57.40

Fund raising web site charges $6.11

Office Depot Warrensburg, MO 04/17/2008 Supplies $159.49

Parker’s Supermarkete Warrensburg, MO 04/22/2008 Food and Beverage for “meet and greet” $180.75

Donahue Advertising Logan, OH 04/29/2008 Yard Signs $767.95

Yard signs.

Jeffrey Alvarado (D) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: COMMITTEE TO ELECT JEFFREY ALVARADO

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $706.93

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $1,000.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $1,707.35

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $706.93

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $425.25

[emphasis added]

Let’s look at contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: COMMITTEE TO ELECT JEFFREY ALVARADO

Report Date: 7/14/2008

JEFFREY G. ALVARADO WARRENSBURG, MISSOUI 11/01/2008 $1,000.00

Self financing. Let’s look at expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: COMMITTEE TO ELECT JEFFREY ALVARADO

ReportDate: 7/14/2008

KOKO WARRENSBURG, MO 05/28/2005 RADIO SHOW $220.00

THE STAR JOURNAL WARRENSBURG, MO 06/04/2008 ADVERTISMENT $304.80

Radio and newspaper ads.

Denny Hoskins (r) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 14th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: DENNY HOSKINS 2008

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $10,275.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $9,148.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $1,000.00

7. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS PERIOD (SUM 5A + 6A) $10,348.15

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $20,623.15

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $5,288.71

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $13,834.44

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD

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

[emphasis added]

Let’s take a look at contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: DENNY HOSKINS 2008

Report Date: 6/30/2008

RON RICHARD 2008 JOPLIN, MO 06/03/2008 $325.00

SANDRA THOMAS CPA FOR STATE AUDITOR KANSAS CITY, MO 06/03/2008 $325.00

129TH REPUBLICAN LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT COMMITTEE JOPLIN, MO 06/03/2008 $250.00

TAYLOR, HOSKINS & SHAW, CPAS, LLC CLINTON, MO CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT FIRM 06/21/2008 $325.00

republican politicians, a party committee, realtors, CPAs, his own business, and a “pass the hat” fundraiser…

Let’s look at expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: DENNY HOSKINS 2008

Report[ ]Date: 6/30/2008

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Category Of Expenditures Amount Paid Or

Incurred This Period

SUPPLIES $339.00

POSTMASTER-POSTAGE $166.50

ADVERTISING $430.63

PAYPAL FEES $14.71

Okay, time out. Read that heading again. Then look at the numbers. This guy is supposed to
be a CPA and is supposedly running “to be the only CPA in the state legislature”?

Yeah, okay, each individual expenditure in each category was probably under a hundred dollars. But you’d think in the interest of transparency (Heh.) that the individual expenditures would be listed, eh?

Continuing…

GECCO GRAPHICS WARRENSBURG, MO 04/21/2008 ADVERTISING $143.01

KERLEY COPY CENTER WARRENSBURG, MO 04/21/2008 ADVERTISING $595.09

R&R ADVERTISING WARRENSBURG, MO 05/30/2008 ADVERTISING $225.00

OFFICE DEPOT WARRENSBURG, MO 05/08/2008 ADVERTISING $612.63

Advertising!

Steven Hedrick (r) filed a EXEMPTION STATEMENT OF LIMITED ACTIVITY FOR CANDIDATE WHO FILED STATEMENT OF EXEMPTION (pdf) on July 3rd.  

In summarizing for me the top priorities of the House Democratic Campaign Committee this year, Ronny Richardson pointed to four races in western Missouri and one in the north central part of the state.

H.D. 33, at the northern edge of Jackson County, has a rematch between incumbent Jerry Nolte and the Democrat who lost to him by only 150 votes in ’06, Terry Stone. It often happens that candidates lose their first race for office, but build their name recognition, and then manage to vault over the barrier on their second try. On the assumption that such will be his luck, Terry Stone isn’t so much running for office again as he is still running for that state rep seat. Ronny tells me Stone never really stopped running in the last two years.

If you headed straight out the top right corner of Jackson County into Ray County, you’d be in H.D. 36, where Democrat Barbara Lanning is challenging incumbent Bob Nance. It’s usually a Democratic district, but Nance sneaked in there in ’04 when the incumbent got careless about campaigning hard enough. In ’06, Nance was challenged by a weak opponent and prevailed 61.4 percent to 38.6. He’ll have no such cakewalk this time. Barbara Lanning is a longtime schoolboard member and realtor. Ronny says she is “smart, articulate, and solidly Democratic.”

In the Warrensburg area, southeast of K.C., are two more races where Democrats have high hopes that a seat will fall into Democratic hands. H.D. 120 is open because Shannon Cooper is term limited out. Kristi Kenney, the Democrat in the race, challenged Cooper in 2006 despite the fact that he was an incumbent with a hundred twenty thousand #$%@^&* dollars to bury her with. His incumbency and his cash advantage notwithstanding, he only beat her 55.9 percent to 44.1 percent. That’s a commendable showing for a beginner.

And this time around, her opponent, Scott Largent, had $3,930 at the end of the first quarter. No incumbency advantage and no money advantage for the Republican this year. Hmmm.

Directly above H.D. 120 in Johnson County is H.D. 121. This is an open seat because David Pearce (of automotive deer hunting fame), the Republican who held it, is running against Chris Benjamin for the state Senate. Jim Jackson is the Democrat in the race, and he is well known in the district as a former mayor of Warrensburg and a city council member. He has roots in the community as a small business owner. Ronny says he fits that district’s profile nicely.

The final race in this three-part series is H.D. 22 in north central Missouri. It’s right under McClanahan’s and Shively’s districts, encompassing Chariton and Randolph counties. The incumbent is Therese Sander, a wingnut of Calamity Jane Cunningham’s ilk. Sander did okay in the last couple of elections, winning with 53.5 percent and 54.2 percent, but she only did that well because she didn’t have a strong challenger. In 2006, her opponent was a young man of 24 or 25, with no roots in the community.

This year will be different. Gail Brown is a barbershop owner, a county commissioner, and a minister at three churches. Like Sander, he’s a Christian–but with a heart. He’s more conservative than many Democratic candidates (pro-life, for example), but that makes him a suitable fit for the district.

And what a workhorse. He kicked off his campaign last fall.

In all, then, Ronny Richardson, described two Democratic seats that will be tough to hold (McClanahan and Shively) and eleven seats we hope to put in D hands. Eleven. That number sounds oddly familiar. I think it’s maybe the number of seats Dems would need to take back the House. Not that I assume we’ll get every one of the eleven seats Ronny Richardson described, but we’ll get a lot of them. And some of those second tier races are bound to come through for us. Maybe Deb Lavender will get the Kirkwood seat, for example.

Here’s the thing that makes this year look so good. We’re playing offense. We have two seats where we’re playing defense, and oodles of them where we’re on the offense. And don’t think Jay’s lead in the governor’s race won’t help. That’s some kind of coattails he’s gonna have.

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]

In the last few days three individuals have announced as Democratic candidates for the open seat in the 121st Legislative District.

The 121st includes the cities of Warrensburg, Holden, and Knob Noster in Johnson County. The University of Central Missouri and Whiteman Air Force Base (B-2 bomber) are also in the district.

Both Anthony Arton and Jeff Alvarado announced last Thursday at a meeting of the Johnson County Democratic Club in Warrensburg. Alvarado ran in 2006. Jim Jackson (who ran in 2002) announced today at the 4th Congressional District Federation of Democratic Women’s Club meeting in Warrensburg.

David Pearce (r-plastic smile) currently holds the seat. He has opted to run for the open 31st District Senate seat in 2008. In an open seat race in 2002 Pearce defeated Jim Jackson 4984 to 3301 – this was the most expensive race in the history of the district. In 2004 no Democratic party candidate filed. Pearce defeated a Libertarian candidate 10,212 to 1685. There aren’t that many Libertarians in Johnson County, but a significant number of Democratic voters weren’t going to cast their votes for Pearce. In 2006 Pearce defeated Jeff Alvarado 6405 to 2708 with a different Libertarian candidate getting 448 votes.

Anthony Arton, a University of Central Misouri student, is a former president of the College Republicans at Central, served as a legislative intern [pdf] for David Pearce, and is the student member [pdf] of Central’s Board of Governors. He grew up in Warrensburg. Arton switched from the republican party to the Democratic Party in August 2007.

Jeff Alvarado ran a small (and under financed) campaign in 2006 – at times he must have felt like he was tilting at windmills. Alvarado is retired from the Air Force. He lives in Warrensburg.

Jim Jackson is a former Mayor of Warrensburg. For close to 25 years he owned an operated an appliance store in downtown Warrensburg (the store was destroyed by a lightning caused fire a few years ago). He has been active on a variety of boards and in community issues.

In the interest of full disclosure: I participated extensively in Jim Jackson’s 2002 campaign.

Rumors abound about republican candidates. From “no one, yet” to notorious Johnson County Clerk Gilbert Powers.