The July quarterly campaign finance reports in the 24th Senate District have been filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C141179: Ashcroft For Missouri

Party Affiliation: Republican

Information Reported On: 2014 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $0.00

Monetary Receipts + $227,590.00

Monetary Expenditures – $19,331.95

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $9.00

Subtotal     $208,249.05

Ending Money On Hand   $208,249.05

[emphasis added]

It is good to be a republican legacy candidate.

Libertarians, occupying space on the ballot since…

C141209E: Jim Higgins

Party Affiliation: Libertarian

No Full Disclosure Reports with financial information have been filed for the current year.

How quaint, a republican candidate without much campaign money:

C141383: Robb Hicks For Senate

Party Affiliation: Republican

Information Reported On: 2014 – AMENDED July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $0.00

Monetary Receipts + $51,125.00

Monetary Expenditures – $6,738.26

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $10.00

Subtotal     $44,376.74

Ending Money On Hand   $44,376.74

[emphasis added]

Well, it is a state senate race and it’s all relative.

C141148: Spooner For Senate

Party Affiliation: Republican

Information Reported On: 2014 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $104,574.01

Monetary Receipts + $48,440.00

Monetary Expenditures – $40,605.07

Contributions Made – $600.00

Other Disbursements – $2,500.00

Subtotal     $4,734.93

Ending Money On Hand   $109,308.94

[emphasis added]

Interesting burn rate, that.

And, finally, the Democratic Party candidate:

C131081: Schupp For Senate

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Information Reported On: 2014 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $316,326.60

Monetary Receipts + $225,010.04

Monetary Expenditures – $81,999.03

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $50.00

Subtotal     $142,961.01

Ending Money On Hand   $459,287.61

In a league of her own.

Who’s doing some of the contributing?:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI [pdf] 7/15/2014

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSON GIVING $25 OR LESS $0.00

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

Janet Ashcroft

5491 W Farm Road 54

Willard MO 65781

Self — Attorney

4/5/2014

$10,000.00

Sam Fox

7701 Forsyth Blvd Suite 600

St Louis MO 63105

The Harbour Group — Founder

4/10/2014

$10,000.00

August Busch III

1 Mid Rivers Mall Dr

St Peters MO 63376

None — Retired

4/10/2014

$10,000.00

Roy Pfautch

52 Portland Place

St Louis MO 63108

Civic Service Inc — Owner

4/12/2014

$5,000.00

W Thomas Fowler

3940 St Andrews Dr

Springfield MO 65809

None — Retired

5/10/2014

$3,000.00

Rex Sinquefield

244 Bent Walnut

Westphalia MO 65085

None — Retired

6/6/2014

$25,000.00

Peter Herschend

538 Oak Bluff Circle

Branson MO 65616

Silver Dollar City — Principal

4/24/2014

$5,000.00

Sharpe Holdings Incorporated

6417 Shelby 150

Bethel MO 63434

6/9/2014

$10,000.00

Lawrence Collett

1231 Glen Eagle Lane

St Albans MO 63073

None — Retired

6/9/2014

$5,000.00

H E Whitener

11764 N Farm Road 177

Fair Grove MO 65648

None — Retired

5/28/2014

$5,000.00

Janet Ashcroft

5491 W Farm Road 54

Willard MO 65781

Self — Attorney

6/30/2014

$20,000.00

Richard Baalmann

11743 Manchester Road

St Louis MO 63131

Bramm Inc — President

6/23/2014

$3,000.00

Evelyn Williams

701 Barnes Road

St Louis MO 63124

None — Homemaker

6/20/2014

$5,000.00

Menlo Smith

14 Ballantrae Court

St Louis MO 63131

None — Retired

6/17/2014

$5,000.00

Robert Ferguson

25275 River Drive

Franklin MI 48025

Self — Physician

4/20/2014

$5,000.00

[emphasis added]

That’s what you call “friends and family”. We did see a few itemized $50.00, $35.00, $25.00, and $20.00 individual contributions.

And for another republican candidate:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

ROBB HICKS FOR SENATE [pdf] 7/15/2014

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSON GIVING $25 OR LESS $0.00

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

Robb III and Lenore Hicks

2829 Windy Hill Drive

Quince IL 62305

Retired

6/20/2014

$1,000.00

Robb Hicks

11511 Craig Ct., Ste 320

Saint Louis MO 63146

Self-employed — Physician

6/13/2014

$100.00

19. SUBTOTAL: LOANS FROM ANY ATTACHED PAGES $50,000.00

[emphasis added]

That certainly saves on the thank you note postage.

And for yet another republican candidate:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

SPOONER FOR SENATE [pdf] 7/15/2014

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSON GIVING $25 OR LESS $0.00

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

19. SUBTOTAL: LOANS FROM ANY ATTACHED PAGES $20,000.00

George Weber IV

818 Charlotte

Columbia IL 62236

George Weber Chevrolet

5/20/2014

$2,000.00

David R Spence

2021 S Warson Rd

Saint Louis MO 63124

Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging

6/25/2014

$1,000.00

Apex Oil Company, Inc.

8235 Forsyth Blvd

St Louis MO 63105

6/26/2014

$2,500.00

Fred J Zaegel III

8405 Saint Charles Rock Rd

Saint Louis MO 63114

Self — Sales

6/30/2014

$1,000.00

Peter Pierotti

11 Fielding Rd

Ladue MO 63124

Saint Louis University — Director of Real Estate

6/30/2014

$1,000.00

James Barton

14 Greenway Plz Unit 21 R

Houston TX 77046

Bechtel Corp

6/30/2014

$1,500.00

[emphasis added]

There is also a significantly higher proportion of those small dollar contributions.

And some of the contributions for the Democratic Party candidate:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf] 7/15/2014

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSON GIVING $25 OR LESS $0.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $7,892.14

Carpenters District Council of Greater St. Louis and

Vicinity

1401 Hampton Ave

Saint Louis MO 63139-3159

6/18/2014

$5,000.00

UFCW Local 655 Elect Political Fund

300 Weidman Rd

Manchester MO 63011-4433

6/26/2014

$1,000.00

Branch 343 National Association of Letter Carriers

Political Action Fund

612 Charleston Oaks Dr

Ballwin MO 63021-7387

5/28/2014

$250.00

Missouri Health Care Association PAC

236 Metro Dr

Jefferson City MO 65109-1103

6/30/2014

$3,000.00

Clint Zweifel For Missouri

PO Box 11245

Saint Louis MO 63105-0045

6/30/2014

$20,000.00

Teamsters Local 600 DRIVE PAC

161 Weldon Pkwy

Maryland Heights MO 63043-3106

6/26/2014

$2,000.00

Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local No.

1 -Political Fund Account

3325 Hollenberg Dr

Bridgeton MO 63044-2433

6/13/2014

$250.00

Missouri Democratic State Committee State Account

PO Box 719

Jefferson City MO 65102-0719

6/30/2014

$20,000.00

Eastern Missouri Laborers Educational and Benevolent

Fund

3450 Hollenberg Dr

Bridgeton MO 63044-2405

6/30/2014

$500.00

Teamsters Local 41

4501 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd

Kansas City MO 64130-2368

6/26/2014

$4,750.00

Missouri NEA

1810 E Elm St

Jefferson City MO 65101-4100

6/30/2014

$2,500.00

Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Action Committee

6601 Winchester Ave

Kansas City MO 64133-4678

6/2/2014

$1,000.00

Planned Parenthood Votes

4251 Forest Park Ave

Saint Louis MO 63108-2810

5/28/2014

$500.00

Teamsters Local 610 Political Action Committee

11472 Schenk Dr

Maryland Heights MO 63043-3417

6/30/2014

$500.00

Glaziers, Architectural Metal and Glassworkers

5916 Wilson Ave

Saint Louis MO 63110-2725

4/3/2014

$100.00

Teamsters Local Union No. 541

4501 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd

Kansas City MO 64130-2368

6/26/2014

$4,000.00

United Transportation Union Pac

222 Madison St

Jefferson City MO 65101-3230

6/28/2014

$650.00

Electrical Workers Voluntary Political

5850 Elizabeth Ave

Saint Louis MO 63110-2804

6/16/2014

$500.00

Missouri State Council of Machinist PAC

12365 Saint Charles Rock Rd

Bridgeton MO 63044-2503

6/26/2014

$500.00

Sprinkler Fitters Local 268 Political Ed and Leg.

Committee

1544 S 3rd St

Saint Louis MO 63104-3826

6/30/2014

$500.00

Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 3

4656 Baumgartner Rd

Saint Louis MO 63129-2818

6/20/2014

$200.00

Teamsters 245 PAF

1850 E Division St

Springfield MO 65803-4515

6/27/2014

$2,000.00

Missouri State Teachers Assn Legislative Impact Committee

PO Box 458

Columbia MO 65205-0458

6/20/2014

$2,500.00

Teamsters Local Union 688 PAC

4349 Woodson Rd

Saint Louis MO 63134-3719

6/23/2014

$5,000.00

SEIU Missouri State Council PAC

2725 Clifton Ave

Saint Louis MO 63139-2712

6/30/2014

$1,500.00

IBEW Local Union 1439 PAC Fund

2121 59th St

Saint Louis MO 63110-2807

5/19/2014

$250.00

Building Trades Political Education Fund

2300 Hampton Ave

Saint Louis MO 63139-2909

6/28/2014

$500.00

International Union of Elevator Constructors Local No. 3 –

PAC Fund

5916 Wilson Ave

Saint Louis MO 63110-2725

5/5/2014

$500.00

St. Louis Labor Council AFL-CIO

3301 Hollenberg Dr

Bridgeton MO 63044-2433

6/24/2014

$250.00

MO Association of Nurse Anesthetists

205 E Capitol Ave

Jefferson City MO 65101-3166

6/26/2014

$500.00

Working people. Oh yes, there is a difference.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

In case you were wondering. Signs have been sprouting:

Campaign signs in west central Missouri – for the August 5th primary.

And yes, Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) has an opponent in that primary:

U.S. Representative – District 4

Republican

Name Mailing Address Random Number Date Filed

Vicky Hartzler P.O. BOX 531 HARRISONVILLE MO 64701 3/7/2014

John Webb 23906 S STATE ROUTE D CLEVELAND MO 64734 3/25/2014

[emphasis added]

Heh.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111150 06/16/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH Roy Pfautch 52 Portland Pl Saint Louis MO 63108 Civic Services Consultant 6/16/2014 $25,000.00

C111150 06/16/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH Ronald Sprouse 704 Longfellow Ln Columbia MO 65203 IMMVAC Inc Founder 6/16/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Running for State Auditor in 2014, maybe running for Governor in 2016. What’s the difference?

David Axelrod at Missouri Boys State – June 14, 2014.

David Axelrod, campaign strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns and former senior advisor in President Obama’s administration, spoke in Warrensburg last night at the opening evening assembly for the 75th session of Missouri Boys State held on the campus of the University of Central Missouri. Axelrod spoke in prepared remarks for about twenty-five minutes and then took questions for an hour.  

The transcript of a portion of the question and answer session:

Question: …What political issues would you like to see us [our generation] tackle?

David Axelrod: Well, I, I, the, the one of them, and it sounds trite, but one of them is the one I just mentioned, which is we’ve got to restore civility in our politics. It’s gonna be much harder to solve any of the other problems unless we do that. We have to respect each other more in our politics. And that’s one of the things that I’m hoping that you as a generation will bring to it.

You guys have to be sick of the constant fighting and squabbling that you see on television. Uh, and the, you know, you have the ability to, to demand something more. So I hope, uh, that you do that.

But, look, I, I think that, um, the greatest, uh, one of the great threats to, to, uh, who we are as a country are changes in the economy that, um, frankly, are nobody’s fault, it’s just the nature of progress. But technology has, uh, eliminated lots and lots of jobs. Um, the jobs, good jobs they’ve eliminated haven’t been replaced. Other jobs have been created but they require more education. Um, uh, and so we’ve seen wages flatten out. It’s harder to make a living, it’s harder to keep ahead of your expenses, um, and it’s harder to see the future for, uh, your kids. I think that we need a strategy to deal with that. And, and some of it has to do with we have to up our game on education, make sure that every single kid in this country gets the education that they, uh, deserve and can realize their full potential. We’ve got to make college affordable, uh, because there is a big difference between what your earning potential is if you go to college and if you don’t go to college. We have to use our community college system to train up people to do the jobs of the future in conjunction with business.

Uh, we need to lead the world in research and development. The stupidest thing that we’ve been doing lately is cutting back on research and development that lead to innovations. We’re the innovation leader. And a lot of it had, began with basic research that was funded by the government. And when we don’t fund that research we’re eating our seed corn.

We’ve made great progress in energy in the last few years. We’re on the road, on a path to become energy, uh, independent. But we also have to do it in a way that is, uh, cognizant of the, uh, of the environmental, uh, crisis that we have. Uh, and I know this is a debate with some, I, not with ninety-nine percent of scientists but with others. Uh, you know, we have a problem and this college [University of Central Missouri] exemplary for the way it’s approached, uh, their energy, uh, concern, their energy, uh, output to try and, uh, help that problem by becoming more green.

But we still have, we have great, we have, a bounty of natural gas has transformed our energy picture.  We have doubled the renewable energy, we have, we can make energy a real source of strength for us, uh, moving forward.

So there are things that we can do that will propel our economy, create good jobs and prepare people, uh, for those jobs so that we can maintain the quality of life that we want, uh, for ourselves.

I would love to see you guys work on all that. And it will require you working together, Republicans and Democrats, kind of sitting down there and looking at the facts and saying, what’s a practical answer to these questions. Instead of, uh, kind of beating each other up to try and win election.

[….]

[in response to a question] …Sadly, and this is one of the problems in our politics, it depends on what level you’re working at, but even, even in local races they’ve become expensive and so part of it involves raising money which I regret. I think this is one of the things I also hope you guys find a way to deal with way too much money in our politics. And it’s becoming, and we, by the way contributed to it in two thousand and eight because we made a decision, we were worried about these third parties spending money against us and we didn’t want to limit what we could spend to respond to them. And we, we, we went out of what was called the federal, uh, finance, presidential finance system so we wouldn’t be capped. And we ended up spending almost eight hundred million dollars, which was exponentially more than had ever been spent before. And it’ll never go back.

So we, we in, you know, unwittingly I think, uh, uh, were at least, I don’t know about unwittingly, but contributed, uh, to the problem. So money, uh, is a problem because that’s how we communicate, and television is expensive and, uh, all that stuff.

But, if you’re in a local community I mean I think you want to lay down roots and the point here is, and I want to leave this, uh, with you, is, uh, you’ll make your name by working on things that are, matter to people, that are important to people. Become leaders in your community. If you help, uh, solve, uh, problems in your community, if you help lift your local school systems, or make your communities, uh, or, or, or make your communities safer or, uh, or help bring better health facilities to your communities or deal with any number of issues that come up, um, you’re gonna be known to those people, um, uh, who you worked with and you’ll build a network. And that becomes a foundation and you build out, uh, from that.  Obama had a, had a base that he could build on. And then over time he got, uh, better known….

[….]

This past week, at the Missouri Ethics Commission, for two of the probable 2016 gubernatorial candidates:

C031159 06/11/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR KOSTER Robert D Blitz 61 Portland Drive Frontenac MO 63131 Self Attorney 6/9/2014 $12,500.00

[emphasis added]

C111150 06/13/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH David Grossman 403 Hawthorne Ave Saint Louis MO 63119 Grossman Iron & Steel Co Executive 6/13/2014 $6,000.00

C111150 06/13/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH William Maritz 10 Sunningdale Drive Saint Louis MO 63124 Maritz Holding Chairman & CEO 6/13/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Now we just have to figure out Catherine Hanaway’s (r) circle of friends…

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111150 06/05/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH Evelyn Williams 701 Barnes Rd Saint Louis MO 63124 Retired 6/5/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

There’s that number again.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: having a good day (May 27, 2014)

Campaign Finance: This probably qualifies as an oxymoron… (May 22, 2014)

Campaign Finance: steady as it goes (May 21, 2014)

Campaign Finance: the money will always be there (May 5, 2014)

Campaign Finance: the not yet official gubernatorial candidates (April 20, 2014)

Okay, so maybe it’s not so much a slow news day. Today, State Auditor Tom Schweich (r) has a good day at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111150 05/27/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH Jesse Bodine 50 Creekwood Lane Ladue MO 63124 Retired Bodine Aluminum Inc. 5/27/2014 $25,000.00

C111150 05/27/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH Mary Ann Rothberg 145 Central Park West New York NY 10023 Homemaker 5/27/2014 $5,100.00

[emphasis added]

Not that he needs to spend it on his 2014 campaign.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: This probably qualifies as an oxymoron… (May 22, 2014)

Campaign Finance: steady as it goes (May 21, 2014)

Campaign Finance: the money will always be there (May 5, 2014)

Campaign Finance: the not yet official gubernatorial candidates (April 20, 2014)

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111150 05/13/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH David Humphreys PO Box 4050 Joplin MO 64803 Tamko Building Products President & CEO 5/13/2014 $111,111.00

[emphasis added]

Okay, now they’re just mocking everyone and the system.

Then again, that is nothing new.

Previously:

Spending toward plutocracy (January 23, 2011)

Ah, for the good old days:

Campaign Finance: it’s nice to have friends who write checks in round numbers (November 25, 2013)

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111150 05/09/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH Jerry Sumners Sr PO Box 604 Aurora MO 65605 Service Vending Company CEO 5/9/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

What it is it with $10,000.00 contributions? Did somebody write a memo we didn’t get? Just asking.

It’s just the increments…

At the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111150 04/22/2014 FRIENDS OF TOM SCHWEICH Jonathan Kern 441 S Ashland Lexington KY 40502 Self-employed Rare Coin Dealer 4/22/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

C031159 05/04/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR KOSTER Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P., d/b/a AT&T Missouri One AT&T Center Room 4200 Saint Louis MO 63101 5/2/2014 $15,000.00

[emphasis added]

We should be hearing from Catherine Hanaway (r) in three, two, one….