Saline County Democrats held their first annual Ike Skelton Sevice Award dinner in Marshall, Missouri on Friday, August 31st. The recipient of the first award – for service to the people of Saline County – was Hazel Willet, a long time legislative assistant for Saline County legislators in the Missouri General Assembly. The award was a well kept secret until the announcement that evening and a complete surprise to the recipient who was in attendance.

Former Congressman Ike Skelton (D) at the annual Ike Skelton Service Award Dinner in Marshall, Missouri on August 31, 2012.

A number of Democratic office holders and candidates, statewide and local, attended the dinner. It was an opportunity to visit with Democratic Party voters and an opportunity for those voters to meet and interact with their various representatives and candidates. It’s retail politics at its best.

Cass County Prosecutor Teresa Hensley (D) (center left) and former Congressman Ike Skelton (D) (center right). Teresa Hensley is the Democratic candidate in the 4th Congressional District which to 2010 had previously been Ike Skelton’s seat.

Yes, there’s always good food and patriotic table decorations at these events:

 

Cass County Prosecutor Teresa Hensley, the Democratic Party candidate in the 4th Congressional District.

Former State Representative Jim Seigfreid (D) (left) and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D) (right).

Gary Grigsby, the Democratic Party candidate in the 51st Legislative District which includes portions of Marshall and Saline County.

Phyllis Domann (far left), the Democratic Party candidate in the 52nd Legislative District and Teresa Hensley. Elgene Ver Dught (right), the Democratic Party candidate in the 21st Senate District.

Office holders and candidates were given the opportunity to speak. In every instance they kept their remarks brief, in deference to the purpose of the evening – and also already having spent time meeting and greeting the dinner attendees before the start of the formal activities.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D). His district will include Marshall and Saline County when redistricting takes effect.

Teresa Hensley (D) (left) and Attorney General Chris Koster (D) (right).

ElGene Ver Dught (D).

Phyllis Domann (D).

Gary Grigsby (D).

Former Congressman Ike Skelton (D) addressed the audience before the award was announced.

An excerpt from Ike Skelton’s remarks:

Ike Skelton (D): ….I, uh, can step back a little bit from the political fray and I, I feel somewhat heartbroken. America became great because of our positive attitude toward life. What we’ve had is the challenges, some pretty tough ones, but we always overcame them. It was a positive attitude of America.

Alexis de Tocqueville, in eighteen forty, visited America and he went back and wrote a book, Democracy in America, in his native France. And he wrote that America is great because America is good. And should America ever stop being good then America will stop being great.

And all you have to do is listen to the radio and the television and read the items in the newspapers and you will see an America that is bathed in negativism. This really, really bothers me. And if our country is to continue to be the bastion of freedom in this world we’re gonna have to change the tune of what we hear. We’re going to have to regain America is good attitude all across the board. And politicians ought to lead that effort and say what’s going to better our country and we can make it better. That’s the challenge that we ought to be accepting, rather than the challenge of tearing down another party or tearing down another candidate. It’s got to change. [applause]

Politics is not a dirty word. Politics is the art of government. It’s a good thing. I’ve enjoyed it all my life. My daddy was very involved with it, my mother was very involved with it. And I also became involved with it. And it was a good ride for me. I enjoyed it. Most of all I enjoyed the serious friendships that we made through the years. And memories are great. And that is the greatest pay I can, anyone in public office can receive.

[….]

You know, we have with us two previous prosecuting attorneys, Teresa Hensley, Chris Koster, and both of them are tied for a prize. Both of them win the prize for being the second best prosecuting attorney [laughter] in the State of Missouri. [applause] Being modest, I will not tell you who is the best one [laughter].

[….]

Attorney General Chris Koster (D) (right).

Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D).

After the dinner and speeches the conversations continued.

Ike Skelton and Teresa Hensley. Photo by Jerry Schmidt.

The unofficial primary results in the 21st Senate District from Tuesday, as reported at the Missouri Secretary of State web site:

State Senator – District 21 – Summary

(106 of 106 Precincts Reported)

ElGene Ver Dught DEM 6,407 100%

Party Total 6,407

David Pearce REP 12,452 65.2%

Mike McGhee REP 6,653 34.8%

Party Total 19,105

Steven Hedrick LIB 111 100%

Party Total 111

Total Votes 25,623

So, we thought we’d take out a calculator.

Mike McGhee (r) reported the following in his last campaign finance filing with the Missouri Ethics Commission:

REPORT SUMMARY

MCGHEE FOR SENATE [pdf]7/30/2012

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?

REPORT SUMMARY

PEARCE FOR SENATE [pdf] 7/30/2012

8. Total All Receipts This Election $312,297.15

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:

8/8/2012 12:37:00 AM

PEARCE WINS PRIMARY BID [subscription required]

….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:

CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED – SUPPLEMENTAL

PEARCE FOR SENATE [pdf] 7/30/2012

Missouri Forest Products PAC 611 E. Capitol Ave. Suite 1 Jefferson City MO 65101 7/2/2012 $500.00

MLPA Legislative Fund P.O. Box 1725 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/6/2012 $500.00

Hallmark Cards Inc. P.O. Box 419580 Kansas City MO 64141 7/9/2012 $1,000.00

Missouri Public School Advocates 704 Wildwood Dr. Columbia MO 65203 7/9/2012 $2,000.00

JE Dunn Construction 1001 Locust St. Kansas City MO 64106 7/9/2012 $500.00

Terrence Dunn 1001 Locust St. Kansas City MO 64106 JE DUNN — President 7/9/2012 $1,000.00

Missouri Republican Leadership Council P.O. Box 16737 St. Louis MO 63105 7/9/2012 $10,000.00

Blue Cross Blue Shield of KC PAC P.O. Box 419169 Kansas City MO 64141 7/10/2012 $1,000.00

Missouri ACTE PAC P.O. Box 1865 Jefferson City MO 65102 7/11/2012 $500.00

Consumer Lending Alliance 92 Royster Dr. Crawfordville FL 32327 7/11/2012 $500.00

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:

REPORT SUMMARY

VER DUGHT FOR SENATE [pdf] 7/30/2012

2. All Monetary Contributions Received This Period $115.00

3. All Loans Received This Period [$]3,000.00

27. Money On Hand at the close of this reporting period $3,988.16

[emphasis added]

Again, making the same assumptions, $3,988.16 cash raised divided by 6,407 votes = 62 cents per vote.