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Oct. 19, 2023 |  By: Rudi Keller - Missouri Independent

Kehoe leads fundraising for Missouri governor in latest campaign filings

election

By Rudi Keller - Missouri Independent

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and his backers are in the best financial position in the Republican race for Missouri governor, new reports show, while Democratic candidate Crystal Quade used the summer to build a bank balance for the fall 2024 race with the GOP winner.

Kehoe raised more than $500,000 for his official campaign committee in the three months ending Sept. 30. American Dream PAC, which can raise money alongside Kehoe but must use it for independent spending, took in more than $800,000.

Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, are seeking the GOP nomination for governor in the August 2024 primary. Incumbent Gov. Mike Parson is barred from seeking another term.

Kehoe had $1.4 million on hand on Sept. 30, and American Dream PAC had $3.5 million, which exceeds the combined funds for Ashcroft, Eigel and their associated PACs. Kehoe had 538 individual contributors who gave a total of $446,000 during the third quarter, with 456 from within Missouri.

Reports for the third quarter of the year were due Monday.

Quade, the House minority leader from Springfield who entered the race in July, raised $268,000 and increased her cash on hand  to $215,000. The Democratic race changed Tuesday with the entry of Springfield businessman Mike Hamra, who filed paperwork for a campaign committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission to run as a Democrat for governor in 2024.

Much of Kehoe’s financial advantage has been built on large donations from individuals and backing from businesses that bid for state contracts and PACs that represent interests who seek to influence state policies.

American Dream PAC received a $250,000 donation from the GOP’s most prolific donor, Rex Sinquefield, in December 2022 and another of the same size on Sept. 29. More than half of the total raised by the PAC this year is from businesses and other PACs.

In a news release, Kehoe’s campaign manager Derek Coats said he “is the only gubernatorial candidate who has strong statewide support and momentum behind his campaign.”

Candidates for statewide office are limited to taking $2,825 from any individual donor, while PACs can take contributions of any size.

The third quarter reports from Eigel’s campaign and BILL PAC show a sharp departure from the previous two quarters, with far fewer small donations from contributors from outside the state. After reporting 6,653 individual donations in his campaign’s July report, including 6,371 from outside Missouri, Eigel had only 107 individual donors in the summer months, with 40 from outside the state.

Eigel raised $370,000 in the third quarter, including $89,000 from individual donors listed in the report. He raised $110,000 from individual donors in the second quarter of the year. Eigel’s campaign had $525,000 on hand on Sept. 30.

Eigel focuses his appeal on discontent with government in general. In a recent fundraising email, he stated that he wants support from Missourians “tired of out-of-touch politicians taking us down a path of managed decline.”

BILL PAC’s report also showed far fewer individual donations in the third quarter, 916 compared to more than 15,000 in the April through June period. The PAC continued, however, to draw the vast majority of those individual donations from outside Missouri, with only 10 from residents of the state.

BILL PAC took in $442,000 during the quarter, including $99,000 from individual donors, after taking in $252,000 from individual contributors in the second quarter. The PAC’s cash on hand stood at $893,000 on Sept. 30.

Eigel’s campaign and BILL PAC have spent heavily with Targeted Victory, a Virginia firm, to raise those out-of-state contributions. The almost $600,000 spent with Targeted Victory by BILL PAC represents 60% of the committee’s total expenses for the year. BILL PAC raised $510,000 from donors outside the state, averaging $15 per contribution, since the start of the year.

Eigel’s campaign had almost $900,000, and BILL PAC had $1.4 million, at the end of September.

Quade, in contrast, received almost 95% of her 3,616 individual donations in the second quarter from residents of the state. 

In her fundraising appeals, Quade makes Republicans in general, rather than any of the three contesting the GOP primary, her target.

A recent email appeal stated she needed funds to “(e)nsure we have what it takes to defeat a MAGA extremist who has the backing of mega-donors and the GOP war chest.”

About 20% of Quade’s total is from businesses and PACs, much of it from labor union political funds.

In a press release celebrating her quarterly total, Quade said it represents a strong start.

“As a girl who grew up doing homework at the diner while her mom did double shifts, I’m so honored that so many Missourians have opened their wallets to stand with our vision,” she said.

Ashcroft raised the smallest amount for his official campaign of the four major candidates, taking in $208,000 during the third quarter. Committee for Liberty, the PAC backing Ashcroft, took in $242,000.

The few public polls that have tested the GOP governor’s race put Ashcroft ahead, despite his lagging fundraising totals. Most of the contributions to his campaign committee, and more than 70% of the donations to Committee for Liberty, have been from individuals.

Each of the five statewide constitutional offices on the 2024 ballot already have several GOP hopefuls raising large sums. The field of Republican candidates has raised $11.3 million this year, while Democrats haven’t identified a well-known candidate in some races and have raised less than $500,000 overall.

The offices and candidates are:

Scharf’s campaign has seemingly abandoned an effort to bring in large numbers of small donors via Targeted Victory’s mailing list. After taking in 808 donations averaging $27 from outside Missouri during the second quarter of the year, his reported 157 total individual donations in the third quarter.

The 99 individual donations to Scharf’s campaign from outside the state averaged almost $218 in the third quarter. A PAC backing Scharf, Defend Missouri, in June donated its funds, more than $500,000, to Club For Growth.