Fundraising in Missouri governor’s race tops $21 million, with most going to Kehoe

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, alongside his wife, Claudia, formally kicks off his 2024 campaign for governor with a rally in Jefferson City on April 5, 2022 (Jason Hancock/Missouri Independent).

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s campaign for governor has raised almost $13 million over the past two years and the two funds supporting him have lapped the field in the Republican primary.

During the second quarter of the year, Kehoe raised $907,288 for his campaign and his joint fundraising committee, American Dream PAC, took in $3.6 million. It is a fundraising lead Kehoe has held throughout the campaign .

The campaign crowed about the advantage over his major rivals, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel , in a news release after his quarterly report was filed Friday.

“Mike Kehoe is outworking every candidate in this race, and Missouri conservatives have responded with overwhelming financial and grassroots support,” campaign manager Derek Coats said in a news release.

Kehoe has been planning his race since he began his term as lieutenant governor.

Every candidate in the race running a full-scale campaign has both an official campaign committee and a joint fundraising PAC. Official campaign committees can accept donations up to $2,825, while the joint fundraising PACs can accept donations of any size.

Candidates can solicit donations for the PAC, but cannot direct how the money is spent.

Kehoe’s official committee raised more than the combined totals of his rivals both in the most recent quarter and since the start of 2023.

State and federal finance reports for the three months ending June 30 were due Monday. There is one more report due before the Aug. 6 primary.

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The Independent compiled the totals for all statewide candidates, plus major congressional, legislative and ballot measure efforts.

The combined fundraising in the race for governor in both parties has exceeded $21 million. Republican candidates in contested primaries for all other statewide constitutional offices have raised more than $25 million more.

There was one withdrawal among federal candidates Tuesday as the fundraising numbers showed state Rep. Justin Hicks of Lake Saint Louis lagging behind his chief rivals in the 3rd Congressional District Republican primary.

Hicks faced former state Sen. Bob Onder of Lake Saint Louis, who is largely self-funding his campaign and has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump , and former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia.

Schaefer has the backing of incumbent U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of St. Elizabeth.

Onder reported raising $224,000 in the quarter, Schaefer raised $124,000 and Hicks raised $89,000.

“I am truly humbled and honored at the support our campaign has earned from so many people across Missouri and this nation,” Hicks said in a news release. “I am certain that there will be other opportunities for me to continue to serve our state and nation in the future, but for now, I look forward to spending time with my family and ensuring the Republican team wins up and down the ballot.”

Governor’s race

Of Kehoe’s two major rivals In the most expensive contest, the GOP race for governor, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft raised $310,000 in the quarter for his campaign, while state Sen. Bill Eigel of Weldon Spring took in $231,000.

Committee for Liberty, Ashcroft’s PAC, raised $405,000 in the quarter, while Eigel’s committee, BILL PAC, raised $580,000.

Between his campaign and PAC, Ashcroft has raised $2.1 million since the start of 2023. Eigel’s two committees have combined for $3.9 million.

Kehoe has used his big cash advantage to go on television early with advertising, erasing Ashcroft’s polling lead from the spring.

Despite spending between the two committees that exceeds $8 million, Kehoe’s campaign had $2.2 million on hand as of June 30. The PAC account held $4 million.

Ashcroft’s combined spending was $2.7 million and the campaign committee had $770,000, while the PAC had $730,000.

Eigel has spent more than Ashcroft, $3.7 million from his two committees. On June 30, he had less money remaining that any of his major rivals, $588,000 in his campaign fund and $242,000 in the PAC.

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In the Democratic primary , state Rep. Crystal Quade of Springfield raised $281,723, bringing her total for the campaign to just over $1 million. Her major rival, businessman Mike Hamra of Springfield, has put $1.25 million of his own money into the campaign so far.

Attorney General

The GOP primary for attorney general is the second-most expensive primary contest this year.

Incumbent Andrew Bailey, seeking to win a full term , raised $274,823 during the second quarter while Liberty and Justice PAC, his joint fundraising committee, took in $854,064.

His challenger Will Scharf , however, put in $500,000 of his own money into his campaign committee, and his joint fundraising committee, Defend Missouri, received $1 million from Club For Growth Missouri. The PAC took another $700,000 from Club for Growth Action Missouri on July 2. Since the beginning of 2023, the Concord Fund has donated $3.5 million to help Scharf through Club for Growth Action Missouri.

The winner of the primary will face Democratic candidate Elad Gross, who reported raising $69,414 in the quarter and is unopposed for the nomination.

U.S. Senate

There are no expensive primaries in the race for U.S. Senate this year in Missouri.

The only uncertainty is whether state Sen. Karla May was right when she told St. Louis Public Radio that “ most people around the state know me ” and that she will win the Democratic primary to face incumbent U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.

May is looking to defeat Lucas Kunce , making his second bid for the Senate after losing a close primary in 2022 to beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine.

Hawley and Kunce are neck-and-neck in fundraising since Jan. 1 2023 and available cash-on-hand.

Hawley and the Hawley Victory Fund combined to raise $3 million in the most recent quarter, bringing the total to $12.3 million since Jan. 1, 2023.

Kunce took in $2.8 million for his campaign fund in the second quarter, bringing his total for the election to $10.5 million.

Hawley had $5.8 million on hand June 30, while Kunce was sitting on $4.2 million.

May has raised just under $50,000.

Other statewide races

State Sen. Lincoln Hough of Springfield took in the biggest total of donations during the quarter in the crowded GOP primary for lieutenant governor , but the $1.5 million loan to his own campaign by St. Louis attorney Dave Wasinger gave him the largest quarterly total.

There are four candidates who have raised at least $100,000 for their campaigns and two others, not so well funded, with a well of name recognition who believe they have a chance at the nomination.

Crowded GOP primary field vying to be Missouri’s next lieutenant governor

Hough’s campaign raised about $230,000 in the quarter, and Lincoln PAC, a joint fundraising committee, took in $730,000. The campaign had about $518,000 in the bank and the PAC was sitting on $639,000 as the quarter ended.

State Sen. Holly Rehder of Scott City took in $69,838 and her Southern Drawl PAC raised another $58,075. She had $338,000 in her campaign account and the PAC had $286,000 as the quarter ended.

Matthew Porter of St. Louis has raised $136,000 for his campaign so far and had $104,955 left.

Tim Baker, the Franklin County Clerk, and Paul Berry III, who has run several campaigns in St. Louis County, are the candidates who have not raised at least $100,000.

The even-more-crowded GOP race for Secretary of State, with eight candidates in all, has six candidates who have accumulated $100,000 or more for their campaign funds and includes candidates making waves on social media who are not raising large funds.

House Speaker Dean Plocher of Des Peres is counting on a large cash-on-hand balance to carry him through the primary since his fundraising dried up amid ethics inquiries . His campaign raised less than $12,000 in the quarter, and his PAC, Missouri United, did about the same.

The funds had the largest cash balances in the race, with his campaign holding $508,415 on June 30 and Missouri United holding $765,000.

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman had the best fundraising quarter, taking in $120,373 for her campaign and $57,350 for her PAC, Conservative Solutions for Missouri.

Jamie Corley , a long-time GOP strategist making her first campaign, loaned her campaign $250,000 and raised another $28,800, while Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller, the GOP’s 2012 nominee, raised $39,709.

Incumbent State Treasurer Vivek Malek continues to dominate fundraising in the Republican primary as he seeks a full term in office . Malek raised $207,000 for his campaign, bringing his total to $1.8 million, including a personal loan of $800,000. Malek Had $1.3 million in the bank June 30.

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His joint fundraising PAC, American Promise, raised $1.8 million in the quarter, has taken in $3.3 million total and had $1.5 million on hand.

Malek’s best funded challenger is House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith of Carthage, based largely on the accumulation of cash from years in office. Smith took in $35,800 for his campaign, which had $291,000 on hand, and the Ozark Gateway Leadership Fund, his joint fundraising PAC, took in $54,850, and had a bank balance of $227,251. Both cash balances are more than Smith has raised since the start of 2023.

Close behind in funding is Lori Rook of Springfield, who has put $500,000 of her own money into her campaign. She has raised an additional $55,000.

State Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, the only other candidate in the six-way primary to raise at least $100,000, lags behind. Koenig took in $13,562 in the quarter, while his PAC, Freedom’s Promise, raised only $1,288.

Mark Osmack of Valley Park is the only Democratic candidate. He has raised $27,000 so far.

Congress

In other hotly contested Congressional races, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell has far outstripped incumbent U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in fundraising for their 1st Congressional District Democratic primary. Bell has raised $4.2 million so far to Bush’s $2.8 million.

Bush has spent far more than Bell, however, and she had $573,354 in the bank on June 30 compared to more than $2.4 million for Bell.

The 2nd Congressional District is a fall matchup that pits a veteran Republican, U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, against a long-time St. Louis media personality, Ray Hartmann. Both face nominal primary opposition.

Hartmann had a good fundraising quarter, taking in almost $200,000, but Wagner did better, raising $561,710, and cash accumulated during her years in office totaled $3.1 million on June 30, while Hartmann had $141,471 on hand.

Initiative campaigns

The signatures on four petitions proposing ballot measures for the November election are being checked and the campaigns are in a wait-and-see mode to know if they will be active in the fall.

That means fundraising now is for the fall campaign as they expect to make the ballot.

Winning for Missouri Education has spent the most, $6 million so far, for its campaign to legalize sports wagering and while it only reported $99,000 in the bank, the online platforms financing the campaign should be good for millions more if it makes the ballot.

The effort to put a constitutional amendment restoring abortion rights has cost $5 million so far and the committee backing it, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, has $1.9 million on hand.

Healthy Families and Fair Wages, which is pushing a measure increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour and requiring employers to provide paid leave for illness and family needs, spent $850,000 making the ballot and had $1 million on hand.

Ozark River Gaming and Convention, seeking to create a licensed casino near the Lake of the Ozarks, has spent $4.3 million so far and, like the sports wagering proposal, has two deep-pocket backers, a development company and a casino operator, ready to finance a fall campaign.

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