This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 29, 2012 - Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is getting some help in his bid for a third term from a familiar voice: conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh.
Kinder released a radio advertisement recently that features a ringing endorsement from Limbaugh, who like the two-term statewide officeholder hails from Cape Girardeau.
(Limbaugh endorsed Kinder back in 2004, when he narrowly defeated former Secretary of State Bekki Cook. Cook is also from Cape Girardeau.)
“Peter Kinder grew up with me in Cape Girardeau, Mo., we were lifelong friends,” Limbaugh says in the ad. “Now that proves he has great taste in friends, and his conservative values prove he has good judgment in government.”
After noting his involvement in charities such as March for Dimes, Limbaugh goes onto say that Missouri “will be proud to keep Republican Peter Kinder as our lieutenant governor.”
The ad comes out as Kinder has been under increased attack from state Sen. Brad Lager, a Savannah Republican who lost a bid for state treasurer in 2008. Lager’s television ads have jabbed Kinder for news reports about his travel expenses. And the two-term state senator has also received huge financial contributions this week from David Humphries and Rex Sinquefield, two prominent donors who previously gave big to Kinder.
Kinder has spent this week appearing on a flurry of media outlets across the state reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on health care. He filed a lawsuit back in 2010 to get the federal health-care law overturned. (Lager, who released a statement yesterday condemning the decision, has noted in his television commercials that he “consistently fought” against the health-care law’s implementation.)
Limbaugh, of course, had his own share of controversy earlier this year when he was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians, which sparked widespread criticism from Democrats. The induction came around the time the radio host called a female law student a “slut” and a “prostitute” because she supported mandated insurance coverage of contraceptives.
Limbaugh ended up speaking at a ceremony in the Missouri House when his bust was unveiled in mid-May.
In addition to Kinder and Lager, Wentzville attorney Michael Carter and St. Louis resident W. Kullmann are seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Eight Democrats are seeking the Democratic nod for the office, including former state Auditor Susan Montee, former state Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, state Rep. Sara Lampe, D-Springfield, former state Rep. Fred Kratky, D-St. Louis, St. Louis School Board member Bill Haas, Conservation Commission member Becky Plattner, former state Rep. Jackie Townes McGee, D-Kansas City, and St. Joseph resident Dennis Weisenburger.
