Former Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, the only announced Republican candidate for governor, has the support of one of the state’s political icons who used to be her boss: Former U.S. Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo.
Bond and his wife, Linda Bond, are special guests at a reception/fundraiser Tuesday in Kansas City for Hanaway.
Before she ran for office herself, Hanaway worked for Bond in the mid-1990s. He has been a key mentor for her, and among those backing her presidential appointment in 2005 as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, based in St. Louis.
Bond, by the way, rarely endorses in contested primaries. And Hanaway is likely to get a GOP opponent soon.
Other notables on the list of the reception’s cohosts include former U.S. Attorney (for the Western District) Todd Graves, state Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, and former state Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville, who’s currently a commissioner in Clay County.
The event is at the Kansas City home of Ann Dickinson, a former national committeewoman in the Republican Party and a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Hanaway appears to be gearing up her campaign, and fundraising, since it’s expected that state Auditor Tom Schweich is expected to announce his own bid for governor shortly.
Schweich, by the way, has his own big-name mentor and former boss: retired Sen. John C. Danforth, R-Mo.
Hanaway already has the backing of the state’s top political donor, Rex Sinquefield, who gave her several contributions of $10,000 apiece last week. That’s in addition to his huge October donation of $750,000 to her