Democratic state Auditor Nicole Galloway’s campaign committee took in nearly twice as much money as Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s between the beginning of April and the end of June.
Still, a political action committee helping Parson that can take in donations of unlimited size raised more money than one helping Galloway over that same time period. Parson’s PAC and candidate committees still have more money in the bank than Galloway on the brink of their respective August primaries. The two are expected to face off in November.
Wednesday was the deadline to turn in Missouri Ethics Commission paperwork showing fundraising data from early April to the end of June. Galloway’s campaign committee reported raising more than $1.1 million. After spending $626,101, Galloway has more than $1.52 million in the bank.
Parson’s campaign committee took in nearly $481,000, spent more than $344,000 and has roughly $1.54 million on hand during this same time period.
Missouri’s campaign finance system limits the amount of money someone can donate to a candidate committee. But it also allows supporters of those candidates to set up PACs that can receive larger contributions.
Parson’s PAC, Uniting Missouri PAC, raised more than $1.6 million between early April and the end of June. Galloway’s PAC, Keep Government Accountable, raised nearly $700,000 during that same time period. When combining the PAC and candidate committees, the Parson-aligned committees outraised the Galloway ones by about $200,000.
Uniting Missouri PAC has roughly $5.14 million of cash on hand, which means Parson has nearly $6.7 million in the bank between his candidate committee and his allied political action committee. Galloway’s candidate and political action committees have a combined $3.15 million on hand.
One variable that could affect the fundraising totals for both candidates is involvement of the Republican and Democratic governors associations, two national organizations that spend money to help gubernatorial hopefuls.
The RGA sent $1 million to Uniting Missouri PAC during the June fundraising quarter. The DGA did not ship any cash to Keep Government Accountable. Since most gubernatorial races this year besides Montana and North Carolina are expected to be uncompetitive, it’s not out of the question that both groups could spend money in Missouri.
Bush, Schupp outraise congressional incumbents
Meanwhile, two Democrats raised more money during the fundraising quarter than the incumbent members of Congress they’re challenging — although both still have less cash on hand.
State Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, raised a little more than $809,000 in her bid against U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District. Wagner raised about $567,000 during the same time period.
Still, Wagner had more on hand than Schupp. Wagner has about $3.19 million in the bank while Schupp has more than $1.5 million of cash on hand after spending about $198,000 during the quarter.
The Schupp-Wagner contest in November to represent portions of St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties in Congress is expected to be one of more competitive Missouri U.S. House races in recent memory. Wagner narrowly defeated Democrat Cort VanOstran in 2018, even though VanOstran received little help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Support from national party committees is often critical for candidates challenging congressional incumbents.
In the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary, Cori Bush raised about $227,000. She’s challenging incumbent Lacy Clay, who took in a little more than $100,000 during the same time period.
Bush has about $108,000 of cash on hand after spending roughly $166,000 during the quarter. Clay has nearly $433,000 in the bank after spending about $182,000 from April to June.
St. Louis County executive contest heats up
In the race for St. Louis County executive, three candidates spent well into six figures ahead of the Aug. 4 Democratic primary.
County Executive Sam Page raised more than $781,000 between his candidate committee and allied PAC. Those two committees spent more than $202,000 — and have $1.15 million in the bank. That’s the most money on hand out of the four Democratic contenders.
Retired businessman Mark Mantovani raised $403,106 between his candidate and political action committees. His candidate committee raised more money, $293,000, than any other committee. And the two committees spent the most money, $590,000, between April and June. Mantovani’s committees have $533,000 in the bank.
St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman raised more than $101,000 between his candidate and political action committees. Those two committees spent $384,000 over the June quarter — and have $455,000 left on hand for the final stretch.
University City resident Jamie Tolliver, who doesn’t have a political action committee helping her campaign, raised roughly $3,000, spent $1,400 and has about $2,800 of cash on hand.
Committees helping Page, Mantovani and Zimmerman have been running television and web ads for several weeks. That spending will likely accelerate as the primary gets closer. Whoever wins the Democratic primary is favored to win in November.
Follow Jason on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
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