Kinder's war chest

From The Southeast Missourian:

Kinder boosts campaign war chest



By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder had amassed nearly a half-million dollars in his bid for lieutenant governor as of March 31, almost $200,000 more than any of this year's other hopefuls for the office.

Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, had $470,774 in his campaign account, according to financial disclosure reports filed Thursday with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

That left Kinder with almost nine times as much money as his nearest Republican competitor -- former state Rep. Pat Secrest of Manchester, who reported $54,631 in the bank. The third GOP primary candidate for the post, semi-retired nursing home administrator Bruce Hillis of Dexter, just formed his campaign committee this week.

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Bekki Cook of Cape Girardeau reported $274,147 in cash on hand for a more than $100,000 advantage over Senate Minority Floor Leader Ken Jacob of Columbia, who claimed $164,568 in his account.

Party primaries

The winners of the respective Aug. 3 party primaries will square off in the Nov. 2 general election, along with Libertarian Mike Ferguson of Belton.

During reporting period of Jan. 1 through March 31, Cook raised slightly more money than Kinder. Both Cape Girardeau residents were far ahead of the rest of the field in terms of leveraging donations.

Cook collected $110,690 in cash donations, including $11,500 from out-of-state contributors that accounted for 10.4 percent of her total receipts. She received no money from special interest groups. However, a sizable number of her individual supporters -- particularly top-dollar contributors -- are lawyers.

Kinder raised $108,545 during the first quarter of 2004. Out-of-state supporters gave him $16,350 while Missouri-based special interest groups provided $12,500. Those combined donations made up 26.6 percent of his overall collections.

Athletic support

Kinder's campaign benefited from the support of three of Missouri's major league sports franchises or their owners.

Baseball's Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League each gave Kinder $1,175, which until January was the maximum individual contribution to a statewide candidate. William DeWitt Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio -- the principal owner of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball club -- and his family donated a combined $2,350.

In 2001, Kinder unsuccessfully pushed legislation to provide taxpayer funding for a new St. Louis ballparks and renovations of the Royals' and Chiefs' existing stadiums.

Kinder is assistant to the chairman of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian.

Jacob brought in $58,210 through March 31. Totaling 30.8 percent of his receipts, Jacob collected $15,750 from special interest groups and $2,200 from non-Missouri donors.

Secrest raised just $1,230 during latest reporting period.


mpowers@semissourian.com