By Joe Hadsall

Globe columnist

U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof will have no problem beefing up his war chest against Attorney General Jay Nixon in the race for Missouri governor.

Fund-raising limits were removed Thursday, according to a new law that went into effect. A provision of the new law requires donations of more than $5,000 to be reported electronically with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

So, how much money did Missouri’s front-running gubernatorial candidates rake in during the first couple of days?

Try more than $1.2 million combined. And it was mostly Hulshof in one-day haul.

In the first day of no-limit, no-holds-barred cash gathering, Hulshof raised $1,160,556 from 22 donors who gave $5,000 or more. His donations include:

n $600,000 from the Republican Governors Association of Missouri, a political action committee based out of Washington, D.C.

n $100,000 from Jerry Hall, of Monett, who is employed by Jack Henry and Associates.

n $25,000 from Rudy Farber, of Neosho, who is employed by Community Bank and Trust.

n $20,000 from Jerry Wells, of Joplin, who is employed by Moark LLC.

n $13,300 from the Newton County Republican Central Committee.

The amount isn’t surprising, actually. Nixon and Gov. Matt Blunt quickly raised millions when the limits were removed in 2006. A Missouri Supreme Court ruling put the limits back in effect months later, so both were required to refund over-the-limit donations.

Back to Hulshof: Before the Aug. 5 primary, he was at a fund-raising disadvantage. Eight days before the election, Hulshof reported a war chest of $426,772.22, compared to Nixon’s about $2.9 million.

Hulshof had raised about $2.6 million since announcing his candidacy in January, but he spent heavily against Treasurer Sarah Steelman in a contentious race. Eight days before the primary, he reported spending more than $2.1 million.