Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Published November 04, 2008 11:33 pm - Missouri’s current attorney general claimed an early victory Tuesday in his gubernatorial race, but the race to replace him was far closer. Incumbent lieutenant governor, secretary of state hold leads The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s current attorney general claimed an early victory Tuesday in his gubernatorial race, but the race to replace him was far closer. Democrat Chris Koster held a 22,000-vote lead over Republican Michael Gibbons with about 41 percent of the state’s precincts reporting. It was the state’s first open attorney general race in 16 years because Democrat Jay Nixon skipped re-election to run for governor. The campaign for the office has been rancorous. It started with a contentious Democratic primary that didn’t end until more than a month after the primary election because the runner-up requested a re-count. In the campaign’s final weeks, Gibbons and Koster launched a full-blown ad war against each other. Koster accused Gibbons of voting for more lenient prison sentences and supporting clemency for a murderer. Gibbons, of Kirkwood, criticized Koster for a 1991 arrest for writing three bad checks totaling less than $20 and claimed Koster once accepted campaign donations that could be tied to the mob. Koster, a former Cass County prosecutor who lives in Raymore, switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party last year and was dogged throughout the primary by ethics complaints against his fund raising and negative ads funded by his ex-wife. In the lieutenant governor’s race, the incumbent, Peter Kinder, held a 71,000 vote lead over Democratic challenger Sam Page, of Creve Coeur. Kinder, of Cape Girardeau, spent two weeks this year lining up support for a gubernatorial run before abruptly switching course. When he instead decided to run for re-election, he went on the offensive even before Page had won the Democratic primary. In their first debate, Kinder called Page a hypocrite who has cast self-serving votes. Page has accused Kinder of misusing state funds to support pet projects, such as a professional bicycle race, and of allowing state staff to do political work. In the state treasurer’s race, Republican Brad Lager, of Savannah, led Democrat Clint Zweifel, of Florissant, by 16,000 votes. And Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, of St. Louis had the largest lead in early returns, claiming 62 percent of the votes cast in her re-election bid against Republican Mitch Hubbard, of Fulton. 
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