By Mike Pound
mpound@joplinglobe.com
In the Missouri primary-election campaigns, the battle to choose a candidate to succeed longtime Attorney General Jay Nixon has largely been fought out in the Democratic Party.
Mike Gibbons, the Republican candidate, is unopposed and virtually assured of his party’s nomination.
On the Democratic side, with Nixon running for governor, four candidates are seeking the party’s nod for attorney general. Among them, Republican-turned-Democrat Chris Koster has caught the most heat from his opponents.
Koster, 43, was born in St. Louis and now lives in Harrisonville. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri Law School and was elected to the Missouri Senate in 2004. He served as the Cass County prosecuting attorney from 1994 through 2004. Koster is with the law offices of Tim Dollar in Kansas City.
In August 2007, Koster announced that he was leaving the Republican Party and becoming a Democrat. Koster said that over the past few years, he became increasingly uncomfortable with the direction the Republican Party was headed. Saying he is a politician who likes to govern from the “50-yard line,” Koster said he thought his former party had abandoned members who were in the middle.
Koster said criticism of his campaign is a sign that his opponents see him as the toughest opponent in both the primary and the general election.
“I think I’m a lighting rod for different people for different reasons,” he said. “I think the other Democrats recognize that I have the level of experience as a prosecutor that Missourians are looking for in an attorney general candidate.”
As attorney general, Koster said, he would crack down on Medicare fraud. He said it’s estimated that $600 million is lost every year to Medicare fraud in Missouri.
Margaret Donnelly is a resident of St. Louis. She is a graduate of the Saint Louis University Law School, and now specializes in family and juvenile law. She is a member of the Missouri Legislature, first being elected to the House in 2002. She served from 1986 to 1992 on the Ferguson-Florissant School Board.
Donnelly said she has spent the past 20 years, both in the courtroom and in politics, “fighting for families and children, and as attorney general would continue protecting and serving all Missouri families.”
Donnelly said she would work to establish a fugitive unit in the attorney general’s office to assist local law-enforcement agencies in tracking sexual offenders.
She said she would work to close loopholes in recent legislation. As an example, she pointed to a law requiring that all school bus drivers be fingerprinted. The legislation excludes anyone hired before 2005. Donnelly said she would work to see that the law was changed.
“I think I have shown that the issues I have fought for in the Legislature are the issues that are important to protecting Missouri families,” Donnelly said.
Jeff Harris, 43, is a resident of Columbia and graduated in 1991 from Cornell Law School. He is a member of the Missouri Legislature and was first elected to the House in 2002. He is the former House minority leader. And also has served as an assistant attorney general under Nixon.
Harris said that if elected, he would continue to work on issues on which he worked as a state representative.
“I will continue the work I’ve done to protect our Missouri consumers,” he said. “Issues like the no-call list, cracking down on predatory and payday lenders.”
Harris said he would expand the state’s no-call list to allow businesses and cell-phone users to add their numbers to the list.
He said he would work to protect home buyers from unscrupulous lenders and to cap excessive rates charged by so-called “payday lenders.”
Harris said every resident in the state “deserves to play on a level playing field” and that as attorney general, he would “represent everyone in this state.”
Molly Williams, of Kansas City, also is listed as a candidate for the Democrat nomination. The Globe’s efforts to reach her for information were unsuccessful.
The attorney general’s position pays $113,000 annually.
Missouri primaries
Primary elections will be conducted from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday across Missouri and Kansas.
Campaigns and Politics
Four in scramble for Democrat nod for attorney general
- Campaigns and Politics
-
-
Missouri voters endorse state Proposition C
Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a key provision of President Barack Obama’s health care law, sending a clear message of discontent to Washington and Democrats less than 100 days before the midterm elections. With about 70 percent of the vote counted late Tuesday, nearly three-quarters of voters had supported the measure.
-
Neosho voters say ‘no’ to property tax
A proposal to levy a property tax to help bail the city of Neosho out of its financial meltdown failed to muster even 40 percent approval from voters in Tuesday’s election.
-
Jasper County choose incumbents for posts
Voters in Jasper County on Tuesday tabbed the incumbents for two positions, Linda Williams as circuit clerk and John Bartosh for the Republican nomination as presiding commissioner.
-
Pittsburg voters reject sales tax increase
A proposed quarter-cent city sales tax increase in Pittsburg for street repairs was defeated Tuesday by voters, 1,243 to 1,031. The margin was 55 percent “no” votes to 45 percent “yes” votes. The totals are based on complete, but unofficial, returns from the Crawford County clerk’s office.
-
Ruestman receives GOP nod; Krueger prevails in circuit clerk bid
Republicans in Newton County on Tuesday overwhelmingly selected a state lawmaker to be their nominee for presiding county commissioner, according to complete but unofficial returns. Current state Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, of Joplin, with a total of 6,125 votes, led a field of four GOP hopefuls.
-
Bill White beats Shelly Dreyer for nomination
An intense and costly battle for the Republican nomination for Missouri’s 129th District House seat concluded Tuesday with a lopsided victory for William “Bill” White, who is seeking to fill the seat being vacated by Ron Richard.
-
Moran holds lead in tight Kansas race
Western Kansas U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran held the lead over Todd Tiahrt late Tuesday night in a contentious battle for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat from Kansas.
-
Calloway defeats Titterington in 3rd District GOP race
Terry Calloway defeated Chad Titterington Tuesday in the Republican primary race for the 3rd District seat of the Kansas House of Representatives.
-
Former legislator leads race for Senate seat
A former legislator and sheriff from the Bolivar area had a wide lead for the Republican nomination for the Missouri Senate District 28 seat, according to incomplete returns Tuesday night. Mike Parson, 54, of Bolivar, the former state representative in House District 133, was the leader with 12,723 votes.
-
Long, Eckersley win nods in 7th district
Billy Long, a Springfield auctioneer, real estate salesman and former radio talk show host, won the Republican nomination for Congress from Missouri’s 7th District on Tuesday, while the Democratic nod went to Scott Eckersley, an attorney from Kimberling City who at one time worked for former GOP Gov. Matt Blunt.
- More Campaigns and Politics Headlines
-
Missouri voters endorse state Proposition C
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
On Thailand Trip, Suu Kyi Visits Migrants
Raw Video: Pink Diamond Auctioned for $17.4M
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
