JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters will decide this November between two candidates with unique political histories who want to be the next attorney general.

Chris Koster, the Democrat, is seeking re-election for a second term. Five years ago he switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party ahead of his 2008 run for attorney general.

Ed Martin, the Republican, is a former chief of staff for former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt who became involved in a highly publicized fight with Scott Eckersley over email practices.



Courtroom Experience

Koster, a former Cass County Prosecutor turned state senator, touts his experience in the courtroom, going face-to-face with criminals.

“It matters when you are running this office that you understand law enforcement,” he said during a stop in Neosho this summer, highlighting his work on homicide cases during his tenure as prosecutor. “It matters that you know your way around the courtroom. It matters that you’ve tried these cases.”

Like most of the Democrats running statewide in Missouri this year, Koster has made an effort to distance himself from issues trumpeted by national Democratic leaders and candidates who are unpopular in Missouri. In Koster’s case, he has sought to put distance between himself and other Democrats by criticizing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

During the August 2010 primary election — a mostly Republican primary — 70 percent of voters approved Proposition C, a ballot measure that declared Missouri’s opposition to the individual mandate provision of the new federal health care law.

After enormous political pressure from statewide Republicans (including Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who filed his own legal challenge to law), Koster split with other Democrats and joined a constitutional challenge filed in Florida over the individual mandate provision.

Last month, Koster again distanced himself from his party and the Affordable Care Act when a Cole County court overturned ballot language — written by Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan — pertaining to the provision of the health care law ordering states to establish state-level health care exchanges. After calls from Democrats, including a swiping public statement from Carnahan, Koster decided against defending her choice of ballot language in court.



Conservative Fighter

Martin has touted his credentials as a conservative fighter — denouncing Koster as nothing more than “Obama’s lawyer,” vehemently touting his opposition to the health care law, and serving as chairman of the Missouri Republican Party’s coordinated effort to win races up and down the ballot this year.

Martin has vowed to expand the office’s role in dealing with veterans issues and challenge regulations on business

Prior to running for office, Martin served as chief of staff to former Gov. Matt Blunt, during which time he became involved in a battle with Scott Eckersley, an attorney who had vocal disagreements with the office’s email retention policy. Eckersley and Martin disagreed over whether emails sent within the governor’s office were subject to records retention requirements.

Despite Martin’s opposition, Eckersley continued to press members of the administration to not delete emails, and was subsequently removed from Blunt’s administration. Martin later resigned from Blunt’s office. Eckersley sued over his dismissal, and received a $500,000 settlement from the state, and eventually, letters of exoneration from the Missouri Attorney General’s office and the Missouri Bar.

In 2010, Martin unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Congress against Democratic incumbent Russ Carnahan in Missouri’s Third Congressional District. And this election cycle, Martin explored a campaign for U.S. Senate last year and for the Second Congressional District in 2012, although he was never on the ballot in either case.

Speaking to Democrats in Kansas City in May, Koster, who said for nearly 25 years he had dreams about serving as the state’s attorney general, criticized Martin for his race switching and questioned his sincerity in being in the race in the first place.

“The gentleman that I’m running against decided that he wanted to be attorney general about three months ago, after having declared his candidacy for two other federal positions in the nine months prior to three months ago,” he said. “I think that there is a place in this world for consistency and purpose.”

Martin has repeatedly shrugged off Koster’s jabs, pointing to Koster’s own aspirations to run for governor in the future.

“Everyone in this state of Missouri knows Chris Koster is the most political person out there,” he said. “He’s using (the office) as his political pulpit to run for governor.”



Follow the money

In terms of fundraising, Martin has lagged Koster, raising $744,293 this election cycle. A large chunk of that — $250,000 — was contributed to his campaign by Joplin’s David Humphreys. Another $250,000 came from Martin’s congressional committee, and the bulk of the rest came from a handful of donors in St. Louis.

Koster, meanwhile, has raised more than $3.6 million this election cycle, the largest chunk — $525,000 — contributed by the Missouri arm of the Democratic Attorneys General Association. Koster also pulled support from Rex Sinquefield, a wealthy investor from the St. Louis area who predominantly funds Republican candidates and conservative issue campaigns.

In addition to Martin and Koster, Dave Browning, Oak Grove, is on the ballot as the Libertarian Party’s nominee for attorney general.