Governor Blunt’s political arm is returning money raised in excess of the campaign contribution limits, limits retroactively enforced by a State Supreme Court ruling.  Missourians for Matt Blunt has begun to return donations with a suggestion; that the donor funnel the money to the Missouri Republican Party. That money could, in turn, be redirected by the party back into Blunt’s re-election campaign.

Blunt shrugs off suggestions that the suggestion to donors might have an ulterior motive. He notes he has raised money for the party in the past and will continue to do so. When pressed on the issue by a reporter at a Capitol news conference, Blunt merely states that he’s hopeful donations to the Missouri Republican Party are put to good use, adding that he does not control what the party does with the money it receives.

The State Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a state law that lifted the campaign contribution limits. It made the ruling retroactive. Candidates have to return excess money unless they can prove to the Missouri Ethics Commission that to do so would create a hardship. Missourians for Matt Blunt had raised more than four million dollars before the ruling. It is returning all but 1-and-a-half million dollars. The Supreme Court ruling wiped out Blunt’s sizeable money lead over his top Democratic challenger, Jay Nixon, reducing both campaigns to about the same amount.