The decision by Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO) to not run for re-election has opened the door to a lot of jockeying for positions by those who already hold other positions in government. Some of the people running for new offices will be allowed to take, with them, campaign dollars that have already been raised, while others will have to leave that money behind.
Bob Connor, Executive Director of the Missouri Ethics Commission , says anyone who had been running for re-election who has decided to run for a different state office is allowed to take the campaign money already raised and transfer those dollars. People fitting into this category would be Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder (R-MO) and State Treasurer Sarah Steelman (R-MO), who are now running for Governor.
Missouri law will also allow Congressman Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), who had been raising money for his re-election bid, to transfer his dollars to a campaign for Governor.
However, any Missouri state officeholders – State Representatives or State Senators, for instance – who have their eyes on Hulshof’s Congressional seat, will not be allowed to transfer any money they have raised. Federal law does not allow the transfer of money raised for a state position to be used for a federal position such as U.S. Senator or Congressman.
An example of a federal politician using campaign money raised to finance a state race came in 2000 when then-Congressman Jim Talent (R-MO) launched an unsuccessful bid for Governor. Then-Auditor Claire McCaskill, on the other hand, had to start from scratch when she ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006.
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