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Long-time Nixon friend sees a more mature Nixon

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A long-time friend, political adviser and colleague of Attorney General Jay Nixon says he sees a difference in Nixon that led to his victory in the gubernatorial race.

Nixon won a lopsided victory November 4 th over Republican Kenny Hulshof, the northeast Missouri Congressman.

Jefferson City Attorney Chuck Hatfield worked as Nixon’s Chief of Staff and Counsel in the attorney general’s office for ten years. Hatfield ran his 1998 Senator campaign; a loss to incumbent Republican Bond. Nixon also lost in a challenge to incumbent Republican John Danforth in 1988.

Hatfield says a shift in attitude among the electorate benefitted Nixon this year. He suggests that Nixon’s stance on issues hasn’t changed much over the years. Hatfield notes that Nixon emphasized health care in 1998, but the issue didn’t seem to interest voters as much as it did this year. He says Nixon has matured over the years, since first winning election as attorney general in 1992.

Hatfield says the one adjective he would use to describe Nixon would be "aggressive". He still sees an aggressive Nixon, but one who has learned to temper his aggression. Hatfield says Nixon has grown up and now knows where the political minefields are.

Nixon benefitted from an ineffective Hulshof campaign, hastily thrown together after Governor Blunt announced in January he wouldn’t run for re-election. Hatfield says everything changed when Blunt decided not to run for re-election. That forced a primary showdown between Hulshof and State Treasurer Sarah Steelman that left Hulshof battered and broke. Hatfield says a lack of experience in running a state-wide campaign also doomed Hulshof.

Hatfield says Nixon appears to have a sharper focus, more intense than in the past, which he says is a a product of years of Nixon working at his career.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Organization and money seen as key to Nixon’s win

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They don’t call money the mother’s milk of politics for nothing.

The chairman of the  State Democratic Party  says two things made all the difference in winning back the governor’s office:  organization and money. Chairman John Temporiti says Democrats for too long went into elections with too little money. He says that when a candidate lacks money that allows his opponent to define him rather than the candidate defining himself.

Temporiti says Democrats were able to match Republicans this year. In fact, Nixon’s campaign war chest dwarfed that of Republican Kenny Hulshof.

Temporiti says that with nearly 60% of the vote, Nixon won a mandate. Temporiti says the significant victory allows Nixon to challenge both Republicans and Democrats to deliver on campaign promises.

There is a wrinkle in the feel-good mood of Democrats. Republicans actually gained three seats in the state Senate, giving Republicans a firm grip on that chamber. They didn’t lose much of a grip on the Missouri House where Democrats have gained only three seats, leaving Republicans with an 89-73 majority

Download/listen Brent Martin interviews John Temporiti (5 min MP3)

Nixon camp not ready to celebrate quite yet

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Some news organizations have already called Missouri’s race for governor over, with Democrat Jay Nixon the winner. The Nixon campaign, though, isn’t ready quite yet to celebrate. Nixon for Governor spokesman, Oren Shur, points out that not everyone has voted with those in line by the times polls closed at 7pm being given the chance to cast their ballot. Also, Shur says the projections are based on exit polls and the campaign wants to see some hard numbers.

Polls have indicated that Nixon , the Attorney General, will easily win the race for Missouri governor over Republican Kenny Hulshof, the 9th District Congressman.

Download/listen Brent Martin interviews Oren Shurt (1:30 MP3)

Hulshof campaign manager all but concedes

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There is no official word yet from Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof, but his campaign manager all but concedes Democrat Jay Nixon has won the race for Missouri’s Governor’s office.

Campaign Manager John Hancock spoke to reporters less than an hour after the polls closed to say it was a tough campaign and that he is, "Disappointed that the people of Missouri didn’t get a chance to know Kenny Hulshof.

Hancock made it clear he is not conceding, pointing out only the candidate can concede, but he made it clear Jay Nixon will be the next Governor of Missouri. 

Profile of Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof

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Governor Matt Blunt’s decision not to seek reelection set the wheels in motion that led to northeast Missouri Congressman Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) going after the Republican Party nomination for the post. The road to securing the nomination was not an easy one as Hulshof had to engage in a bitter battle with State Treasurer Sarah Steelman (R-MO), who opted to run for the Governor’s office rather than seek reelection.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof The results of the August 5th primary balloting gave the nod to Hulshof, who then launched a new campaign against the Democratic nominee – Attorney General Jay Nixon. Nixon, who had been campaigning for a number of years, has the edge over Hulshof in terms of statewide recognition and contribution dollars raised. The two differ on a number of issues from taxes to education to health care.

Residents of the 9th Congressional District are familiar with the six-term Member of the U.S. House, but he has faced the task of making himself known in other parts of the state. Hulshof grew up on a farm in southeast Missouri and left to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia where he earned a degree in agricultural economics. He later earned his law degree at the University of Mississippi.

Hulshof returned to Missouri where he served as a public defender for three years, followed by a 10 year stint as a prosecuting attorney – part of that time in the Attorney General’s office under his current opponent, Jay Nixon.

The Columbia resident first ran for Congress in 1994 as a substitute for the Republican candidate who had withdrawn from the race. Hulshof lost that race to Congressman Harold Volkmer, but managed to pick up 45 percent of the vote. Hulshof won a rematch two years later and has held the seat ever since.

Hulshof maintains he brought Missouri values to Washington and never forgot them as he tackled the many issues addressed on Capitol Hill. He is proud of his actions as a member of the House Ethics Committee when he criticized then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay and determine that his fellow Republican had violated ethics rules. This cost Hulshof his position on the panel, but there is no doubt in the 9th District Congressman’s mind that he made the right move.

Another issues Hulshof embraced during his time in Washington was elimination of the estate tax – the so-called death tax. Hulshof managed to push the idea through the House, but it got hung up in the Senate, where supporters were unable to win the super majority needed to bring about an up or down vote on the idea. A watered-down version of the idea was eventually agreed to and is in effect today.

Hulshof has a number of ideas on how to improve Missourians’ access to such things as quality education, health care. He rejects Nixon’s proposals as ideas that will raise taxes and fall short of providing the best benefit to Missourians.

Hulshof lives in Columbia with his wife, Renee, and their young daughters Casey and Hanna.

Listen to Steve Walsh’s interview with Kenny Hulshof.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

Hulshof proposes emergency job creation program

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof proposes tapping the state Rainy Day Fund to pay for a $265 million emergency job creation program.

Hulshof defends use of the fund in this manner, stating that national and state economic conditions constitute an emergency. The fund was created to help state government survive a severe dip in revenue or to respond to emergencies, most notably the after effects of the 1993 flood.

Under Hulshof’s proposal, businesses that create at least three jobs would receive a tax rebate equal to six percent of their added payroll. The Hulshof campaign gives as an example that a business creating jobs with annual wages totaling $150,000 will receive a rebate of $9,000. Special consideration would be given to businesses located in the inner cities and those located in the counties with the highest unemployment.

The Rainy Day Fund has provisions in the law that require it be paid back soon after it is used. Hulshof says the creation of new jobs in the state will generate more than enough tax revenue to repay the fund. He calls it a short-term effort to jump start a sagging economy, not a long-term approach to economic development which he has outlined in other proposals.

Hulshof shrugs off polls in talk with the Missourinet

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Public opinion polls indicate Republican Kenny Hulshof has a lot of ground to make up if he is to defeat Democrat Jay Nixon for governor, but Hulshof tells the Missourinet he believes his campaign is gaining steam.

Hulshof, the northeast Missouri Congressman, says he isn’t concerned about the polls.

"I’ve seen polls where numbers are all over the map," Hulshof tells the Missourinet, "but what I’ve also seen and at least what our own internal polling shows is that we are trending in the right direction."

Few polls see it that way. Democrat Jay Nixon, the state attorney general, enjoys a comfortable lead in a handful of major polls with anywhere from 52 to 56 percent of the vote. Hulshof trails badly, anywhere from 34 to 39 percent. Hulshof also trails in money. At the start of this month, Nixon had $3.2 million dollars to spend.  Hulshof had $1.2 million. Nixon has out raised Hulshof almost two-to-one.

Polls also indicate that Democrat Barack Obama has pulled ahead of Republican John McCain in the presidential race in Missouri. Hulshof doesn’t believe the presidential contest will affect his, unless one of the candidates pulls out to a substantial lead.

Hulshof is stumping the state. He says he feels like he’s gaining momentum with a little more than three weeks left in the election.

"I think people are looking for leadership," Hulshof tells us, "and leadership requires some political courage and vision to move our state along and I think I’ve offered that and continue to offer it and (we’re) getting great response."

It appears, though, that Hulshof has a big hill to climb if he is to be elected governor November 4th. 

Download/listen Brent Martin interviews Kenny Hulshof (4:52 MP3)

Nixon rejects Hulshof’s ethics charge

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Democrat Jay Nixon dismisses charges his opponent has leveled that he acted against the public trust in appointing attorneys in 1998 to handle the state’s lawsuit against tobacco companies.

In unveiling an ethics proposal, Republican Kenny Hulshof accused Jay Nixon of betraying the public trust when he appointed, without seeking bids, Springfield attorney Tom Strong to lead the state’s case against tobacco companies.

Nixon rejects the charge.

"Taxpayers in the state of Missouri paid zero in attorney fees on the tobacco case," Nixon responds, "We won the case. We made Big Tobacco pay."

It came to light later that five firms representing Missouri in the tobacco lawsuit gave more than half a million dollars to political campaigns over an eight-year period. Nearly all the money went to Democrats. Nixon received $95,000.

Nixon denies the lawyers got the contract, because of the contributions.

"Absolutely not," Nixon says, "We hired a strong team, a team that was ready to go to trial. It’s one of the reasons why we were able to secure billions of dollars for Missouri of which, almost now, over a billion and a half have been spent here in Missouri without the taxpayers paying a single dime in legal fees."

Nixon makes a charge of his own; that Hulshof is a hyocrite because, once upon a time, Hulshof did contract work for the Attorney General’s office on a no-bid basis.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (1:15 MP3)

Hulshof unveils government accountability plan

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Kenny Hulshof on accountability Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof has unveiled a plan to increase government accountability. As part of the proposal, a nonpartisan state Inspector General’s office would be created to act as a proactive ethics and budgetary watchdog. The Inspector General – appointed for three years by a board made up of the Missouri Board of Prosecuting Attorneys, Missouri Police Chiefs’ Association, Missouri Sheriffs’ Association, Missouri Judicial Conference, and a retired Supreme Court judge – would uncover fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption in state government.

Another part of the proposal would bring transparency to government contracts by requiring that all outsourced work in the Attorney General’s office be documented and open to the public, with all outsourced contracts over $20,000 subject to open, competitive bidding. Hulshof points to what he sees as a violation of the public trust in Attorney Jay Nixon’s awarding of tobacco settlement work to attorneys supportive of Nixon. Nixon is, of course, the Democratic candidate for Governor and Hulshof’s opponent.

An official with the Nixon campaign has released a statement claiming, “In Washington, Congressman Hulshof voted for thousands of wasteful pork barrel projects like the bridge to nowhere.”

Download/Listen: Kenny Hulshof news conference (25:00 MP3)

President raises plenty for Hulshof campaign

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President Bush has made a lucrative stop for the Hulshof for Governor Campaign.

The president slipped out of Washington yesterday afternoon after signing the $700 billion financial sector rescue package into law to campaign for Republican Kenny Hulshof who is running against Democrat Jay Nixon for governor. Bush attended a private fundraiser in St. Louis County that netted $1.5 million for the Hulshof campaign. Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan attended the fundraiser and made a stop at the party’s joint campaign headquarters in Maryland Heights to encourage volunteers.

Duncan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that "Missouri is a target state. You’re going to see an RNC presence here until Election Day. We’re doing very well here."