Contributors eye Blunt's war chest

Most, if not all, assumed Blunt was digging in for the political storm that incumbents often endure to win a second term. Fundraising was full throttle. The governor’s office was issuing news releases criticizing would-be Democratic opponent Attorney General Jay Nixon. And campaign staffers were mobilizing for the march to Election Day.

Then Blunt pressed the tilt button on Missouri politics. He announced Jan. 22 that he wouldn’t be running for re-election.

Blunt’s surprise move left some of his biggest backers – many Springfield area businesspeople among them – wondering why the governor was backing out, who would run in his place and where their campaign contributions would end up.

Thomas Slaight, chairman of the board of directors for American Dehydrated Foods Inc. and International Dehydrated Foods Inc., would like his companies’ contributions to Blunt – $22,550 since December 2005 – returned.

“If I thought he wasn’t running, no, we certainly would not have made a contribution,” he said candidly. “To be crystal clear, we made a contribution in support of the campaign of Matt Blunt, not for another candidate. … We would like – and we would expect – the opportunity to make a decision on supporting another candidate somewhere down the road and not have someone else make that decision for us.”

Patti Penny, founder and owner of Penmac Personnel Services, is on the other side of that coin. Penny expects contributions she, husband Al and her company made to Blunt’s campaign – $8,400 since November 2004 – to end up in the coffers of the Missouri Republican Party.

“The money, I hope, goes to the party,” she said. “I don’t know that it will, but that’s where I’d like it to go. And I feel confident a (gubernatorial) candidate will surface who has the right ideals.”

Blunt’s options

As of Dec. 31, Missourians for Matt Blunt had a little more than $4 million on hand with a slight indebtedness of $1,337, according to reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

But the committee still needs to refund roughly $2 million deemed above contribution limits by the state Supreme Court last July, said campaign spokesman John Hancock. The court struck down a 2006 law that repealed Missouri’s individual contribution limits in January 2007, opening the door for enormous gifts to Blunt’s campaign coffers.

In addition to the court decision refunds, which should take another month to complete, Hancock said the committee has recently incurred additional expenses that will need to be paid. No decisions have been made yet about what to do with the committee’s balance of less than $2 million, he added.

Blunt has essentially three options under Missouri’s campaign finance law.

He can refund the remaining money to contributors, route the money to political committees or donate the money to a charitable organization, said Joe Carroll, campaign finance director for the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Hancock said the campaign committee has heard from some contributors requesting refunds, but he wasn’t sure whether campaign finance rules would allow selective reimbursement.

“Those donors that would like their contributions refunded, we’re going to do our very best to see to it that that happens,” he said.

But if Blunt chooses to return the money to contributors, Carroll said the governor is required by law to issue a wholesale refund. Donors would receive an amount proportional to their original contribution and the total amount refunded, Carroll noted.

If the governor rules out a refund, he could redeploy the balance to political party committees or charities or a combination of the two. Money channeled to the state Republican Party could then be rerouted to GOP candidates in larger amounts, Carroll said. A gubernatorial candidate, for example, could receive up to $13,450 from a party committee versus the $1,350 cap on individual contributions.

Missourians for Matt Blunt also could stay intact well after the governor leaves office. While the committee is no longer allowed to raise funds, Missouri law doesn’t require its termination.

“There have been several instances where candidates decided not to run again and have kept committees open for a while to use their funds as they see fit,” Carroll said. “It’s just in this case that there’s a larger amount than the other candidates have had to deal with.”

Fast-approaching election

Rick Huffman and Loren Cook II are among Blunt’s biggest allies in the Ozarks, and both were dumbfounded when their friend and favored candidate pulled the plug on his re-election campaign.

“Actually, we’re sad to see that he’s not running again. We think he’s done a good job,” said Huffman, CEO of Branson-based real estate development firm HCW LLC. “But if that decision’s best for his family, then I 100 percent support his decision.”

HCW gave $40,000 to Blunt in March 2007. While most of that contribution would be returned under last year’s court decision, Huffman is happy for the remainder to go to another Republican candidate for governor. Huffman’s not sure which one yet, but he did say he thought former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent would run a strong campaign.

So far, the Republicans who have announced their candidacy for the Show-Me State’s top elected office are Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia.

Cook, vice president of Springfield-based manufacturer Loren Cook Co., is likewise facing some tough decisions now that Blunt, who he described as a “true statesman,” is out of the race. Cook and his wife gave $2,550 to Blunt in June 2006, and his father, Jerry, who is president and CEO of Loren Cook Co., gave $50,000 to the governor in June 2007. The majority of that contribution – the single largest to Blunt from a Springfield resident since November 2004 – will have to be refunded to comply with the Supreme Court ruling.

“I’m sure the money in his so-called war chest will probably be distributed throughout … the Missouri Republican Party,” he said. “If it were an option, I wouldn’t mind having it back, and then I could take that money and re-appropriate that to a particular candidate.”

Cook said he would likely support Kinder, a fellow Missouri Housing Development Commission member.

“I’m very impressed with (Kinder’s) leadership,” Cook said. “He kind of grabs the bull by the horns.”

SBJ.net Poll

Now that he’s no longer pursuing a second term, what should Gov. Matt Blunt do with the less than $2 million in leftover campaign funds?

Vote at sbj.net/poll.

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