Gubernatorial candidates stop in Springfield

Gubernatorial candidates Gov. Jay Nixon and St. Louis business owner Dave Spence are making 11th-hour campaign stops in Springfield.

Last week, Spence visited the city to hold a news conference in front of the former Solo Cup plant across from Evangel University on North Glenstone Avenue.

The plant, which laid off 340 people when it shut down in March 2011, served as a backdrop for Spence to promote job growth he said would occur if he is elected.

“We can get real job job growth in this state,” said Spence, president of plastics manufacturer Alpha Packaging, in a news release. “Instead of getting competitive with our neighboring states with common-sense reforms, Nixon’s administration has cared more about photo opportunities than actual results."

Spence pointed to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing 107,000 Missourians have left the state's workforce since January 2009 - when Nixon took office.

“In the manufacturing world, we look at results. In my world, Nixon would have been fired as CEO two years ago," Spence said in the release.

On Oct. 25, Nixon made a campaign stop at SRC Power Systems, a manufacturer of power system packages under the umbrella of SRC Holdings Corp., to promote claims that his administration has focused on fiscal discipline and a bipartisan business approach.

"I’ve worked with folks on both sides of the aisle to create jobs and get our economy growing, and that common-sense, bipartisan approach is paying off," Nixon said at the time.

Nixon today is scheduled to tour Missouri State University's IDEA Commons with MSU President Clif Smart and Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson, according to a separate release.

At 2:15 p.m., Nixon is slated to visit the Robert W. Plaster Center for Free Enterprise and Business Development, the former Willow Brook Foods building and future home of a business incubator and Small Business & Technology Development Center.

According to the release, the stop would serve as a means for Nixon to promote his administration's "innovative and collaborative approach ... to job creation and economic development."

Last week, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office predicted that 72 percent of voters registered in the state will vote during the Nov. 6 general election.