During last November’s general election, the amount of money in candidates’ campaign chests didn’t guarantee a win at the polls.
In the race for the Greene County presiding commissioner’s seat, won by Republican Jim Viebrock, 16-year incumbent Dave Coonrod out-raised Viebrock by roughly $32,000, according to www.mec.mo.gov, the Web site of the Missouri Ethics Commission, which tracks political donations. The commission on Jan. 5 released the political candidate contributions of more than $500 made during the legislative session.
Viebrock, a former real estate agent and term-limited state representative who took Greene County office Jan. 1, relied heavily on donations from trucking company Prime Inc., his largest contributor.
Prime’s $9,000 contribution pushed Viebrock’s campaign to its $59,000 total.
The leading contributor to Coonrod’s $91,000 campaign was sporting goods magnate John Morris. The Bass Pro Shops owner gave nearly $10,000 to Coonrod for his campaign.
Area businessmen Ed Pinegar of Pinegar Motors contributed $2,500 and Sam Hamra of Hamra Enterprises chipped in $2,000 to Coonrod.
They were followed by a plethora of $1,000 donations from business owners and businesses including Rick’s Automotive, owned by Rick Hughlett; Jim O’Neal; Pete Herschend; Charlie O’Reilly; Richard Ollis; Springfield Remanufacturing; and Morelock Ross Properties.
The races for area seats in the Missouri Senate followed a more traditional track of money producing winners.
In the Missouri Senate 30th District race, Republican Bob Dixon, raised about $130,500 compared to about $49,900 raised by Democrat Michael Hoeman.
Notable contributors to Dixon’s victorious campaign included Rudolph Farber of Community Bank & Trust in Neosho, $5,000; CNS Corp., $3,000; BNSF Railway Co., $2,000; and Kenneth Meyer of Meyer Communications, $1,500.
Raising about $72,300, Republican Jay Wasson won the 20th District seat, out-gunning Democratic opponent Terry Traw, who raised about $18,400. Wasson was the beneficiary of several political action committee contributions, and his top donors included Citizens for Brad Lager, $5,000, along with $1,000 each from American Resort Development Association-Resort Owners Coalition PAC; MoAHA PAC; Smithfield Foods Inc.; Union Pacific Railroad Co.; CNS Corp.; and Missouri Eye PAC.
The candidates’ views Coonrod, who won the fundraising battle but lost the race, said creativity and being well-connected are key to raising money in any campaign.
“You have to be shameless,” Coonrod said. “It helps to know a lot of folks in the community. I was born and raised here. I’ve had the good fortune to get to know a lot of people who have been willing to assist me in my various campaign efforts.”
The man who defeated Coonrod takes a different approach, not just in this election but also in prior ones.
Contributions are important, but they can be overrated, said Viebrock, whose opponents have out-raised him in just about every election he’s been in.
“There’s kind of a misconception that money buys elections, and to a certain degree that’s true, but it’s not an absolute law,” Viebrock said. “There’s something to be said for good old-fashioned hard work. You really can’t put a price tag on that.”
Coonrod said the days of simply asking for and receiving donations are gone.
“You have to be creative in the fundraising events you have,” Coonrod said.
Reasons for giving The reason for donating to candidates is simple for Hughlett of Rick’s Automotive. He seeks candidates whose views align with his own.
“I think Dave’s done a lot for our county, and my business is in our county,” Hughlett said. “One thing is water quality. He’s real big into the watershed and James River Basin. In the long run, that promotes a lot of tourism, and tourism, in a roundabout way, supports my business.”
Prime supports candidates with views most closely aligned with the citizens of the area, said John Hancock, the company’s director of training and driver recruiting, adding that elected leaders set the tone and direction for local, state and national affairs.
Hancock has been involved with direction of the Springfield and Missouri chambers of commerce and plays a key role in deciding which candidates receive money from Prime.
“It’s not just what somebody says they’re going to do, you’ve got to look at what they say they’re going to do combined with what they’ve actually done and accomplished,” Hancock said.[[In-content Ad]]
