Another round of campaign finance reports were filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission July 27 by candidates in county, district and statewide races, eight days before the August 4 primary election.
According to the disclosure reports:
DISTRICT 143 REPRESENTATIVE
• Republican Ron Copeland has raised $27,587, receiving another $4,095 in contributions since filing his July 15 disclosure report.
He spent $13,690 on his campaign in recent weeks and now has total expenditures of $24,141. Copeland’s contributions come from a wide range of sources, including himself.
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According to Copeland’s final pre-election disclosure report, he spent $7,242 for mailings by Axiom Strategies, $1,500 for social media with The Prosper Group, $1,354 for signs from Salem Publishing, $1,240 for radio advertising with KAMS-FM/KALM-AM in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, $1,241 in advertising with Salem Publishing, $288 for advertising with KSMO in Salem and $241 for campaign apparel from Tracy Wulff.
Copeland’s larger recent donations are $1,000 from David Gray of Salem, $500 each from Patricia Copeland and Missouri Pork PAC, $300 from Shamrock PAC and $250 from Physician Led Anesthesia Care PAC.
• Another representative candidate, Republican Frank DeVenuto, reported he has spent $27,485 on his campaign, with $16,890 of that amount spent since July 15. But part of that amount was a $10,000 repayment to correct a clerical error, according to the report.
He also continued pumping his own money into the race, accounting for $27,473 of his $33,365 in campaign donations, including $16,000 in the last few weeks. Most of his other donations were $100 or less.
As was the case in previous reports, DeVenuto spent the bulk of his money recently with Murphy Nasica of Austin, Texas, for campaign materials and management — a total of $6,340. Expenditures since July 15 include $3,346 for direct mailers, $500 for campaign management, $2,250 for social media posts and $243 for pushcards for door-to-door meetings and debate handouts.
According to the disclosure report, Murphy Nasica will receive another $2,500 if DeVenuto wins the election.
DeVenuto also donated $490 to the Dent County Livestock committee for baked goods at the Expo Dessert Auction. Another $10,000 was paid to Edward Jones Investments, which had mistakenly deposited that amount in DeVenuto’s campaign account instead of a personal savings account on July 14, the report states. It was repaid two days later.
• Also in the all-Republican race is Jaret Holden, of Shannon County, who reported $3,593 in recent donations, including $1,400 in loans. His largest donations were $1,000 from the St. Charles Organization of Republicans and $1,000 from Mary Lou Beasley of Summersville, according to his final financial disclosure before the election.
All of his expenditures since his July 15 report went to Victory Enterprises Inc. of Davenport, Iowa, for digital marketing and mailings, the report states.
• A fourth representative candidate, Jack Bates, from Thayer, raised $2,700 and spent $2,615 on the race, with $1,995 of that amount spent since the July 15 disclosure report.
• The fifth candidate, William Parson of Salem, filed an exempt report, saying he would neither raise nor spend $500 on his campaign.
CIRCUIT 42 DIVISION 2 JUDGE
• Republican Brandi Baird of Salem, running for Circuit 42 Division 2 judge, had spent $40,014 on her campaign, with $30,096 spent since the last reporting period that ended July 15. Baird has raised $17,125 this period and $42,158 overall, including $16,500 she donated herself and $2,300 from Dennis Baird. She has also taken out $16,000 in loans, the report states.
Major expenditures include $27,634 to Creative Direct, a Richmond, Virginia campaign marketing firm, for advertising; $1,114 to Capitol Strategies Group of Jefferson City for campaign consulting; $488 to Campaign Marketing Strategies of Arlington, Virginia for advertising, $299 to Salem Publishing for advertising; and $216 to S&E Creations for advertising.
• Michael Randazzo of Ironton, one of her Republican opponents for the same post, has spent $24,251 on his campaign, with $12,027 spent since July 15. Randazzo has raised $28,650, including $5,750 in recent weeks. He has donated $24,000 of the amount raised.
His top expenditures went to Victory Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa, a campaign marketing firm, where he spent $11,291 for mailers since July 15. He also spent $10,100 with the firm earlier in the campaign for signs, vinyl banners, electronic campaign ads, website work and palm cards.
• Third in money raised was Republican Kristopher Crews of Steelville with $10,931, of which he donated $9,000 and took out a $1,600 loan. No report for July 27 was found on the MEC website. As of July 15, he had spent $603 on his campaign, including $487 to AD&B of Moberly for palm cards.
• Also running for the judgeship is Republican Stephen Paulus of Cuba, who has raised $10,800 and spent $10,887 on his campaign. Since July 15 he has raised $1,300 and spent $1,503. His largest recent expenditures are $925 for hand cards from Creations by C-Sue and $405 for newspaper advertising in the Sullivan Independent News.
Earlier in the campaign he spent $4,660 with Lamar for billboards, $1,050 with Daniel Thompson Film and Photography for photos and $3,224 with Creations by C-Sue for signs.
• Another candidate in circuit judge race, Republican Christopher Piatt of Salem, had donated $8,000 to his campaign to account for all the money raised. He has spent $3,215 on his campaign, all since July 15.
The majority of his spending went to Scott’s Printing for signs, and two newspapers. He spent $234 with Scott’s, $1,147 with The Salem News, $978 with Three Rivers Publishing in Cuba and $655 with Better Newspapers Inc. in Mascoutah, Illinois, owners of the Wayne County Journal Banner and Reynolds County Courier.
The 42nd District covers Dent, Crawford, Iron, Reynolds and Wayne counties.
DENT COUNTY RACES
• Wes Mobray, running in the all-Republican First District county commissioner race. has raised a total of $6,006, including $2,106 since the July 15 report. During that time, Mobray donated $1,226 to his campaign and Jerald Limbaugh of Salem contributed $780.
His larger expenditures were $1,552 to the Dent County Jr. Livestock Committee for a youth animal purchase at the Expo, $446 to Creations by C-Sue for shirts, magnets and cups, and $180 for purchases at the Expo Dessert Auction.
• First District candidate Justin Headrick donated $500 and made a $1,716 in-kind contribution to his campaign in recent weeks. Counting in-kind, his campaign has raised a total of $4,716. He expended $2,116 in his latest report, including the in-kind contribution and $400 with KSMO for advertising.
• Phillip Mercer has raised $4,200, but nothing since July 15. He’s spent a total of $3,446 on his campaign, with $597 expended in recent weeks. Topping the list of expenditures are $152 for S&E Creations for shirts, $97 for flyers, $95 at the Expo Pie Auction and $92 to The Salem News for advertising.
• Candidate J.T. Fleener filed a limited activity report, meaning he spent and raised less than $500 since July 15. Earlier in the campaign he spent $1,180.
• In the Second District race, only candidate Jimmy Williams is raising and spending money. Incumbent Gary Larson filed a limited activity report, meaning he has raised or spent less than $500 on his campaign. Williams has contributed $3,200 to his own campaign and has spent $2,681 so far. Both Williams and Larson are Republicans.
None of the other four candidates have met the $1,000 threshold for forming a committee. Searches of the MEC website for Republicans Travis Fulton and Jim Martin, Democrat Tom Welch and Libertarian Kourt Tiefenthaler yielded no results.
Williams has received $2,250 in recent donations and has raised a total of $5,450, almost all from himself. He has spent $2,642 since July 15 and $5,341 overall.
His largest recent expenditures are $2,032 for the purchase of a hog at the Expo, $260 for cards and advertising from Salem Publishing and $157 for postage. He also spent $120 on hats from Classic Design.
• In the county assessor race, incumbent Jamie Homeyer donated another $1,000 to her campaign since her last disclosure report and spent $839. She’s spent a total of $3,236 on her campaign.
Other than herself at $3,000, Homeyer’s largest donors are Pat Tackett at $300, Darrell Hindman at $250 and Tammie Richardson at $250.
Spending since July 15 included $464 with Salem Publishing for advertising, $462 with Creations by C-Sue for advertising, and $335 with the junior livestock committee, also for advertising. She also spent $100 with Your World Today.
• Her opponent, Alisa Brookshire, has not raised or spent enough to be required to form a committee.
Public administrator candidates Sherida Cook and Larry Edwards also did not meet the financial activity threshold for forming a committee.
According to the MEC, there were no reports of financial activity for three unopposed candidates: sheriff Bob Wells, coroner Benjamin Pursifull and surveyor candidate Michelle Elwood.
