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Candidates file financial reports
Carly Robison/Index
With the final filing date through the Missouri Ethics Commission behind them, the district three state representative finance numbers are in.
Republican candidate Nate Walker currently is ahead of his opponent financially with more than a two-to-one lead. Walker’s campaign total is $117,284.00, weighing out his opponent, Democrat Rebecca McClanahan, whose campaign total is $68,952.95 according to the Oct. 29 MEC filing reports.
Walker’s current total does not reflect some of the recent in-kind donations from the House Republican Campaign Committee, Walker’s campaign manager Ashley Young said, as the Oct. 29 reports only include donations and expenditures leading up to 5 p.m. Oct. 25.
During the last 11 days before the election, campaigns must report contributions greater than $5,000 received from a single donor, individual, committee or business, within 48 hours of receiving the donation, according to the MEC.
There are three recent contributions to Walker’s campaign from the HRCC, $4,526.01 from Oct. 24, $29,836.50 from Oct. 25 and $25,081.64 from Oct. 27.
“I think that [the $60,000] was composed primarily of in-kind expenditures on behalf of the HRCC,” Young said. “When those expenditures were given to the campaign to file through the MEC, we learned they were primarily media buys.”
Young said he isn’t sure what the HRCC’s plans are for the donations as his focus is on the Friends of Nate Walker Committee. He said ultimately the HRCC “will do what they think is best.”
Walker said he thinks the HRCC looks at candidates from various races to support people who are working hard and have a strong chance of winning.
Walker said after the primary, during August, all candidates running for Republican state representative met and discussed things their campaigns needed to do if they wanted HRCC involvement.
“We needed to campaign hard and raise money, and every goal they gave me, I met” he said.
The House Democratic Campaign Committee has not donated money toward McClanahan’s campaign, she said. She said she understands the HDCC doesn’t have as many resources or as much money as the majority party with broader-range resources and larger donors the HRCC has.
McClanahan said that as a Democrat she knows not to expect large donors, which is something she likes because of her support of campaign contribution limits.
“Probably some of my favorite contributions are the smallest ones,” she said. “When people earnestly look me in the eye and hand me a check, which I know has been difficult for them.”
During the last filing period, from Oct. 1 through Oct. 25, McClanahan received 78 donations from individuals, more than twice the individual donations from Walker’s campaign, which received 28.
Total donations, both monetary and in-kind, from individuals, committees and businesses, during the same period totaled $13,794.95 for McClanahan, and $50,068.75 for Walker.
With less than one week left in the election, both candidates are preparing for their final push.
McClanahan said her campaign plans to make a strong effort to raise money and gain supporters. Walker said their campaign plans to “keep doing what they’re doing.”
Filed Under: News • Off campus
