MPNblog.com | Missouri Political News: MPN Analysis: Koster has net loss in 4th quarter of 2007; several donors linked to Blunt, Jetton

State Sen. Chris Koster's campaign for Attorney General had a net loss in the final quarter of 2007 due to the large number of contributions refunded as a result of the Missouri Ethics Commission's re-implementation of caps on donations.

While Koster's campaign reports indicate he raised $1,379,262 so far in the election cycle, only $223,148 was raised in the 4th quarter of 2007.

"For the second quarter in a row, State Senator Chris Koster's campaign for Attorney General has raised more than the campaigns of Jeff Harris and Margaret Donnelly," a statement from Koster's campaign said.

Some fellow Democrats contend that Koster's fundraising totals are misleading and do not lend support to comments from Koster suggesting his campaign has the most momentum among Democratic Attorney General Candidates.

A closer look at Koster's fundraising shows that 28 percent of his total funds were returned in the last quarter as refunds (see chart to right).

Another 15 percent of Koster's total fundraising is from himself in the form of a $200,000 personal loan to the campaign. Koster's totals also include $98,175 in contributions from political action committees created by conservative donor Rex Sinquefield to skirt campaign finance laws. Both Donnelly and Harris have criticized Koster's acceptance of Sinquefield's donations.

So where did the donations come from? In the 4th quarter, Koster's individual contributors shown on itemized reports submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission were centralized in the St. Louis and Kansas City Regions (see map below). Together the two regions accounted for 89 percent of Koster's total fundraising base.

Koster failed to raise any funds from individual contributors in the Southeast and Northeast Regions of the state. In the 3rd quarter of 2007 Koster also failed to receive donations from two regions inclusive of the Southeast.

"With the strong backing of so many Missourians, I will continue to travel across the state and talk about my plans to be an Attorney General who puts law enforcement first," Koster said in a statement released by the campaign.

Of Koster's $218,849 raised in the 4th quarter, 61 percent came from political committees including a number of labor unions. That leaves just 39 percent of Koster's donations originating from individuals and businesses.

An even closer examination of Koster's itemized contributions reveals that six maximum individual donations were made from the same address, 100 Chesterfield Business Parkway, Ste 300, on Dec. 15, 2007. While each of the donations is reportedly from a different company, the parent firm, Gundaker Commercial Group, offered Gov. Matt Blunt's (R) campaign a $10,000 contribution last year. Another of the firms contributing to Koster from the address, GHL Development, also donated to Blunt and House Speaker Rod Jetton while contributing to no Democrats aside from Koster. A third group, Lakeside 370, contributed only to Blunt and Koster in 2007.

To date Koster's campaign spent $662,356 and has $747,399 on-hand. A total of 57 percent of Koster's total expenditures in the campaign, or $379,725, are directly linked to refunds of over-limit contributions.