Senate District 24: Large contributions to Lamping far exceed Plocher's 3Q fundraising

Three Democrats and two Republicans are currently fundraising for primary contests in Missouri Senate District 24.

This open Democratic-leaning seat is being vacated by term-limited Sen. Joan Bray (D). When Bray was first elected in 2002, she won by only a 5 point margin. Given what some analysts are calling a growing anti-Democratic mood in Missouri, this seat will be one to watch closely if the mood swings to heavily favor Republican candidates.

Of the two Republicans in the contest, it's not exactly clear who the fundraising leader is because one of the candidates formed a fundraising committee after the close of the last fundraising period.

Republican Candidates
John Lamping (R) is a Senate candidate many Republicans are ecstatic about. Lamping has a background as a brokerage manager and hedge fund partner, and is the cousin of former St. Louis Cardinals president Mark Lamping.

And so far in the fourth quarter his fundraising power is evident. Lamping already pulled in two large contributions since forming a fundraising committee on Oct. 27. One of the contributions for $5,500 comes from State Sen. Kevin Engler (R). The other is $25,000 from Massachusetts-based venture capitalist Tom Roberts, who also happens to be the same Roberts Princeton University's new soccer stadium is named after.

Lamping will likely face St. Louis attorney Dean Plocher (R) in the Republican primary next year. Plocher reported just $7,744 in receipts during the last quarter and $1,405 in debt. At the end of the period, Plocher had just $5,643 cash-on-hand. Unless Plocher raised some serious cash in small increments during the past couple months, it's likely that the two large donations Lamping already received in the 4th quarter will trump his receipts.

One thing is certain, if Plocher is going to stay in this contest, he needs to show he's serious about fundraising and capable of raising the funds on the same level as Lamping.

Democratic Candidates -- click here for earlier analysis

Related Links:
Plocher Campaign Finance Reports
Plocher campaign website
Lamping campaign finance reports

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