BAILEY PROPOSES SINGLE TICKET CAMPAIGN

Republican Wendell Bailey says Missourians should consider electing the governor and lieutenant governor on a single ticket as is done on the federal level with the president and vice president.

Visiting Cape Girardeau Thursday, Bailey said he wants to organize a bipartisan panel to consider the issue.

"It is worth looking into," he said.

Missouri is one of 18 states where the governor and lieutenant governor run separately. As a result, voters can elect a governor of one party and a lieutenant governor from another party.

The governor of Missouri is limited to two terms while there is no term limit for lieutenant governor.

In the last 10 years, two states have moved to a joint ticket, Iowa in 1990 and Kentucky in 1995, Bailey said.

Earlier in the day, Bailey told The Associated Press that his campaign had "goofed" in taking campaign contributions from anonymous givers, exceeding the legal limit.

Bailey said he would contact the Missouri Ethics Commission to report the excess donations.

Bailey's campaign finance report listed an anonymous donation for $50 and another for $100.

The law requires that the donor be identified if the amount is over $25 or the money must be forfeited to the Ethics Commission.

In a visit to the Southeast Missourian office Thursday, Bailey said he wanted to reinvent the lieutenant governor's office.

Currently, little goes on in the lieutenant governor's office, he said. "We think we have a blank piece of paper for reinventing the office," Bailey said of his political campaign.

Bailey said the lieutenant governor's office should be involved in problem solving efforts in state government. Bailey said the lieutenant governor can use the office as a "bully pulpit" to promote change and make improvements in everything from education to road building.

Bailey said Missouri should consider constructing toll roads. Tolls, he said, offer a way to fund needed road improvements.