Elaine Edgar leads in fundraising with GOP primary looming

Elaine Edgar, in her first bid for public office, has raised the most campaign money in the three-way Republican field for Tuesday's primary election for state House District 147 in Cape Girardeau.

Her GOP opponents, Nate Thomas and John Voss, both have electoral experience on Cape Girardeau City Council.

According to Missouri Ethics Commission financial disclosure reports, Edgar, a Cape Girardeau real estate brokerage owner and former teacher, has raised $64,837 as of Monday.

MEC requires candidates to file a final detailed finance report eight days before election.

Thomas, co-owner of BOLD Marketing in Cape Girardeau and a former policy expert for the American Physical Therapy Association in Washington, D.C., has amassed $37,886.05. Thomas is the incumbent Ward 3 Cape Girardeau city council member.

Nate Thomas

John Voss, a retired Procter & Gamble engineer who formerly served eight years as Cape's Ward 1 council member, has raised $31,793.94.

Edgar also has a healthy lead in what MEC calls "money on hand," with $25,247.83 in her war chest.

Thomas and Voss have $5,513.33 and $4,243.02 on hand, respectively.

Drilling down

Each of the candidates has loaned money to their campaigns.

John Voss

Edgar has lent Cape Citizens for Elaine Edgar a total of $30,000.

Thomas has loaned Committee to Elect Nathan Thomas $10,000, while Voss's loan to Friends of John Voss is $5,000.

PAC money

• Edgar: The candidate's largest political action committee contribution is from "Make Liberty Win Missouri PAC" in Jefferson City for $28,811.22.

She has also received three donations totaling $23,418 from Missouri Federation for Children PAC.

Other PAC contributions for Edgar are from Missouri Alliance, Missouri Realtors, Catalyst, SOCO Red, Physician Led Anesthesia, Right Path, Rocker P. Brand, Missouri National Education Association, Missouri Right to Life and Camden County Republican Club.

• Thomas: Largest PAC contribution is $2,000 from PT-PAC. He has also received $1,200 from A Better Missouri PAC.

Other PAC contributions include $500 from Missouri State Council of Firefighters; $350 each from Missouri First, Living Well and Build St. Louis. Thomas also rec'd a contribution of $500 from Cape Girardeau Firefighters for Responsible Gov't.

• Voss: Voss has not received any PAC money this election cycle.

Expenses

• Edgar: Her campaign's largest single expenditure, more than $23,000, has been to Victory Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa, for pamphlets, mailers, social media, website, website maintenance, signs and a cable buy.
• Thomas: His campaign committee's largest single vendor expense is Cape Girardeau's BOLD Marketing, which Thomas co-owns with wife Dana Thomas for $23,416.19. BOLD was hired for social media outreach, campaign collateral, event expenses, media advertising, mailers and professional services and strategy.
• Voss: His campaign's largest single expense was Cape Girardeau's TPC for more than $5,500 in printing services.

Individual contributions

• Edgar: 69 donations ranging from $20 to $2,000.
• Thomas: 77 donations ranging from $50 to $2,000.
• Voss: 54 donations ranging from $100 to $2,000.

The winner of Tuesday's primary will face Democrat Andy Leighton and Libertarian Greg Tlapek in the Nov. 8 general election.

Both men are uncontested in their respective parties.