GOP officials distance themselves from Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Republican officials on Wednesday were encouraging their own members to withhold support from the party's surprise nominee for state auditor.

Al Hanson received 65 percent of the statewide GOP vote in Tuesday's primary against Jay Kanzler, general counsel for Washington University in St. Louis, who failed to take a single county despite his endorsement by top Republicans.

Hanson's background includes time behind bars in Minnesota in the 1970s, and Missouri's Republican leaders backed away from him Wednesday.

"What we are saying right now is that we are encouraging Republicans not to vote for Al Hanson," said John Hancock, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party.

Hanson will now prepare to challenge Democratic State Auditor Claire McCaskill, who has long been heavily favored to win the Nov. 5 general election.

From his home in the western Missouri town of Concordia, Hanson talked briefly by telephone Wednesday with The Associated Press about the victory.

"I've got a lot of thanks to give my volunteers across the state who put this all together," Hanson said.

He declined to answer further questions.

"That's the only statement I have," he said.

The state auditor is responsible for audits of all state-funded institutions, state agencies and most Missouri counties. While the office has no regulatory authority, state agencies more often than not comply with audit recommendations.

Hanson, 72, grew up in Ottertail, Minn. He was arrested in 1977 for mail fraud and swindling and was sentenced to a year in Minnesota's Stillwater State Penitentiary.

He currently runs a Lutheran prison ministry and has a Web site touting his 32-page book titled "I was in prison: Personal Witnesses in Jail and Prisons."

Hanson's run for Missouri auditor is the latest of several campaigns. He ran unsuccessfully for Lafayette County commissioner in 1998 and 2000, and in 1996 ran against his wife, Janette, for the 122nd District state House seat.

He ran for state auditor in Minnesota in 1986, losing the Democratic primary by 7,000 votes out of more than a quarter-million cast.

A former trader in grain options and stocks, Hanson said in a June interview that he was running for Missouri auditor partly to create a hot line carrying such information as bank ratings and bond rates.

"I am the candidate that has the knowledge to protect state funds in these very difficult economic times. This isn't a job for a politician or a lawyer," he said.

Meanwhile, Republicans were still puzzling Wednesday over how Hanson could have defeated Kanzler, who received about half of his $107,000 campaign chest from the Party and ran commercials in which he was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Kit Bond.

Kanzler spent more than $68,000 on the campaign and Hanson less than $500.

"I don't have a good explanation," Kanzler said late Tuesday night.

"I think it will be a while before somebody can fully explain why the results turned out the way they did."

One suggestion is that because neither candidate was well-known, Hanson's placement on the top of the auditor's ballot gave him an edge.

"I think it was just ballot position," said Hancock. "The only solace you can take from this is that I don't think that anything could have been done to prevent this short of spending half a million dollars."

Hancock said Republicans are focused on Talent's race for Senate against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan and won't be distracted by Hanson's candidacy.

Auditor McCaskill, who was unopposed Tuesday, said she would move ahead with her campaign and run on her accomplishments in her first four-year term. McCaskill, however, was also surprised by Hanson's victory.

"I'm probably as surprised as Jay Kanzler. Clearly the Republican establishment backed a candidate that didn't prevail," said McCaskill, whose campaign has more than $380,000 in the bank.

Libertarian candidate Arnold Trembley, who had no opposition in the primary, also will be challenging McCaskill in the November general election.

David Webber, a political scientist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said that it was possible that because Hanson and Kanzler have similar sounding names combined with the ballot placement may have confused voters who knew little about the candidates.

"I don't believe two-thirds of Missouri Republicans preferred Mr. Hanson over Mr. Kanzler," Webber said Wednesday. "If you go went out there today and did a poll, I don't think people would know these two names, so I would say it was a fluke."

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On the Net:

Al Hanson: http://ylm.org/prisonministry

Missouri Democratic Party: http://www.missouridems.org

Missouri Republican Party: http://www.mogop.org

Missouri Libertarian Party: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1865/

CANDIDATE AL HANSON:

n Name: Al Hanson.

Party: Republican.

Age: 72.

Born: May 15, 1930.

Hometown: Concordia.

Education: Bachelor's degree in history and general science, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minn.

Experience: Financial consultant; founder of Lutheran Prison Ministries; infantry officer, Korean War.

Family: Wife, Janette; four daughters: Shari, Susan, Shirley, Sandra.