John Brunner enters GOP race for Mo. governor

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Retired businessman John Brunner formally entered the crowded Republican field seeking to be Missouri's next governor, touting himself as a political outsider with the leadership experience to bring needed change to state government.

In a video announcing his candidacy Monday, the former Marine captain and retired CEO of Vi-Jon, Inc., his family's hand-sanitizer and personal-care product company, pointed out that he's never held public office, making him the second GOP candidate without such political experience.

"As governor I won't have to hunt for the instruction manual and I won't have to bring in the consultants," Brunner said. "I understand firsthand through decades of experience what it will take to get the job done."

Brunner, 63, is branding himself as a business-savvy candidate and says he would support a statewide right-to-work law, "tort reform" and the ending of "corporate tax handouts" that he says help niche industries, but not the entire state.

Brunner needs to distinguish himself from the four other GOP candidates: State Sen. Bob Dixon, former Navy SEAL officer Eric Greitens, former U.S. attorney and Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. But the resident of the St. Louis suburb of Frontenac said his plan is to contrast himself with his potential Democratic opponent, Attorney General Chris Koster, who hasn't formally entered the race but who has been the only Democrat to say he intends to do so.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon can't run for re-election because he's reached his term limit.

In his video, Brunner says voters will face a choice between "a political chameleon and a proven conservative." Koster served in the state Senate as a Republican, then switched parties in 2007 and ran for attorney general.

Brunner says he opposes the Common Core school standards, wants to pare down the budget to find $1 billion to spend on repairs to the state's aging roads and bridges, and aims to revamp the state's welfare laws. He wants to ban lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and state officials and to "end the revolving door of influence peddling."

Missouri has some of the nation's loosest political ethics laws and allows lawmakers to immediately become lobbyists after leaving office and donors to give unlimited contributions to campaigns. There also are no caps on lobbyist gifts.

"We have to do something different," Brunner said Monday. But he stopped short of backing campaign contribution caps, saying limits could make it difficult for political newcomers to face incumbents.

Brunner isn't new to Missouri politics, despite his lack of experience in office. He's long been a donor to other conservative candidates and he poured millions of dollars into a failed U.S. Senate campaign in 2012. Brunner lost in a Republican primary to former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, who in turn lost to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Campaign spokesman Mike Hafner said Brunner has learned from his last attempt for elected office and plans to focus more on building grass-roots support. Brunner so far has donated at least $87,600 to an exploratory committee that allowed him to fundraise while mulling over whether to launch a full-blown campaign, according to campaign finance records. His wife has given his campaign $50,000.

Brunner said in the video that he's a "threat to the political class and their big-dollar donors because I can't be bought."