Legislative campaign finance reports released

Legislative candidate Wayne Wallingford added $8,000 of his own money to his campaign war chest in the final days of the primary campaign in Cape Girardeau, but it wasn't enough.

Wallingford wound up the race for the Republican nomination in the 158th District by spending $500 more than the winning candidate, Clint Tracy. Wallingford, a retired Air Force officer and an executive with McDonald's of Southeast Missouri, spent $36,789 on the contest, while Tracy, a Naval Reserve officer, spent $36,283.

Jeff Glenn, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, raised and spent $26,514 on his campaign. Glenn ran third, with 25.6 percent of the vote. Tracy took 41.8 percent of the ballots. Tracy faces Libertarian Party candidate Robert Roland on Nov. 4.

The campaign finance figures were reported Thursday to the Missouri Ethics Commission. Candidates reported contributions from July 25 through the end of August.

Along with the race between Tracy and Roland, there are three contested legislative contests for seats that include part or all of Cape Girardeau or the immediately adjacent counties of Bollinger, Perry and Scott. Michael Winder, a Democrat from Marquand, Mo., is making his second bid for the 156th District seat currently held by House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, who is barred by term limits from seeking re-election. The Republican nominee is Shelley Keeney, who has worked as Jetton's district aide in Marble Hill and has enlisted Jetton as her campaign treasurer.

Overall, Winder has raised $31,742 for his campaign, including $3,336 in the past month. He had $3,061 on hand as of Saturday.

Keeney, meanwhile, has raised $38,895 for her effort, including $4,812 in the past month. She had $25,851 on hand Saturday and benefited from the repeal of campaign contribution limits when McAllister Software Systems of Piedmont, Mo., sent a contribution of $650. The previous limit for a House seat was $325 per contributor.

The 156th District includes Bollinger, Madison and most of Wayne counties.

The House race in 159th District has two-term incumbent, Rep. Billy Pat Wright, a Dexter Republican, facing former U.S. Rep. Bill Burlison, a Democrat who lost his seat in Congress in 1980 to the late Bill Emerson.

Burlison, who lives in Advance, Mo., has raised $20,553 for his campaign, most of it from a $15,100 loan to his own campaign early after he announced. Burlison raised $575 in the past month and had $1,812 on hand as of Saturday.

Wright, meanwhile, has raised $56,414 for his re-election bid, including $3,200 in the past month, and has $28,563 in the bank.

The 159th District includes southwest Cape Girardeau County and most of Stoddard County.

In the other legislative contest, state Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, is trying to hold his seat in the 27th Senate District against a challenge from Linda Sanders, a Jackson Democrat.

Crowell, elected to the Senate in 2004 following two terms in the Missouri House, raised $18,300 in the past month, including $4,000 from donors who gave more than the previous $675 limit, and has $85,394 on hand. Crowell has raised $410,000 for his re-election bid, but was forced to return a large portion of that amount when a previous attempt to repeal contribution limits was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Sanders, meanwhile, has raised $6,810 for her campaign in the six-county district, including $3,185 in the past month. Sanders had $3,370 on hand as of Saturday.

The 27th District includes Cape Girardeau, Perry, Madison, Bollinger, Scott and Mississippi counties.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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