McCaskill, Holden battle heating up

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When the campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination began in earnest last month, incumbent Gov. Bob Holden focused his attacks on the Republican-led legislature while ignoring State Auditor Claire McCaskill, his main challenger.

That changed last week when Holden launched television ads that for the first time acknowledged McCaskill's bid to make him a lame-duck governor after the Aug. 3 Democratic primary.

Holden had portrayed himself as the last line of defense against Republican efforts to cut state spending on education and social services. McCaskill had accused Holden of being too eager to pick fights with Republican lawmakers instead of trying to forge consensus.

After a McCaskill ad claimed the governor was complicit in cutting education, Holden struck back with spots calling her claims "ridiculous" and accusing her of demonstrating political opportunism rather than leadership.

It is standard practice for incumbents to ignore challengers as much as possible, particularly in a primary. However, Holden campaign spokesman Caleb Weaver said McCaskill's attacks had to be refuted.

"We wish Ms. McCaskill hadn't started running the campaign she's running," Weaver said. "Political history has taught us that if you let an attack like this go unanswered, people will believe it. We felt we had to clarify the record."

McCaskill declined to characterize the Holden campaign's shift in focus from Republicans to her as an indication he is on the defensive.

"I think the governor has taken my challenge seriously from day one," McCaskill said. "Only now, because of a strategy decision, he is going on the attack."

McCaskill's ad blasts the governor for signing an appropriations bill in 2003 that reduced education spending by $152 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30. Unmentioned is that Holden signed the education budget into law only after twice vetoing earlier and less generous proposals the legislature sent him. Not signing the third version would have meant risking a partial government shutdown.

Two other candidates

While the battle for the Democratic nomination has been framed as a Holden-McCaskill contest, two other candidates are on the ballot. The candidacy of Jeffery Emrick, a little-known Kansas City-area resident, is considered a nonfactor. However, Cole County Auditor Jim LePage is trying build support by establishing himself as the pro-life Democratic alternative to Holden and McCaskill, both of whom support abortion rights.

LePage said he initially thought he would just test the waters and drop out of the race if he didn't believe his pro-life message resonated. He said the reaction from Democrats opposed to abortion rights has been positive.

"There are so many pro-life Democrats out there who feel they haven't been able to vote their conscience in a long time," LePage said. "Rather than vote Republican, a lot of them just don't vote."

Although he lacks the statewide name recognition and political support the top two contenders have, LePage brings legitimate government credentials to the campaign. Prior to his 14 years as county auditor, LePage served as director of the Missouri Department of Revenue during the administration of Gov. Joe Teasdale. He is a certified public accountant and teaches economics at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

While his campaign is a strictly a grass-roots effort, LePage believes he has a fighting chance since a winning candidate doesn't need to garner a large percentage of the vote in a three-way race.

"With my pro-life supporters, we may just surprise some people," LePage said.

A Catholic, LePage supports St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke's position that Catholics would be committing a sin by voting for candidates who support abortion rights.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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