Mo. GOP governor candidates campaigning on ethics reform

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Reform. As a noun, it's primary definition is "a correction of faults or evils, as in government or society."

So when Missouri's leading Republican gubernatorial candidates campaign on the need for ethics reform, they implicitly suggest that Missouri's current government has faults or evils in need of correction.

What makes the campaign platforms of Kenny Hulshof and Sarah Steelman somewhat unusual is that they are presenting them in the Republican primary, after four years in which Republicans have been in charge of the Governor's Mansion, Senate and House.

In essence, the Republican gubernatorial candidates are appealing to Republican voters by implying that Republican officeholders have done a poor job of instilling ethics in government.

It sounds more like an argument that would come from a Democratic candidate.

To be clear, neither Hulshof or Steelman has specifically criticized Republican Gov. Matt Blunt for any alleged ethical lapses.

But David Kimball, a political scientist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said it's hard not to draw that conclusion from their ethics platforms, particularly since they are running for the office he now holds.

Hulshof was the first to roll out an "ethics reform package" in April.

His six-pronged proposal includes an end to patronage appointments for state license offices, a long-standing gubernatorial tradition for which Blunt drew heat early in his administration. Blunt later started awarding some office contracts through competitive bids -- a process embraced by Hulshof.

Hulshof's ethics plan also implicitly takes aim at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon, whose attorney general's office defends claims against a state fund for injured workers. Hulshof proposes to ban political contributions to the attorney general from private sector lawyers representing injured workers -- something Nixon acknowledges he has received.

Steelman rolled out her own "tough new ethics proposals" during a series of campaign events last week.

She took particular aim at Republican House Speaker Rod Jetton, who also works as a political consultant for some lawmakers, by proposing to ban such dual roles. She also proposed a law banning state tax credits, contracts and loan incentives from going to elected officials or their families -- a move that under current circumstances would deny financial incentives for an ethanol plant whose investors include a Republican lawmaker and the governor's brother, Andy Blunt.

"What I think we need to do is make sure that we restore trust and confidence from the public in elected officials," Steelman said in an interview. That implies that such trust and confidence has been lacking during the past four years of Republican governance.

Hulshof struck upon a similar theme when outlining his ethics package. He noted that people are talking about the economy and jobs, health care and education.

Kimball said it may not be very politically helpful in the Republican primary for Hulshof and Steelman to imply that Missouri's Republican-led government is in need of an ethics overhaul. But whoever wins the Aug. 5 primary will be able to claim that he or she has long been calling for ethics reforms, which may make a stronger selling point in the November general election.