Mo. gubernatorial candidate Steelman on 13-day bus tour

HARTVILLE, Mo. -- Rolling in a tour bus though southern Missouri's two-lane back roads, Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Steelman is spreading her call for a repeal of the state's ethanol mandate -- and getting a double thumbs up from livestock farmers.

Frustration over Missouri's mandatory sale of ethanol-blended gasoline frequently provided the most emotional political discussions Monday as Steelman took her 13-day, 59-town bus tour to places such as Houston, Mo., Hartville and Ava -- where cattle, not corn, is the agricultural king.

Steelman pledged: "One of the first things I would do as governor is repeal the mandate."

Steelman, the state treasurer, is running against U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof in Missouri's Aug. 5 Republican gubernatorial primary. The winner is expected to face Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon in the November general election. Republican Gov. Matt Blunt is not seeking re-election.

Hulshof, who raises corn and soybeans on his family's Bootheel farm, has been a staunch defender of a Missouri law that took effect in January requiring gas stations to sell a 10 percent ethanol blend whenever its price is no more than traditional gasoline. He contends it helps hold down the price of gas and reduces the nation's dependency on foreign oil.

Steelman contends the mandated use of the corn-based fuel is driving up the cost of human food, livestock feed and even of gasoline itself.

A rift has started to develop in Missouri's agricultural community between the row-crop farmers who dominate northern Missouri and the Bootheel and the livestock ranchers who are most common in the southern part of the state.

It's unclear whether an ethanol backlash in Republican-heavy southern Missouri can help fuel a resurgence by Steelman, who was slightly trailing Hulshof in a recent statewide poll conducted for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and television station KMOV.

Hulshof also has the support of Sen. Kit Bond, the rest of the state's Republican congressional delegation, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and the state's main business and industry associations. Campaign finance reports released last week show Hulshof raised five times as much money as Steelman during the three-month period from April through June.

Hulshof spokesman Scott Baker said Monday that gas prices would rise further if ethanol use declines. He asserted that most Missourians want to lessen the use of foreign oil, which is what he said ethanol accomplishes.

"When it comes to addressing our nation's energy needs, Kenny believes it makes more sense to look to the Midwest instead of the Middle East," Baker said.

Steelman's bus tour is part of a targeted campaign. She's stopping in each of the 47 counties with the largest number of likely Republican voters, based on previous elections, said her campaign consultant Jeff Roe. Two days before each visit, Steelman is ringing each of those potential voters' homes with an automated telephone call inviting them to come to met her. And at each event, her campaign aides are distributing Steelman postcards for attendees to mail to others.

In Wright County, for example, Steelman's campaign calls reached 5,200 homes, Roe said. Fewer than 1 percent showed up, but Roe said the real point of the calls was to let rural residents know that Steelman was in their area -- listening to their concerns.