SPENDING FOR LEGISLATIVE CAMPAIGN IN STATE RISING

JEFFERSON CITY -- A just-completed analysis of last November's legislative campaign expenditures reveals a rapid increase in the amount of money being raised and spent for the 197 seats in the Missouri General Assembly.

In the 1994 general election campaign, Senate and House candidates raised more than $6.8 million, according to records of the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The figure doesn't include independent expenditures on behalf of the candidates by individuals, PACs and other groups, nor does it include contributions from the candidates themselves.

Neither does the total include funds raised and spent during the August 1994 primary campaign, a figure that could bring legislative campaign spending for both the primary and general elections up to or in excess of $10 million.

Commissioned by two advocacy groups in the state, the study of data gathered by the Ethics Commission provides some conclusions about he biennial legislative campaigns and elections in Missouri. Among them:

-- Some members of the Missouri Senate spent almost as much to win election last November as did some winning candidates for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

-- Money both raised and spent in 17 Senate and all 163 House of Representatives races seemed to be the overriding factor in the candidates' success rates. For example, in the 17 Senate races, every candidate who raised and spent more money than his or her opponent was the winner. In contests for House seats, nearly nine out of 10 winners raised and spent more money than his or her opponent. Winners of House seats spent, on the average, 47 percent more than their opponents.

-- From 1990 to 1994, Missouri Senate campaign gift totals increased nearly 25 percent. On the average, each candidate took in only slightly less than $100,000 last year to become a member of the chamber. The average contributions total for each winning senator in 1990 was $74,894, while in 1992 the average had increased to $87,990. Last year the average went to an all-time high of $98,136.

-- The average spent by winners in last November's Senate races was $106,766, while the average spent by losers was $58,974. Candidates who were challenging an incumbent spent, on the average, $163,514, while expenditures by incumbent losers averaged $120,121.

-- The average raised by all winners in last year's general election House contests was $22,179, while the average raised by all losers was $9,615. The average spent by incumbent House winners was $16,971, while the average spent by challenger losers averaged $7,893.

The study, underwritten by the Missouri Citizen Education Fund and the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, both in St. Louis, came just as a new statewide commission began hearings on campaign financing reform.

The commission came into existence last year when voters approved Proposition A, which requires the formation of a panel to study ways of improving campaign financing in Missouri.

The 8-member commission held its first hearing in St. Louis and Kansas City, with additional public forums to be convened at Springfield and Columbia. As called for in the initiative referendum, Gov. Mel Carnahan named four members of the General Assembly and four representing the private sector.

The appointees include Connie Rademan of United We Stand America, Leonard Robinson of the United Auto Workers Union, Tim Barchak of the AFL-CIO, private attorney Gerry Greimen, Sens. Wayne Goode and Steve Ehlmann, and Reps. May Scheve and Beth Long. Goode and Scheve are Democrats and Ehlmann and Long are Republicans.

The panel is expected to submit campaign spending recommendations to the governor by the end of the month.

CAMPAIGN FINANCES

A summary of the data gathered on general election campaign receipts and expenditures for the 17 Missouri Senate seats and the 163 House races in the 1994 general election:

Senate

Total raised by candidates: $2,472,935

Total spent by candidates: $2,257,116

Average spent by winner per vote: $3.17

Average spent by loser per vote: $2.38

Largest amount of contributions received: $191,237 (Sen. John Schneider, D-Florissant)

Highest amount spent by a candidate: $172,258 (Sen. Bill Kenney, R-Blue Springs)

House

Total raised by candidates: $4,401,057

Total spent by candidates: $3,234,067

Average spent by winner per vote: $2.61

Average spent by loser per vote: $2.24

Largest amount of contributions received: $52,747 (Former Rep. William T. Dawson, D-Independence)

Highest amount spent by a candidate: $46,202 (Rep. Charles Nordwald, R-Warrenton)