This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 24, 2012 - In less than a week, Missouri’s Republican nominee for governor, Dave Spence, has injected a second $500,000 of his own money into his campaign.
Spence’s latest $500,000 was reported Wednesday, and came just six days after his identical earlier donation.
Spence’s last-minute infusion of at least $1 million in a week helps him trim the financial edge of Gov. Jay Nixon heading into the final days. And Spence hasn't said if more may follow.
Overall, Spence has now donated or lent his campaign at least $5 million from his own pocket– all of it this year.
Spence, a St. Louis County businessman, is believed to have collected at least $200 million from selling most of his interest in one of his companies, Alpha Packaging, in 2010. He has declined to say how much of his personal fortune he is willing to spend in his quest to defeat Nixon, a Democrat who has not put in any of his own money – but has substantially outraised his GOP rival.
As of their last reports, Nixon had raised $13.9 million as of Sept. 30, compared to Spence’s $7.2 million (which included $4 million of Spence’s own money). Nixon had spent $8.9 million, compared to $4.67 million for Spence. As of Sept. 30, the governor had $4.9 million in the bank, compared to $1.5 million for Spence.
Those tallies didn’t include Spence’s latest $1 million, nor the latest infusions from the Democratic Governors Association and the Republican Governors Association.
In any case, Spence’s decision to inject more of his personal wealth into the last days of his campaign possibly makes it less likely that the governor, the titular head of the state Democratic Party, will entertain any last-minute thoughts of doling out any of his own money to down-ballot Democratic candidates who aren’t in good financial shape.
