Pro-Parson PAC seeks to boost Missouri governor’s favored candidates in GOP primaries

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson prior to the State of the State address on Jan. 24, 2024 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

A political action committee that for two years has mostly existed to bankroll Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s trips to the Super Bowl has begun spending money to bolster his preferred candidates in next week’s GOP primaries.

And while his PAC spends money, Parson is also wading into the primaries through his taxpayer-funded office — drawing criticism that he may be using public resources for campaign purposes.

Uniting Missouri, which was created to support Parson’s bid for a full term in 2020, donated $100,000 this week to the PAC backing Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s bid for governor and spent roughly $100,000 on TV ads in the Kansas City market attacking Will Scharf, who is seeking to oust Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

The PAC spent nearly $600,000 on “digital advertising” and $36,000 on radio ads in central and southwest Missouri, although public reports do not indicate who is being targeted in those advertisements.

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Parson, who is barred from seeking another term as governor, appointed Kehoe and Bailey to their current jobs and endorsed them both for the Aug. 6 primary. 

The spending spree for Parson appointees was made possible by a pair of large donations last week. 

David Steward, co-founder of World Wide Technology and a former member of the Washington University Board of Trustees, donated $100,000 to Uniting Missouri on July 25. 

The St. Louis law firm of trial attorney Eric Holland donated $300,000 on July 26. The firm gave Uniting Missouri $250,000 earlier this year. 

Uniting Missouri also reported receiving $5,000 from MACO Development Co., a low-income housing developer; $10,000 from a group called 36 Political Fund, which is connected to the sheet metal workers union; and $25,000 from five different PACs that are all controlled by the lobbying firm of Steve Tilley, a longtime adviser to the governor. 

Last month, Uniting Missouri accepted a $50,000 donation from the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association and $15,000 from Torch Electronics, a Wildwood-based company accused of operating illegal gambling machines across the state. 

Governor’s Office weighs in

Uniting Missouri’s intervention in the GOP primary is only the latest example of the governor seeking to put his thumb on the scale for his favored candidates. 

Parson last year used official letterhead from the governor’s office to unsuccessfully pressure a national Republican organization to support Bailey’s candidacy. And his department of labor spent $100,000 for a television advertisement that featured Bailey.

In both instances, Parson faced accusations that he violated a state law prohibiting the misuse of public resources for campaign purposes. 

He seemed to double down on the practice on Tuesday, when Parson once again used official letterhead from the governor’s office to weigh in on the attorney general primary. This time, he condemned a TV ad attacking Bailey paid for by a group that supports Scharf.

And on Wednesday, Parson announced he would hold a joint press conference with Bailey this week in order to discuss “the danger posed by unregulated cannabinoids.”

Parson endured similar criticism from Kehoe’s main Republican rivals — Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel — when earlier this year he included the lieutenant governor in a press conference and executive order pertaining to foreign ownership of Missouri land.

Super Bowl trips

Parson took over as governor in June 2018 when his predecessor — Eric Greitens — resigned to avoid impeachment and settle a felony charge in St. Louis. 

He won a full term in 2020. But because Greitens had more than two years left on his term when he resigned, Parson is prohibited from running again because of term limits. 

Immediately after his 2020 victory, Uniting Missouri spent much of its money on campaign advisers and advertising —  $69,000 on consultants in 2022, along with $150,000 on ads.

But spending patterns changed the last two years and have focused mostly on Parson’s travel.

Uniting Missouri paid $56,000 in February 2023 to the Kansas City Chiefs for a “fundraising event,” covering costs associated with the governor’s trip to Arizona for the Super Bowl. It also paid more than $110,000 during the first three months of 2023 to an aviation company connected to Tilley.

The PAC spent $64,000 earlier this year on credit card payments. The charges appear to be for another “fundraising event” at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and included a $56,000 payment to the Kansas City Chiefs; $8,400 to Ticketmaster; and $650 to the NFL Experience.

This story was updated at 8:37 a.m. on July 31 to include Gov. Mike Parson’s letter condemning a TV ad attacking Andrew Bailey.