Rex Sinquefield drops big donations into GOP governor, AG primaries

Rex Sinquefield at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis on May 7, 2012 (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images).

Missouri’s most prolific political donor dropped another $1 million into the campaign of his preferred candidate for governor last week, bringing the total he’s spent during the 2024 election cycle to almost $3 million. 

Retired investor Rex Sinquefield has given more than $45 million in contributions since he became a significant donor around 2006 mostly to Republicans, though not exclusively.

His donations last week included $1 million to American Dream PAC, which supports the gubernatorial campaign of Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, and $250,000 to Liberty and Justice PAC, which supports Attorney General Andrew Bailey. 

Sinquefield has donated roughly a third of all money received by American Dream PAC since the beginning of 2023.

American Dream PAC, which can raise money alongside Kehoe but must spend its funds independently of his official campaign, is already the richest in the race for governor. It reported $4.5 million on hand on March 31, more than double the amount in the PAC backing Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and four times the funding available for BILL PAC, which is supporting state Sen. Bill Eigel.

The Sinquefield checks, one for $250,000 and another for $750,000, were reported Thursday to the Missouri Ethics Commission. Other large donors have given Kehoe’s PAC $182,674 since the last full report was filed.

The commission requires contributions of more than $5,000 to be reported within 48 hours of receipt.

Ashcroft’s spokesman, Jason Roe, said Kehoe “has been bankrolled by the Jefferson City lobbyists and special interest groups because they know what they are going to get — a transactional big government governor. He has the endorsement of nearly every special interest group in the state because they know he will raise taxes, they know he will increase spending and they know they will be the beneficiaries.”

Ashcroft’s PAC, Committee for Liberty, has raised $155,661 in large donations since March 31. The largest, $50,000, was from his mother, former First Lady Janet Ashcroft. With those reports, it has reported raising just under $1 million since the beginning of 2023.

The committee reported $1.9 million on hand on March 31.

Sophia Shore, Eigel’s campaign manager, said Kehoe “is no doubt the establishment donors choice; he has enough money to burn a wet mule.”

Eigel’s joint fundraising committee, BILL PAC, has received only one donation greater than $5,000 since March 31 — $10,000 from Joan Langenberg of St. Louis on May 6. The PAC has raised $2 million since Jan. 1, 2023.

Sinquefield has a long history of cutting massive checks for his preferred candidates. He has often focused his efforts on cutting income taxes and changes to the state’s education system.

In 2016, he bankrolled a slate of candidates in GOP statewide primaries, spending nearly $11 million supporting candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and treasurer. 

Of the candidates he supported, only one prevailed.

In September 2020, Sinquefield parted ways with his longtime advisors, Pelopidas, owned by Travis Brown. He made no political contributions until late 2021, and since the beginning of 2022 has made $4.3 million donations, including $1.7 million reported since Jan. 1.

Pelopidas closed its doors after Sinquefield withdrew his backing. In 2021, a Missouri appeals court ordered Brown and the firm to pay $7.5 million to Rachel Keller, Brown’s former wife and business partner, in a case filed in 2016, two years after the couple.

Both Eigel and Ashcroft have received donations from Sinquefield, but not since he fired Pelopidas as his consulting firm.

As a candidate for state Senate in 2014, Ashcroft received a donation of $25,000 from Sinquefield. In 2020, when he sought re-election as secretary of state, Sinquefield contributed $2,650.

There were no limits on contributions directly to candidate committees in 2014. Those limits were imposed by a constitutional amendment and for this year’s elections, the limit for statewide candidates is $2,825.

BILL PAC received $225,000 from Sinquefield in 2019 and 2020, when Eigel sought re-election to the state Senate.

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