(Originally published in The Missouri Times)

— Shane Schoeller, a former legislative official turned candidate for Missouri secretary of state, will take over as executive director of the Missouri Republican Party.

The announcement was expected late Thursday morning, when Chairman Ed Martin was expected to hold a conference call with members of the Republican state board.

Schoeller, who most recently served as speaker pro tem in the Missouri House of Representatives, hails from southwest Missouri, an important Republican stronghold and an even more important area as the party begins to rebuild from its problems in statewide races during 2012.

Martin — who ran for attorney general last year — became close with Schoeller during the 2012 campaign, where they built a trust relationship on the campaign trail, with Martin campaigning along-side Schoeller, even throughout Schoeller’s three-way primary.

Martin took office on Jan. 5, and Lloyd Smith — the last executive director — left his position a week later, opening the application process. That is when the party received nearly 50 applications from across Missouri and the nation, and the list was narrowed down to about 15 in early February.

From there, Martin sought input from all the various factions of the party, including Tea Party groups and establishment leaders — including House Speaker Tim Jones and Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey.

At Lincoln Days in St. Louis, Martin himself sat down to interview five candidates. Many were there, but that was where Schoeller stood out. He had a hospitality suite for attendees and was an active participant in the weekend’s festivities, allowing him a cloak of secrecy when meeting with Martin and committee members.

Party insiders believe that Martin, sometimes a self-understood larger-than-life figure, was truly trying to make an unselfish decision in choosing Schoeller, who has a real history of working on the ground in politics from his work with Kit Bond, John Ashcroft, and Matt Blunt. The decision could likely be the biggest decision Martin has to make as chairman, and he wanted to do it right.

While Martin and the party leadership considered several other names to fill the post, the settled on Schoeller not only for his ability to reach out to the various factions of the party, but also for the fact that he’s not a campaign consultant. As the party readies for the 2014 reelection campaign of state Auditor Tom Schweich, a vocal critic of the influence of consultants, the party may begin to focus more on in-house advice than advice from the outside.

Martin hired his own political director, Steve Michael, who ran his 2010 congressional race and 2012 campaigns. The party has also brought on Michelle Wright, who leads the campaign finance operation at Veritas Public Relations, to help boost the party’s fundraising over the next few months. Additionally, Kurt Witzel, an executive at Anheuser-Busch who decided against a run for state committee last year, is expected to soon be approved to the state executive committee as finance chairman.

U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin (PoliticMo Photo)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin said Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill has fetched expansive government policies “like a dog” during her tenure in Washington.

Akin made the comparison during a fundraising event in Springfield, where he featured support from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, one of the few national Republicans still backing Akin after much of the party establishment distanced themselves from his candidacy following the controversy earlier in the race surrounding his comments about “legitimate rape.”

“She goes to Washington, D.C., it’s a little bit like one of those dogs, ‘fetch,’” he said. “She goes to Washington, D.C., and get all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies and brings all of this stuff and dumps it on us in Missouri.”

Akin continued, “It seems to me that she’s got it just backwards. What we should be doing is taking the common sense we see in Missouri and taking that to Washington, D.C., and blessing them with more solutions instead of more problems.”

The remark was another in a series of quotes that could place more distance between Akin and female voters. Earlier this year, Akin questioned whether McCaskill was “lady-like” during their first debate, and during their second debate was criticized by McCaskill for his opposition to “equal pay” laws for women.

Akin, speaking to the audience Saturday evening, said the focus on issues other than the economy is a “distraction” by the McCaskill campaign from her tenure in office, and encouraged voter to compare her six years as a senator with his 12 years in the House.

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Sen. Claire McCaskill and rival Todd Akin faced off in their second and final debate Thursday evening in Clayton, Mo.

CLAYTON, Mo. — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill was on the offensive Thursday night during her final debate with her Republican rival, Todd Akin.

At Clayton High School, less than three weeks from election day, McCaskill took issue with dozens of Akin’s previous votes – some of which dealing with raising his own pay, others dealing with opposing federal funds for school lunches – all as she attempts to define Akin to Missouri voters as too “extreme.”

“Moderate verses extreme,” McCaskill said, “I think there’s a very big choice for Missourians to make.”

Akin, known during the primary (and even in his prior debate with McCaskill) for delving into the details of a policy question, focused instead on a handful of points in an attempt to tie McCaskill directly to government spending and President Obama, largely unpopular among Missouri voters.

“I believe she’s supported $6.9 trillion worth of deficit spending, and she calls herself a moderate,” Akin said. “How much do you have to spend in deficit spending to become a liberal?”

To counter, McCaskill said she would support parts of the Simpson-Bowles plan to reduce the national deficit, and touted her efforts working with Republicans — a key pillar of her campaign message — on opposing earmarks and supporting a cap on federal spending.

“I’m willing to look at pieces of Simpson-Bowles,” she said. “We’re going to get there through good, moderate, bipartisan work.”

McCaskill, who, following Akin’s inflammatory comments about “legitimate rape”, has focused increasingly on women’s issues in her campaign, also touted her campaign’s research claiming Akin’s official office pays women 23 percent less than his male staff.

After the debate, reporters asked Akin’s senior campaign adviser Rick Tyler about the issue. He said reporters should ask the official office spokesman for comment, but that spokesman, who was standing off to the side, immediately left when Tyler ended his discussion with reporters.

Akin, who spoke last during closing statements, took that opportunity to criticize McCaskill for her husband’s business dealings with companies that dealt with $39 million in federal housing subsidies. McCaskill, speaking with reporters, downplayed his assertion as a “cheap shot.”

The two faced off in a debate earlier this year in Columbia during a forum hosted by the Missouri Press Association. That time, the two operated in a different political environment in which Akin still had the opportunity to exit the race, which much of his party had asked him to do. This time, McCaskill’s jabs were sharper, and Akin, who answered much more cautiously, acted under the advice of new campaign consultants his campaign has hired in recent weeks.

Following their debate, Akin and McCaskill are back on the campaign trail in southwest Missouri this weekend.

Attorney General Chris Koster (PoliticMo Photo)

— Attorney General Chris Koster released a new campaign television commercial on Thursday attempting to define his rival, Republican Ed Martin, as a corrupt politician.

The ad, entitled “Billboards,” makes an implicit reference to Martin’s set of billboards across the state denouncing Koster as “Obama’s Lawyer.” But instead of touting Martin’s messaging, Koster’s ad features “billboards” touting newspaper editorials critical of Martin.

“Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics called Martin one of the most corrupt politicians in America,” the narrator said. “While Martin might not want to advertise that, we thought voters deserve to know.”

Koster’s latest critical ad is his second direct attack on Martin. His first came in an ad released last week that detailed Martin’s involvement in an email deletion scandal during Gov. Matt Blunt’s tenure.

– Gov. Jay Nixon released a new television commercial (http://bit.ly/OFK6rd) on Tuesday portraying himself as the right man for the job when the state is faced with natural disasters.

“Growing up in a small town, I saw how people come together when times are tough. That’s especially true when natural disasters strike,” Nixon said to the camera. “People unite to help one another, that’s what we do.”

He went on to contend that that he has utilized that same spirit when it comes to balancing the state’s budget and not raising taxes.

The 30 second positive spot, which reflects the message Nixon has given on the stump while campaigning this year, comes after Nixon’s campaign has aired three different television spots critical of his Republican rival, Dave Spence.

On the same day, Spence gave reporters tours of Alpha Packaging and Legacy Plastics plants, offering a visual for his message that he is a businessman in a clear effort to counter Nixon’s commercials that had portrayed him as a greedy banker.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Sarah Steelman for a barbecue in Cleveland, Mo., on Aug. 3, 2012. (PoliticMo Photo)

CLEVELAND, Mo. — At a blueberry patch in rural Cass County, former Republican vice presidential candiate Sarah Palin rallied supporters behind U.S. Senate hopeful Sarah Steelman.

“We have a candidate that actually has a solid conservative record,” Palin told hundreds of supporters. “She has had the guts to go against the grain.”

Palin’s visit came within days of the Aug. 7 primary, when Steelman will challenge U.S. Rep. Todd Akin and former St. Louis businessman John Brunner for their party’s nomination to take on Democrat Claire McCaskill in November.

Palin did not mention the names of Steelman’s two rivals, but her most heated jabs appeared to be pointed at Brunner, a first time candidate who has pulled significant support from farm groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Pointing to critical ads from the Chamber and Brunner, Palin said the party’s “establishment” looks worried.

“She may not have the Republican Party establishment’s blessing,” Palin said, “but that is a blessing.”

Steelman, in a speech introducing Palin, said she would “kick the door down” on the Republican establishment, and pledged not to be part of the “good ol’ boy’s club.”

After speaking, the two served food and posed for photos with supporters.

In an interview after the event on Friday evening, Steelman said she had never before met Palin. The endorsement came last month after Steelman sent Palin a letter seeking her support, she said.

On Saturday, Steelman will continue a campaign swing through southwest Missouri. She plans to end her day in Springfield at an event sponsored by the Greene County Republicans, where both of her opponents are expected to be present.

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (PoliticMo Photo)

JOPLIN, Mo. — As his primary rivals chide him for his support of the congressional spending practice known as earmarking, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin is continuing to tout his support of the process.

In an interview this week after his campaign released its most recent commercial highlighting an Akin earmark success story, Akin said the practice is a legitimate way to appropriate funds.

“Some people call amendments ‘earmarks’, I call them amendments,” he said.

The new commercial features the story of a military spouse who claims her
husband was saved by Akin’s support of a directed spending measure in support of armor for humvees in use in Iraq by American soldiers.

“Roadside bombs were killing our troops; the vehicles didn’t have enough armor. Congressman Todd Akin went to Iraq, and after an investigation helped get newly armored vehicles to our troops,” the woman said. “After getting the new armor, my husband’s humvee was hit. He’s alive today because of Todd Akin.”

On the campaign trail, Akin has defended the appropriations tactic as entirely constitutional, claiming it to be a congressional oversight on what would be otherwise a presidential power.

Akin’s primary opponents, former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and St. Louis businessman John Brunner, have strongly criticized Akin’s use of earmarks. The Brunner campaign released an ad highlighting Akin’s support of earmarking funds for a road improvement project near land being developed by the Akins in St. Louis, as reported by the Washington Post last year.

If Akin wins the primary (Akin interjected, “I believe we will”), he would be responsible for carrying the party’s torch against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of the first lawmakers to champion earmark reform, in the November election. McCaskill has joined with conservatives like Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn to ban the use of earmarks, which Democrats believe could allow her to get to the right of Akin on the issue.

Akin laughed off the idea that the earmarks issue could somehow benefit McCaskill with the conservative voters. Pointing to her support of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Akin said McCaskill’s record makes Tea Party Republicans — many of whom oppose earmarks — “sick to their stomachs.”

“To say that she’s against earmarks is about as truthful than to say she’s passed a budget in the Senate,” he said.

Akin wrapped up a statewide tour on Friday with a rally in St. Louis. Voters head to the polls to pick a nominee on Aug. 7.

John Brunner. (Photo/Brunner campaign)

— Republican U.S. Senate hopeful John Brunner has made his chief contention to primary voters that he is uniquely qualified for the U.S. Senate because of his lack of political experience and his extensive career in the private sector.

“I built a successful manufacturing business from 80 to over a thousand American jobs, helping those families share the American Dream,” Brunner said in his latest ad, pointing to his decades at the helm of Vi-Jon, a St. Louis pharmaceutical products firm.

Entitled “Stop Them,” the commercial is in direct response to a barrage of ads critical of his business record, which have been aired by everyone from his primary rival Sarah Steelman, Steelman’s super PAC, and even the Democrat he hopes to challenge in November, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Many of the ads have been critical of the company’s use of debt and its credit rating downgrade. Just this April, the credit ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Vi-Jon’s credit rating from B2 to B1. Moody’s cited Vi-Jon’s weak cash flow and lower profitability for the company.

Brunner was no longer CEO of the firm when it received its downgrade, but the report also points to a 2006 merger deal, which Brunner was a part of, that left the company in debt. He stepped down as CEO in 2009, and has served in a paid role on the company’s board since, during which time — the Brunner campaign points to the weak economy — the company has also laid off workers.

While Brunner is quick to tout the successes of the business — significant job growth and bringing it back from the brink of financial disaster (Brunner admits he “nearly killed the family business“) — the campaign is quick to distance itself from the recent financial woes.

“John Brunner has continued to serve as a compensated member of Vi-Jon’s board since he stepped down as CEO in 2009 and stopped running the day-to-day operations of the company,” Brunner spokesman Todd Abrajano said last week when asked about Brunner’s continued salary for his participation on the company’s board.

Brunner himself, during an interview while on a campaign swing through western Missouri last weekend, said the high profile criticism of the company by his opponents over of the company’s 2011 layoffs and use of international producers in Israel and China are “attacking jobs” and could hurt the private company’s reputation in the private label business.

“Whenever you have lies, false statements, innuendoes and false attacks without any substance, does it effect the business, individual, community? I’m sure,” Brunner said. “Lies and false statements would effect people negatively.”

Brunner then highlighted a positive at Vi-Jon.

“We,” Brunner said, “are also looking to add new jobs. Right now, there is a ‘help wanted’ sign in the window. We want to continue bringing new jobs to Missouri. The company is hiring right now.”

Despite begin the target of outside spending from Steelman’s PAC as well as outside Democratic groups, Brunner would not endorse legislation to require super PACs who use non-profit corporations to skirt disclosure rules to disclose their donors.

“I think the issue should be, can the attacks be validated and substantiated. I’ve worked very diligently to make sure the voting records of my opponents are clear,” Brunner said. “What is totally unfair, destructive, and job killing is the people — in order to protect their political careers and personal agendas — throw out false attacks with no substantiation at all to tear down.”

In the ad wars, Brunner has been a critic himself, criticizing his opponents’ previous records while serving in public office, much of which he has paid for on his own. Brunner, who has contributed more than $7 million to his own campaign, said he “hasn’t considered” how much he would put in his own campaign if he makes it past the Aug. 7 primary.

On Thursday, Brunner did a media tour featuring first public events with officials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, months after the business group endorsed him, and weeks after they launched an ad critical of Steelman.

Rob Engstrom, senior vice president for political affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Tracy King, vice president of governmental relations at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, joined Brunner for the media tour.

“As a successful manufacturer,” Engstrom said, “Brunner has spent his career cutting spending, balancing budgets, and growing his business by more than one thousand good-paying jobs – exactly the type of leadership and experience Washington needs right now.”

The Brunner campaign, which has spent much of its time in the last few months building up support from the agricultural community, has not given the same focus to his support from the Chamber.

On the campaign trail, Brunner touts his experience in business while leading Vi-Jon in St. Louis, as well has the pillars of his economic plan, which include reducing regulation and increasing domestic energy production.

“I’m proud to have earned the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement,” Brunner reiterated on Thursday, “and know that my private sector experience, plan, and pro-growth ideas will restore our economic strength and get America working again.”

Brunner is challenging Steelman and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin for the Republican nomination to challenge McCaskill later this year.