JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — State Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, does not have an opponent on the ballot next month, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at his campaign account.

Richard, the second most powerful man in the Missouri Senate, raised more than $74,300 from donors in the past three months. But instead of spending it directly on his own political efforts, Richard contributed it back to the campaign committees of a handful state Senate candidates who Missouri’s major parties are targeting this year.

This election cycle, Richard has passed along $265,000 to his party’s effort to maintain its super-majority in the Senate. His campaign has contributed $180,000 to the Missouri Senate Campaign Committee, the party’s Senate campaign arm; $35,000 to state Rep. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, in a swing district in Jefferson County; and $25,000 to Jay Ashcroft, a St. Louis Republican running in one of the most contested and expensive races in the state.

In an interview on Wednesday, Richard said it would be “frivolous” to use his campaign money to promote himself this year because of the fact that no Democrat chose to run against him. He said his focus instead has been on helping his party.

“If I can help with raising the majority and use the finances of my campaign to do that, it helps me and people in Southwest Missouri with a greater Republican majority,” he said.

Richard said he has been traveling the state helping candidates raise money and build their campaign operations in three targeted races.

Peverill Squire, a senior editor at Legislative Studies Quarterly and a professor at the University of Missouri, said fundraising for other lawmakers is “one of the most important jobs a state legislative leader has these days.”

“Sen. Richard’s behavior is completely in keeping with that imperative,” he said. “The GOP would like to maintain their veto-proof margins in the General Assembly, so party leaders in both houses are doing what they can to support their candidates,” he said in an email. “Once elected, members remember who helped them, thus leaders in essence buy the loyalty of their members.”

Richard is not alone in terms of Missouri leaders spending big to help their own parties in this year’s midterms. On the Democratic side, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill has personally contributed $490,000 to the Missouri Democratic Party as it renews its effort to fund and organize efforts for a handful of candidates trying to win back seats in the Missouri House and Senate. That amounts to more than one-third of the money raised by the party this year.

James Harris, a Jefferson City-based Republican political consultant, said when a siting leader like Richard or McCaskill gives their support to a candidate, donors and lobbyists who divvy up money for the state’s big corporations and unions listen.

“Ron’s been in public office for 12 years, so there’s a lot of people who remember him over the years from his time as (House) speaker,” he said. “They know him and they trust him. When he says a race matters, it carries significance.”

Harris, who has run more than a dozen state Senate races, said the campaigns can cost anywhere between $100,000 to $1 million, depending on the competitiveness of the race. For races like the one Ashcroft is running against Democrat Jill Schupp in the pricey St. Louis media market, they would shoot for the high number.

In House races, where the cost is much less consistent statewide, the House Republican Campaign Committee helps raise money and effectively manages the campaigns for members in competitive districts. In Senate races, members are more likely to be on their own and the Senate’s Republican campaign committee is their fundraising machine.

“The committee recruits candidates and helps to put the final package together on seats that have been contested by the other party,” Richard said. “We’ll help campaigns, but let them do their own message.”