Three of the Republicans running for Missouri governor pumped more of their own money into the campaign for their party?s nomination during the second quarter.
New fundraising reports show St. Louis businessman Dave Spence, Liberty attorney Bill Randles, Missouri Roundtable for Life founder Fred Sauer loaned money to their campaigns from April to June.
A fourth candidate, John Weiler of Pevely, filed a statement with the Missouri Ethics Commission that said he raised less than $500 in the quarter.
The winner of the primary, slated for Aug. 7, will go on to challenge Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, in the fall.
Spence, who is the former CEO of Alpha Packaging led the group with both the largest amount of money loaned to his campaign ? $500,000 ? and the biggest haul in campaign contributions ? $500,060. Spence has now invested $2.75 million of his own money in his campaign.
During a stop in Springfield Monday, Spence argued his self-funding of his campaign makes him less beholden to campaign contributors if he is elected governor. He also said he views his contributions as way of paying back the state for his upbringing and business success here.
Isaac Wright, a spokesman for the Missouri Democratic Party, said the filing showed Spence may be having a ?hard time gaining traction? in Republican-heavy areas like Springfield. Wright noted seven of Spence?s 321 contributions came Springfield, a traditionally strong Republican area of the state.
He noted Spence sat on a St. Louis area bank board that voted to accept $40 million in federal bailout money, and later opted to not pay those funds back.
On Monday, Nixon also announced he brought in $2.1 million in contributions from around the state during the second quarter of 2012. Ninety-three of Nixon?s donations came from the Springfield-area.
Sauer, who founded the Orion Investment Company in St. Louis, has loaded $218,000 to his campaign during the last quarter, which accounted for nearly all the Sauer raised in the period.
He received an additional $12,940 in contributions and in-kind donations from supporters and family members in the St. Louis area, according to campaign finance records.
Randles reported $33,461 in contributions this quarter, which included $11,758 in loans made by Randles to his campaign.
Randles also eight donations from southwest Missouri, which includes the Springfield, Joplin and Christian County areas.
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