BRANSON MO NEWS: The race to fill an open Senate seat in Northwest Missouri continues to be an expensive one.The 34th Senate District encompasses both Buchanan and Platte counties and is being vacated by Sen. Rob Schaaf, a Republican from St. Joseph, due to term limits. Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner Harry Roberts and Platte County lawyer Tony Luetkemeyer are both raising large amounts of cash ahead of an August GOP primary that also features a longtime Democrat running as a Republican, Scot Van Meter.Luetkemeyer has amassed an impressive campaign war chest after beginning his campaign last summer: $380,750 cash on hand as of April’s financial report. That’s more than double what Roberts has in his bank after expenditures: $149,500.
From January through March, Luetkemeyer raised $85,851 while Roberts reported $67,275 in campaign contributions.“If you look at (Luetkemeyer’s) financials, very clearly, once again, it’s special interest money,” Roberts said.The first quarter of 2018 was Luetkemeyer’s weakest of the four reporting periods. Despite the slouch, the first-time candidate’s first quarter still brought in more money than any of Roberts’ three quarters as a Senate candidate.“We had strong support because this is the campaign focused on keeping taxes low, growing the economy and creating more good paying jobs for Northwest Missouri,” Luetkemeyer said in a statement.Luetkemeyer may be raising substantially more money, but Roberts is outspending Luetkemeyer by a similarly wide margin. During the first quarter alone, Roberts spent $20,654 compared to $1,211 in expenditures reported by Luetkemeyer.
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Van Meter hasn’t filed financial paperwork indicating he’s raising money for a state race.Meanwhile, a candidate who doesn’t have a primary contender is also raising and spending thousands of dollars ahead of the November general election.Democrat Martin Rucker II, a St. Joseph native and …
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