Anti-worker, right-wing extremists bankrolling state candidate campaigns

The Humphreys, the Koch Brothers and Rex Sinquefield – all right-wing extremists known for attacking unions – are gearing up to influence the 2016 Missouri election by lining the pockets of Republican candidates to the tune of $1.62 million.

The Humphreys family takes the cake by far in the effort with $1.1 million in candidate campaign donations this year alone. That’s on top of the $1 million the family dumped into the so-called Committee for Accountable Government in Missouri (CAGM), which recently began airing a series of anti-union radio and television ads.

Meanwhile, Rex Sinquefield has made a $500,000 candidate contribution, and the Koch brothers have kicked in $20,000. And that’s just what’s been reported to the Missouri Ethics Commission through May 16 – those numbers will surely rise as the August primary and November election draw nearer.

BIGGEST RECIPIENTS OF RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST DOLLARS

• Josh Hawley – $520,000: Hawley, of Columbia, is a Republican candidate running for Missouri attorney general. Hawley, an attorney and associate law professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia, has never held public office. On May 2, he received $500,000 from David Humphreys and $20,000 from Koch Industries.

• Eric Schmitt – $500,000: Schmitt, of Glendale, is a Republican candidate running for state treasurer. Schmitt, a state senator representing District 15 in St. Louis County, has voted in favor of right-to-work and paycheck deception legislation over the last two years. He received a $500,000 donation from Rex Sinquefield on March 22. This is Sinquefield’s sole Missouri candidate contribution thus far.

• Dan Brown – $250,000: Sen. Brown (R-Rolla), another anti-worker proponent, filed for state treasurer’s race on Feb. 23 after receiving a $250,000 campaign donation from David Humphreys the day before. He withdrew his application on April 28, dropped out of the race and endorsed Schmitt for the position. Schmitt is now the only Republican candidate running for the seat.

• John “Jay” Ashcroft – $150,000: Jay Ashcroft, a St. Louis attorney and son of John Ashcroft, a former Missouri politician and U.S. attorney general, is running as a Republican candidate for secretary of state. He received three $50,000 campaign donations on Jan. 16 from David, Sarah and Ethelmae Humphreys. So far, Ashcroft has been unsuccessful in breaking into politics. He ran against Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur) for the 24^th Senate District in 2014 and lost.

LT. GOV./SENATE/REP CANDIDATES SUPPORTED BY HUMPHREYS

• Bev Randles – a $50,000: Randles, of Kansas City, is running for the Republican nomination for Lt. governor. Randles is an attorney and the former chairwomen of Missouri Club for Growth, a Sinquefield-funded lobbying group. In December 2014, Sinquefield made a $1 million donation to Randle’s campaign – the largest single political donation given to a Missouri candidate by an individual in the state’s history. Naturally, she vows on her website “to create a more friendly jobs environment through the passage of right-to-work legislation.” On Jan. 11, David Humphreys donated $50,000 to her campaign.

• Bill Eigel – $50,000: Eigel, of St. Peters, is running as a Republican candidate for senator in District 23. According to his website, he supports Right to Work and other efforts “to provide more freedoms to businesses and employees to prosper.” He will be facing off against Rep. Anne Zerr (R-St. Charles) for the seat in the August primary. Zerr, who stood with working families on last year’s right-to-work legislation, was one of 20 Republicans attacked for their vote in a series of vicious ads in paid for by a committee funded by the Humphreys family.

• Andrew Koenig – $50,000: Rep. Koenig (R-Manchester) is running for the Republican nomination in Senate District 15. Koenig has supported right-to-work and paycheck deception legislation in the last two years. He received a $50,000 donation from David Humphreys on Feb. 18.

• Rob Vescovo – $50,000: Rep. Vescovo (R-Arnold) is seeking reelection to House District 112. Vescovo has consistently voted in support of right-to-work and paycheck legislation and filed legislation that would hurt working families. In December, he made his hatred of Labor even more apparent when he verbally confronted union members during a picket at Bobcat of St. Louis in Valley Park. He received a $50,000 donation from David Humphreys on Feb. 4.