Friday, July 20, 2007

Donnelly Becomes First Woman To Run for A.G. -- Makes First Stop in Springfield

Democratic State Rep. Margaret Donnelly from St. Louis County becomes the first woman in Missouri to ever run for Attorney General.

In an interview with the KY3 Political Notebook in Springfield, Donnelly said she filed campaign papers with the Missouri Ethics Commission Wednesday.

Thursday night in Springfield, Donnelly met with a group of 15 Democratic political players, including lawyers, doctors and teachers for an informal meeting to talk about her candidacy and issues important to them.

"Call it an informal focus group," Donnelly told me in an interview. Donnelly said she did not collect a single dollar, and stressed the meeting was not a fundraiser.

This morning Donnelly spoke to the Springfield Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Committee to discuss legislative priorities. It's the first time in months the Chamber has hosted a Democrat to speak in front of the committee.

Donnelly's presence in Springfield is a clear indication that Southwest Missouri will be a battleground in the Democratic primary for Attorney General, because no candidate will have a home turf advantage.

"In a statewide race, noone can take it for granted," Donnelly said. "It's a very important area," she said.

More to come on my interview with Donnelly later.

1 comment:

Tony said...

Margaret Donnelly is well respected in the legislature but she is way too liberal to do well in outstate Missouri. Jeff Harris is more moderate and has a much better chance of winning a statewide race. He has raised more than $300,000. Donnelly has raised hardly anything yet. We have to be sensible if we are going to beat Koster.