Koster Leads A.G. Money Chase

Rep. Margaret Donnelly was first out the gate with her campaign finance report in the race for Attorney General.

Then came, former Republican turned Democrat Sen. Chris Koster. Finally, former House Minority Leader Jeff Harris.

But that doesn't give you a good sense of the state of the Attorney General money race on the Democratic side.

The following does:

Koster took in the most money during the 3rd quarter. He raised $442,000 over the last three months and has over a million dollars left cash on hand. Koster's campaign release notes, "nearly all of the money was raised in the 8 weeks since Koster made his historic switch to the Democratic Party."

"Missourians from across the political spectrum are supporting Chris because of his experience as a frontline prosecutor in Missouri's law enforcement community and his record of standing up for working families and advocating for lifesaving stem cell research," spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said. "The diversity of Chris' supporters shows why he is the strongest Democratic candidate to help lead a ticket to defeat an extremist Republican Party and take back our state legislature."



Rep. Harris raised less than a fourth of what Koster raised over the last three months. Harris reported raising $92,317 over the last three months. His campaign has about $350,000 cash on hand.



In his release, Harris boasts that half of his 864 donations are from outside mid-Missouri, "demonstrating his growing statewide appeal. He said his average contribution this quarter was $259 and more than half of his donors gave $100 or less. A quick review of Koster's report shows he depended on larger donors and many more district committees and political action committees.



"We are very pleased with our efforts to date. We are on target to reach our goals and to have the funds necessary to run an aggressive campaign. Our support is broad based and diverse, just like the Democratic Party”, said Harris in the release.



So while Koster is outpacing both Harris and Donnelly, Donnelly raised more than Harris this quarter, yet Harris still has more cash-on-hand than Donnelly.



DEM A.G. MONEY SUMMARY
Chris Koster: $442,000 3rd quarter, $1 million on hand
Margaret Donnelly: $304,000 3rd quarter, $307,000 on hand
Jeff Harris: $92,000 3rd quarter, $350,000 on hand