A close circle of millionaire buddies of Spence with vested interest raise money for their friend. Watch out Missouri voters, millionaire Spence and his wealthy cronies want to buy the Governor's office!

"A handful of area businessmen have helped one of their own, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Dave Spence, outpace Gov. Jay Nixon in big donations for the first part of this month.

Since Nov. 29, Spence has collected $280,000 in contributions of more than $5,000, compared to $98,000 for Nixon, a Democrat who has been very successful in the fundraising department.

Nixon still maintains a large fiscal edge, with more than $4.22 million in the bank as of his last campaign report, filed Oct. 15. But Spence appears to be working hard to catch up early.

Spence (click here for the Beacon's earlier interview) will file his first campaign-finance report on Jan. 15, when Nixon also will report his latest numbers. Until then, neither candidate is reporting any donations of $5,000 or less.

Spence's early large donations came from seven area businessmen, two of whom -- Bill Koman and Robert O'Brien -- gave $100,000 apiece.

In addition, Spence donated $2 million of his own money to his campaign.
With exceptions of O'Brien and Koman, Spence's donors have not been major campaign contributors to other candidates.

The others are:

• Keith Strope, chief executive of Tricor Braun
• Kevin Maher, president of St. Charles Automotive
• John Tlapek, principal with Equity Group
• Mark Mays, with Clear Channel
• Daniel Creston, executive vice president with Alpha Packaging, a firm owned by Spence and an equity group

Although Spence is holding off on any public events or on-the-record interviews, he has been traveling the state to privately court fellow Republicans. Aside from the economic issues, Spence also is emphasizing his social conservative status.

A Catholic, Spence notes that he is opposed to abortion and embryonic stem-cell research. That latter stance is underscored by his wife's donation of $2,500 in 2006 against Amendment 2, the constitutional change that protects all forms of stem-cell research allowed under federal law. Amendment 2 narrowly passed statewide in 2006.

That stance may help Spence with some area businesspeople, and hurt him with others, since many were involved on both sides of the Amendment 2 campaign.

UPDATE: Later Friday, the Missouri Democratic Party offered up its comments, as the party continued its attacks on Spence's side job as a board member for Reliance Bank:

"It's no surprise that Spence turned to his friends for money because it will be hard to convince anyone outside his close circle of friends to give their money to a candidate who took a $40 million bank bailout and refused to pay it back. Spence was a major shareholder of that bank, profited from the bailout money, and now expects folks to contribute to his campaign?" Courtesy of St. Louis Beacon


Our addition:

Millionaire Dave Spence contributed $2,000,000 to his campaign  for the  Missouri Governor's race in 2012.  His wealthy  friends are raising tons of money! Spence and his friends are shielded from the economic problems that the regular Missourians are facing! They are the 1% who control the American wealth and the regular Missouri voters are the 99%. 

Millionaire Dave Spence's $8,000,000 estate in St. Louis. It has a golf course. Watch out Missouri voters,  Spence  and his wealthy friends want your vote so that they can create more wealth for themselves! 

Millionaire Dave Spence is worth $260,000,000 and he intends to use his fortune to buy  the  Missouri Governor's office.  He contributed $2,000,000 of his money to the campaign for a star. His wealthy friends have raised $280,000,000  for him so far! You lost your job, home, health care, retirement etc or squeaking by! Is Spence the man you want in the Governor's mansion during this economic crisis? Do you (the 99%) want the top 1% (Spence and his rich cronies) to buy the Missouri Governor's office in 2012? Suck their money and send them packing!

Millionaire Dave Spence and his rich cronies are flashing cash  before your very eyes to buy the Governor's office in 2012. while  the Missouri  middle class is shrinking due to high expenses and unemployment, Dave Spence can live in a $8,000,000 estate with a golf course! Besides, Spence carries a bag of money with $260,000,000! This morning millions of Missourians are anguished over paying their bills. Many Missouri children are either homeless or went to bed hungry last night while Spence's children are chauffeured to expensive private schools and live the best comfort that their father's $260,000,000 can buy! Sound familiar! The top 1% living large at the expense of the 99%. But what's shocking about Dave Spence is, he has the audacity to seek for the Governor's office by flashing cash (contributed $2,000,000 to his campaign for a start) during this severe economic crisis. To add insult to injury Spence's rich cronies are raising tons of money to land their friend in the Governor's mansion. 

Millionaire Dave Spence will spend $millions to buy the Missouri  Governor's office.  If  Spence succeeds  he and his rich cronies will laugh all the way to the bank! They will create more wealth for themselves! The bags of money they will take to the banks will be too heavy to carry! You lost your job, home, health care, retirement etc or squeaking by! Is Spence the man you want in the Governor's mansion during this economic crisis? 

Side Show (flash news):

Mitt Romney's 'hilarious' strategy: Claim Newt is a flip-flopper? (click the link)

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