While defending bank role, Spence gives campaign $250,000 stimulus, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Dave Spence

Republican hopeful for governor Dave Spence knows how to dip into his own bank account to help out his chances of winning in November.

It's other bank issues that have the plastics guru fielding a round of unwanted headlines.

At the deadline for the campaign finance quarter that ended Saturday, Spence donated $250,000 to his campaign, bringing his total personal contribution to at least $2.25 million.

The new injection of cash comes amid fresh scrutiny of Spence's role with St. Louis-based Reliance Bancshares, whose problem is it doesn't have enough cash.

In an interview with the Associated Press published over the weekend, Spence acknowledges that, while on the board of Reliance, he was part of a unanimous decision not to make payments on $40 million the institution received under the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program. 

That was a point he apparently did not realize until recently. Previously, Spence told the St. Louis Beacon that he "could not recall the details" behind the board's decision, but recently took steps to learn more about his role.

"It was a unanimous decision, based on the recommendation of the bank regulators, who said they did not have enough capital," Spence campaign manager Jared Craighead told the Beacon.

It's true that Spence's involvement with the bank cost him both financially, and, he says, personally.

"You'd come out of those meetings and you felt like you were hit over the head, or you went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson," Spence told the Associated Press.

Bank records also show that Spence — in what he has described as part of an effort to raise money for the bank — bought 500,000 shares for $1.5 million.

Today, those shares are worth less than $600,000.

Spence also received a number of personal and business loans while on the board of Reliance, which isn't necessarily unusual — that's how many bank board members get their seats in the first place. 

Indeed, the loans might have helped the bank, if it was struggling for new business.

But that may not do much to change the political calculus.

Spence's current travails not only demonstrate the pitfalls of executives venturing into politics — Spence likely never imagined that his association with Reliance could one day be a political liability — but also the superior campaign discipline of Democrats.

 

Gov. Jay Nixon's campaign team and the state party have been laser-focused on bringing attention to Spence's bank and TARP ties.

Republicans, meanwhile, have been attacking Nixon on ... an ad buy from the Democratic Governor's Association?

At the end of the day, Spence may well have suitable rationale for all his decisions while on the board at Reliance, which he left last year.

There is evidence that he tried to help the bank pay back the government.

Every moment, however, Spence spends discussing bank bailouts and the loan on his vacation home is time not spent chipping away at the incumbents already formidable advantage. Courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch