Candidates file pre-primary finance reports

Only one area House seat has primary race

In campaign finance reports filed eight days before Tuesday's primary election, challenger Bruce Sassman, R-Bland, appeared to have outraised incumbent state Rep. Tom Hurst, R-St. Thomas, in the only area Missouri House race that has a primary.

But $5,000 of Sassman's $12,821 campaign receipts is a loan he gave himself.

And another $5,000 came from the Sassman Funeral Trust in Bland.

Sassman formed his committee on April 14, so his campaign only filed information for the July 15 quarterly and last Monday's reports.

Sassman also reported spending $7,862.97 in the period since mid-April, with most of the money going for picnic and office supplies and advertising, including $3,288.70 spent for campaign mailing.

Incumbent Hurst, seeking his second two-year House term, began the calendar year with $5,414.36 cash on hand, then raised $8,000 through last week's report. While most of his contributions were $500 or less, he reported a $1,000 donation on last week's report from the Missouri Club for Growth.

Hurst has spent $1,223.08 since the beginning of the year, primarily on advertising materials, including parade supplies, shirts and banners.

That leaves him with $12,191.28 cash on hand - and a $20,050 debt carried over from the 2012 campaign.

The 62nd House District covers all of Maries County and parts of Cole (including the St. Thomas and Henley areas), Miller, Osage, Gasconade, Phelps and Crawford counties.

No one else filed for that office, so the winner of Tuesday's primary faces no general election opposition.

Incumbents Jay Barnes and Mike Bernskoetter - both Jefferson City Republicans - represent the bulk of Cole County.

Bernskoetter's 59th House District includes a small piece of the southeastern corner of Jefferson City and most of Cole County surrounding the city - although it also extends into a portion of northern Miller County.

Bernskoetter has no primary challenger, but faces a Nov. 4 general election contest with the Constitution Party's Michael Eberle, who created his campaign committee July 3 and filed a "limited activity" report last week.

That means that Eberle's campaign committee didn't raise $500 or spend that much.

Bernskoetter, on the other hand, reported this year raising $17,370 since last fall - with $11,850 of that coming during a fund-raising barbecue dinner last Oct. 1 in Wardsville. He's had only one large donation - $1,000 reported last week, from the AT&T Missouri Political Action Committee.

He reported spending $6,522.87 on the four reports filed so far this year, with most of that money going to advertising expenses.

Bernskoetter had $37,679.37 cash on hand as of last Monday.

Barnes has no opposition for either Tuesday's primary or the Nov. 4 general election. But he reported raising $32,200 since last fall, with $20,775 of that reported last January - a month before candidate filing began for this year's elections.

Barnes has received 14 donations of $1,000 or more this year - with the largest single donation being a $3,500 contribution from the Missouri Hospital Association, reported in April.

Barnes' reports also show he received a total of $3,750 from the Ameren Missouri Political Action Committee, $2,500 from Pyramid Health, Cape Girardeau, $2,000 total from Hannibal-based Comprehensive Health Systems and $1,000 each from the Missouri Pharmacy PAC and from the Friends of (former House Speaker Steve) Tilley.

He also received $2,500 from the Grow Missouri State Senate Committee.

Barnes reported spending $31,039.28 since last fall - the period covered by the four reports.

While a lot of the spending was for advertising, polling and telephone services, Barnes also has been generous with other candidates and committees.

His reports show a $5,001 donation to the House Republican Committee and a total of $3,000 to the House Republican Campaign Committee.

Barnes reported starting the year with $20,570.14 cash on hand - and had a balance of $21,730.86 as of last week.

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