JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri's Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday gave a top university appointment to a business owner who donated to a political action committee supporting Parson's campaign.
Parson named HTH Companies Inc. CEO Greg Hoberock to the University of Missouri Board of Curators, a governing board for the four-campus system. Records show Hoberock in December 2018 donated $25,000 to Uniting Missouri PAC, which is backing Parson's bid to keep his seat this November.
PACs can work in support of candidates but cannot coordinate with them.
Hoberock previously served as treasurer for Missourians for Freedom to Work, a campaign to raise money in support of a right-to-work law prohibiting mandatory union fees that voters struck down in 2018. Hoberock donated $100,000 to the campaign.
He's also given to Republican candidates, including a $315 donation to former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens in 2016. Greitens appointed Hoberock to the State Technical College of Missouri Board of Regents in 2017.
Parson also on Wednesday appointed Columbia resident Robin Wenneker to the University of Missouri board. She is former president of the University of Missouri-Columbia's College of Agriculture Food and National Resources Foundation and also serves on the Coordinating Board for Higher Education.
The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate.