Sinquefield, Schnucks come through for Slay
Has Mayor Francis Slay’s recent troubles helped his fundraising?
As noted many times already, Slay has been the target of ire since the ouster of ex-Fire Chief Sherman George, the only African-American to ever lead the department.
But, if nothing else, the mayor remains financially strong: His quarterly campaign report shows he raised more than $230,000 from October until the end of last year.
About 20 percent of that total came from two major benefactors: the Schnuck grocery clan and wealthy financier Rex Sinquefield.
The Schucks gave $20,000 in smaller contributions from holding companies registered to their development company, The DESCO Group. (The name stands for Don and Ed Schnuck Company, the brothers who founded the grocery empire.)
Sinquefield — the wealthy free-market advocate and school choice enthusiast — gave Slay $25,500 using the network of PACs that have quickly made him the state’s most prolific campaign benefactor.
The Sinquefield and Schnuck donations represent a strategy that Slay and others have used increasingly to maximize totals from large contributors, despite the newly-reinstated campaign limits.
Though individual contributions are capped at $1,275, businesses that control multiple shell companies — or, in Sinquefield’s case, political action committees — can donate thousands more than the average supporter.
That said, the vast majority of Slay’s contributions this time around came from smaller donations — two and three figure checks from restaurants, lawyers, civic leaders and members of his cabinet.
Slay even showed that he is comfortable moving in between party lines. Last month, he accepted a donation from Bert Walker, former ambassador to Hungary and local kin to President George W. Bush. The check was for $1,000 — the same amount Slay’s expense report show he donated to Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House.
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[…] Panorama.it - Mondo wrote an interesting post today on Sinquefield, Schnucks come through for SlayHere’s a quick excerptThe check was for $1,000 — the same amount Slay’s expense report show he donated to Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House. […]