Koster gets the 16th Ward’s support
OK, we know we’re later than some other blogs with this news, but we got behind….
State Sen. Chris Koster, D-Harrisonville and a candidate for attorney general, has received the endorsement of Democrats in the 16th Ward, which his campaign notes is “one of the highest turnout wards in the City of St. Louis.”
On the downside, for Koster’s image anyway, is that the ward also is seen as one of the most Republican-leaning voting blocs in the city. Which brings up his controversial decision last August to switch parties.
Koster is among three Democrats running for attorney general; his Democratic rivals are state Reps. Jeff Harris of Columbia and Margaret Donnelly of Richmond Heights.
Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, is the likely Republican nominee.
Said 16th Ward secretary/committeewoman Louise Tonkovich: “We have too much partisanship in politics today. Voters are looking for leaders who will cut through that nonsense and focus on results. We are confident Chris Koster will be victorious in the August primary and will bring independent voters into the Democratic ranks in November. His experience as a prosecutor makes him ideally suited to be Missouri’s next Attorney General.”
“I am honored to receive this endorsement,” said Koster in a statement. “I pledged to these voters that I want to be the kind of Attorney General who will fight for working Missourians, someone who will stand up for our children, our jobs, and our rights. With their backing, and the support of so many from around the state, I know I can bring real results for our state.”
How interesting is that Louis Tonkovich is the 16th ward secretary and Louise Tonkovich is the treasurer of Sen. Jeff Smith for Missouri PAC. More interesting is that Sen. Smith recruited Chris Koster to run and encouraged his party switch. This is the same Chris Koster who has no good progressive votes except the stem cell issue and is taking underhanded Rex Sinquefeld charter school money like is his pal Jeff Smith? I’m very disgusted with the caliber of decision makers in the 16th.
Jo, why don’t you report the fact that Jeff Harris received the support of the 25th Ward the same night Koster got the 16th Ward? Have you decided to openly endorse Koster?
True Blue: I find nothing in my Inbox about Harris’ 25th Ward nod.
I did a post on him recently when he garnered the support of City Treasurer Larry Williams.
Jeff got the 15th and 25th recently. http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2008/04/koster-gets-the-16th-wards-support/#comments He has now more of these than both of the other candidates combined.
I support Jeff because he has experience managing in the office. He knows what he is going to do on his first day in that office. He will be the best attorney general Missouri has ever had. That includes my personal hero Jack Danforth.
The previous poster , who just happens to be my husband, should have pointed out that there were three other candidates running. There is that other women Koster got in the race. Jo Mannies maybe you should ask Koster about her.
While you are asking questions maybe you should ask him why he voted to kick 100,000 people off health care, voted for the photo id bill, MOHELA, banning the teaching of sex education in schools, requiring women to wait two days to have an abortion, and the removal of campaign contribution limits. Ask him how he got a zero rating from pro vote when more than half of the other Republican senators did better. Ask him about Rex giving him money. Or Paul McKee. Or why he changed his position on stem cell after receiving money from stem cell interests. Why he sponosored a bill for Farm Bureau to preempt local rules governing large animal farms. Or why he gave money to Bush. Or why he dumped a very wealthy women so he could get a nearly 1 million dollar divorce settlement. Character matters. Koster has zero of it.
My husband says while he thinks Koster is a total phony he may vote for Koster against Gibbons if Koster wins the primary . I won’t vote for Koster under any circumstances. If I have to vote for Gibbons so be it. He isn’t a fraud and a cheat. He is just wrong on every major issue. No different than Koster on that.
Jo, you start by saying this: “OK, we know we’re later than some other blogs with this news, but we got behind….” The hyperlinked story clearly has a reference to Harris as well (even though it’s a pro-Koster blog).
Just thought I would point out the obvious (at least to me).
Typo: The statement would have been by Louise (not Louis) Tonkovich, the Democratic committeewoman (not committeeman) of the 16th Ward. Was that your own mistake, Jo, or did Koster screw it up in the press release that provided the info?
Tonkovich is married to City Assessor Ed Bushmeyer.
I fixed the typo.
As for the 25th Ward, I only post on facts that we have verified. Another blog post is not verification. The Harris campaign has not sent anything to us on this; neither has the 25th Ward. I’m not saying whether it’s true or not, just that we’ve got no official statement to that effect.
And no, I have no time to track down these types of endorsements on my own.
Our newspaper doesn’t run most endorsements and prefers I spend my time focusing on other things; that’s one of the reasons why I proposed the blog to begin with, to handle lesser political news that activists and some readers are interested in.