Chamber backs Hulshof — is Blunt next?
Kenny Hulshof inspired a game of political guess-who after his campaign announced that the candidate for governor would be claiming a big endorsement today.
Let’s see: Kit Bond backed Hulshof at the state party convention late last month. Could the next headliner be … Gov. Matt Blunt?
Not yet, anyway.
At a news conference near the airport, Hulshof accepted the support of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents some 3,000 businesses around the state.
Citing Hulshof’s Capitol Hill record on issues such as tort reform, Chamber president Daniel P. Mehan said “the choice for business is crystal clear on this one.”
The choice was made easier, perhaps, by Hulshof’s rivals. Democrat Jay Nixon did not fill out an endorsement questionnaire while Sarah Steelman, competing against Hulshof in the August GOP primary, turned hers in late.
“Very, very late,” Mehan added.
Mehan acknowledged the chamber is taking something of a gamble endorsing this early on the process - they might not even have a candidate in November - but said it was a wager the chamber’s board felt comfortable making.
It might even prove cogent if Blunt joins the other Republican insiders lining-up behind Hulshof.
So, congressman, is that the next endorsement?
“I expect there may be fairly prominent endorsements to come,” Hulshof said when asked about the governor’s support. “I’m not answering your question directly.”
No, but even an indirect answer can be revealing.
A Chamber endorsement says a lot. 3,000 business owners can’t all be “Republican Insiders”. If they think Hulshof is going to be good for businesses, which translates to jobs, that’d be a good start for a new governor.