Donnelly blames “stalking horse” in latest missive to allies
State Rep. Margaret Donnelly, who came within 786 votes of being the state’s Democratic nominee for attorney general, sent out an update Saturday to supporters.
She noted her bittersweet status of being on the losing end of an historic race — “we ended with the closest statewide vote total in Missouri history….”
Then Donnelly pointed out her roadblocks:
The victor, state Sen. Chris Koster “spent 3 times as much money on TV as I did in the last week of the campaign and that we had a ’stalking horse’ candidate who received 23,000 votes after not campaigning at all….”
(Donnelly was referring to Molly Williams of Kansas City, who did no campaigning but snagged about 23,000 votes. Koster has denied his rivals’ accusations that he engineered Williams’ candidacy.)
After thanking supporters and campaign workers, Donnelly explained the legal nitty-gritty:
Under Missouri law we are entitled to a recount if the vote total is less than 1%. Even though the state pays the cost of the official recount we would still have some expenses if the recount proceeds. We are weighing the costs and practical considerations before deciding the next step to take. The recount cannot begin until the vote totals are certified, approximately 2 weeks after the election.
“I will keep you posted on what we decide to do about the recount,” she continued. “Meanwhile, we can look ahead to the November elections and electing Democrats from the president down to the legislative seats.”
Some facts. Koster got Molly Williams to run. The man who appears to be the nominee for the highest legal office in the state resorted to trickery and deceit to win. Koster inspires real vitriole from folks who really know him and his history. None of that is good.
But the election booth is another chance to do the right thing. I can proudly vote for every single Democrat on the ticket, from Obama to Nixon to Zweifel and on down the line…..and then vote for Gibbons with no regrets. A lot of people who care about Missouri now and in the future will be doing the same……
I love reading all these female commenters about how they’re going to vote for Gibbons. Yeah right girls! You’re gonna vote for Gibbons who is a thousand times worse than Koster would be on his worst day. You’re just like the idiotic Hillary people saying they won’t vote for Obama. BS ladies! BS! We both know you’re just whining so why don’t we just cut out the whining and everyone can go about their business. K? Love ya!
Mary, at this point, I would have real regrets about voting for Gibbons, while my jury is out about Koster. I am hesitant to knowingly hand Governor Nixon, Lt. Governor Page, Secretary Carnahan, Treasurer Zweifel and Auditor Montee a Republican lawyer to represent them. Sure, Koster says he switched from Republican to Democrat. I appreciate that even as a Republican, Koster supported union legislation and was in the moderate (lonely) wing on stem cell research. My hope would be that Koster can show me - SHOW ME - his commitment to Democrats above self-interest, and that the other statewide Democrats, if they are all elected, will keep him steady if he truly needs monitoring. I remain to be convinced about Koster but I am listening and watching.
growup, your shrill critical appeal to “you women” is less than appealing. If you support either Koster or Gibbons, you should reconsider your approach, as it won’t gain much support from women.
Holly
As you know I supported Jeff and thought he was the best chance to beat Koster. I was wrong.
My problem in voting for Koster is that you are rewarding a candidate for cheating or a minimum someone who refuses to answer basic questions. Did he get Molly Williams in the race? When he runs for Governor or Senator will he also cheat someone else?
At the start of the race I didn’t have such strong anti-Koster feelings but I think now the best thing for our party is for him to be defeated. There is some short term pain with this. Gibbons is bad on most issues. But Koster doesn’t meet the basic standards of trustworthiness for a caniddate of our party.
This isn’t easy but I think it is what we must do.
I also think the Koster supporters on this blog were jerks. Accusing the ex wife of being a phony and not much reasoned dialogue. Refusing to answer basic questions about Koster’s qualifications.
The Donnelly supporters were reasoned and turned out to be right at least to the point whether Donnelly was a more viable candidate than Jeff.
Ahhhh and nice cool Sunday in August and the sweet smell of Democratic unity is once angain in the air! Got to love it
And yes, I’ve posted it before… but you guys just keep fighting. By all meas have a recount… then go to court… spend money like crazy… drive everyone crazy with it. Don’t stop till at least Oct 1st maybe even later.
Prove Will Rodgers right once again.
Jessica,
It seems like you believe that Harris or Donnelly were entitlted to this nomination. Koster won because he ran a better campaign.
Now you are accusing him of cheating? Really? How exactly do you think he cheated? At the end of the day Molly Williams entered the race. That is her right. Nobody forced her in the race. Exactly what kind of accusation are you manufacturing now?
It is just so rediculous that there is some sentiment that these 23,000 votes should have gone to Donnelly. These voters did not know who Donnelly was. These voters wanted to vote for a woman, and they did. The fact that Donnelly did not get her message out is the reason she lost.
Jessica, I hear you and respect your voice. I am still not sure what to do.
I will be watching this fall. For now, I am going to my garden for a while instead of continuing to slave over a hot keyboard. Time to lower my blood pressure on a pretty Sunday instead of raise it! =)
GO DEMOCRATS GO!
Let’s not forget that most of what STL people know about Koster is the product of negative campaign rhetoric from his Democratic party rivals and/or sour grapes rhetoric from the GOP that wants to convict him of treason (let’s face it, he’s one of the smartest up-and-comers the party had when he defected, so they have reason to be sore). I think when you look at his record (ie his own statements in the press and his own actions in public office), you will find that he is far and away a better candidate on issues that people care about than Gibbons. I also think that being the only candidate with prosecutorial experience was a big factor in his ultimate appeal to voters and rightly so. And he still, as far as I know, has that advantage over the other remaining candidate.