Koster declares victory, now faces Gibbons
Shortly before midnight, state Sen. Chris Koster – one of three Democrats battling it out for the party’s nomination for attorney general – delivered a victory speech before a supportive crowd of Teamsters in Kansas City.
With all but a few statewide votes in, Koster appeared to have a lead of roughly 850 votes over state Rep. Margaret Donnelly of Richmond Heights.
That’s out of roughly 250,000 votes cast in the Democratic primary.
State Rep. Jeff Harris of Columbia came in a somewhat distant third.
Here’s a portion of the text of Koster’s victory speech:
A little more than one year ago, I reached out to the Missouri Democratic Party in search of a home.
I came looking for a tent that was big and inclusive, that was progressive and heartfelt. A party that could stand up for the voiceless, govern toward the general welfare, and yet would compete aggressively on the battlefields of law enforcement, low taxes and economic development.I reached out because I believed…that for those who hope to govern Missouri from the common sense center, there’s only one party that can deliver such a promise, and it is today’s Democratic Party.
I stand here tonight to thank you for opening your doors and for giving me a chance. The Teamsters, the Carpenters, and the Building Trades. The prosecutors, the police, Deputy Sheriffs, and firefighter across Missouri. The Stem Cell Research community, Missouri’s business interests who stood alongside
Freedom Incorporated and LaRaza and so many others. All believing that the time has come for strong, compassionate, inclusive, centrist government….
Koster referred to his Republican opponent, state Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, as “a Jefferson City politician…”
Gibbons said in a brief telephone interview, before he knew who his Democratic opponent would be, that he planned to focus on three issues:
– Integrity in the office
– Fighting cybercrime
– Battling the illegal production of methamphetamines.
Gibbons said his years as a legislator would help him work with the Legislature to pass favored bills.
Koster said he will emphasize his 10 years as Cass County prosecutor. Referring to the AG’s office, he said, “The best steward of that office is someone from law enforcement.”
Congratulations Chris. I voted for Margaret but will be there for you in November. Glad to have you as a leader of the party.
No more bickering, time to line up behind Jay and his team.
Uh Carol,
When your candidate only loses by .3% you’re looking at a recount, not congratualting the Republicrat.
Koster won fair and square. Playing politics is not what I want.
It’s official according to SOS: 852 votes!
This has been by far the most entertaining state-wide race I have witnessed in Missouri politics.
Congratulations to Sen. Koster.
Godspeed to you, my friend. Make us all proud by continuing and expanding on the work that Jay has done for the past 16 years.
Congratulations Senator Koster! Now on to November and a big victory over the Republicans!
Harris ran an interesting experiment in depending heavily on internet advertising. His lackluster finish does not show much promise for this as a virtually stand-alone campaign strategy. I suppose someone should have considered the lack of broadband penetration in rural Missouri before putting so many eggs in this uncertain basket.
Harris didn’t lose because he relied on the Internet. He lost because he couldn’t personally afford to loan his campaign $300,000 like Donnelly and because he refused to game the campaign finance laws like Koster did. If you take away Koster’s funneled money and Donnelly’s loans, Harris actually outraised them both. Take that money away, and neither one of them would have had the advantage on TV that they did.
Also, had Harris not run so strong a campaign online and otherwise, his vote total would have been much lower in outstate and elsewhere, which would have given Koster a much, much larger lead over Donnelly. If a recount is held — and let’s face it, that’s a foregone conclusion at this point — the only reason Donnelly has a chance at catching Koster is because of Jeff Harris.
The results of this election say far more about the sad power of money in politics rather than about Harris’ strategy, which frankly kept an underfunded campaign (and at times even written off campaign) in the running right up until election day. Personally, I give Harris’ campaign a lot of credit for working as hard as they did despite the near constant adversity they faced.
And make no mistake, if Chris Koster hadn’t been to chicken to take on Catherine Hanaway in the first place, Jeff Harris would be the Democratic nominee today.
So Dems, are you still going to call him Koster the Imposter when he runs against Gibbons? You are all so stupid for calling him names and now he is your boy! I bet you will be saying how great he is in the next week or so won’t you!!!
Internet ads must have ben Sheckies idea.
i am shocked and appalled. Chris Koster is a disgusting, and truly evil man. I am probably not the only dem who is going to say this–I will be voting for Gibbons because I would rather vote for him than for Koster.
We needed more Democratic leaders to stand up and rake Koster across the coals for his unethical tactics–the Molly Williams factor (everyone knows he and Dandurand put her up to it), the Rex Sinquefeld dollars, not to mention his questionable policies and motivation. Koster won this race because he bought more of the airwaves with Reublican money, and the Democratic leadership let it happen instead of standing up and endorsing one of the other candidates. Where were Jay Nixon, Russ Carnahan, Claire McCaskill? Too scared to stand up and endorse either Harris or Donnelly, or to speak out against Koster publicly. Equivocal leaders like them are worthless.
Koster is an immoral human being who would sell his own mother to get ahead. He does not believe in any of the policies he is setting forth; he has chosen to support those policies only because doing so is expedient. I don\\\’t trust that he will follow through on anything as Attorney General, because he can be bought and sold in the power game, and will change his stance with the wind.
People like him are what is wrong with politics, and why the politically inactive in this country feel that politicians are dishonest and sleazy, and are cynical about getting involved.
Way to go, Dems. You just gave the seat to Gibbons. A wider race against a candidate even more well-funded than Donnelly is going to be sure to bring to light the fact that Koster has no moral center, and is a fundamentally flawed individual.
GO GIBBONS.