UPDATE: The GOP’s Lloyd Smith, who filed the complaint, weighs in: “Robin Carnahan was forced to come clean and report Juan Carlos Antolinez’s company, which three months ago she claimed didn’t even exist.  Her new filing raises more questions about her response to our initial complaint, the nature of the business, and why it was absent from her disclosure forms for so many years.  You would expect better from the person whose job it is to maintain business records in the State of Missouri.”

JEFFERSON CITY — A Missouri Republican Party complaint against Senate candidate Robin Carnahan, a Democrat, has been dismissed by the Senate Ethics Committee, a Carnahan spokesman said today.

Missouri GOP executive director Lloyd Smith had alleged that Carnahan, the Secretary of State, had filed improper personal financial disclosures because she didn’t mention a company — Antolinez International Trade — owned by her husband.

Carnahan called the complaint frivolous. She said her husband, Juan Carlos Antolinez, had registered the name of the company but that it was inactive and produced no income.

Senate investigators apparently agreed, saying the complaint had no merit. Still, Carnahan filed new personal financial disclosure forms today listing the company.

Carnahan is expected to face Republican Roy Blunt, the 7th District Congressman, in the race for U.S. Senate. Blunt has a primary opponent, state Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, who lately has complained that Blunt won’t pay attention to him.