Sunday editorial: Donnelly, Zweifel best in statewide primaries
In Missouri’s Aug. 5 Democratic and Republican primaries, voters will choose nominees for county and state offices, legislative seats and for the state’s nine U.S. House seats. In many races, candidates are unopposed or face only token opposition.
Today, the Post-Dispatch editorial board offers its recommendations in contested races among viable candidates for statewide office. On Monday, we will address the races in both parties for the 9th U.S. House District seat being vacated by Republican Kenny Hulshof, who is running for governor. Last Sunday, we recommended that Republican voters select Mr. Hulshof over his opponent, state Treasurer Sarah Steelman. (This year, we will not make endorsements in the primary races for county or state legislative offices.)
Attorney General: Republican Mike Gibbons, 49, a state senator from Kirkwood, is unopposed. Three Democrats are waging a spirited, high-spending race:
• Margaret Donnelly, 54, a state representative from Richmond Heights and a lawyer who specializes in family law, has been a leading voice in the Legislature on behalf of children. As attorney general, she says, she would emphasize child support enforcement, the Sunshine Law, consumer protection and prosecution of Medicaid fraud. She also said she would crack down on frauds against senior citizens, with a special eye on the reverse-mortgage market.
• State Rep. Jeff Harris of Columbia, 43, offers a comprehensive plan for the office based on his experience as a former assistant attorney general. He says he also would place a special emphasis on consumer protection. In addition, he believes the attorney general’s office should absorb the Missouri Public Counsel’s office and represent consumers before the state Public Service Commission.
Mr. Harris is an impressive candidate, but the strength, heart and tenacity of Margaret Donnelly make her our choice.
• The third and most controversial candidate in the race is state Sen. Chris Koster, 43, of Belton. He became a Democrat only a year ago, saying he no longer could abide the state GOP’s “extremist agenda.” In an interview, Mr. Koster acknowledged that if there were room in the Missouri Republican Party for a moderate, he would not have made the switch. We, too, wish there were room in the state GOP for a moderate. But Democratic voters may not feel comfortable with a man who voted in favor of much of the Republican legislative agenda and who has heavy financial backing from conservative activist Rex Sinquefield, whose key issues are lower corporate taxes and school choice.
Treasurer: On the Republican side, state Rep. Brad Lager of Savannah is unopposed. Four Democrats are competing to run against him:
• Mark Powell, 57, the mayor of Arnold, has the most realistic view of the job: “You balance the checkbook, pay the bills and invest the money,” he told us. But he has not campaigned aggressively this year, raising questions about the depth of his commitment.
• At the other end of the intensity scale is state Rep. Clint Zweifel of Florissant, 34, a Teamsters Union official. He views the treasurer’s office as that of financial advocate. He promises to fight to make state college tuition more affordable, encourage job growth and reduce real estate taxes, all of which are jobs for the governor and Legislature. He led the unsuccessful fight in the House against the effort to strip the assets of Missouri’s Higher Education Loan Authority.
• Andria Danine Simckes, 37, of Creve Coeur, the only African-American seeking statewide office, also has an expansive view of the role of the treasurer’s office. A lawyer and former state economic development official, she wants to use the office to promote job creation. She also would reform the way the state’s college savings plan funds are invested.
• Charles B. Wheeler, 81, of Kansas City, is running a shoestring campaign. A retired lawyer and pathologist, Dr. Wheeler has had a long career in public service, having served as a Jackson County judge, mayor of Kansas City and state senator. He stresses the importance of promoting scientific research in Missouri.
Democratic voters can feel comfortable with any of the four candidates. On balance, Clint Zweifel’s youth, enthusiasm and commitment give him the edge.
Totally Jeff. Furthermore it is irresponsible to take into consideration what Donnelly states that she has done on behalf of children, abused children etc. when in fact these records are closed records to the public, SEALED! These records should not be however.
Why doesn’t she make a law to open these records, hiding the identity of the child using there initials, then the public would be able to see just how Margaret Donnelly performs her job as a Guardian Ad-Litem. Before such happens no, one will ever know.
No one knows how this lady has performed on behalf of any child or family that a judge has appointed her to. It is more than ludicrous to make claims concerning her great work in this area because this paper does not know.
It is careless for people to make such claims concerning her work record on behalf of abused children.
Jeff Harris all the way!!!
There are two fortunate things here:
1 - the post has nothing positive to say about Chris Koster. Sound familiar?
2 - endorsements like this are far more important to candidates and their campaigns than they are to most voters who never read them
Let us not forget Harris has a 10 point lead in the Post’s poll. Donnelly was in third. Endorsements or not, he’s still going to emerge as the winner next Tuesday.
Why don’t you go ahead and go point by point because I went to Donnelly’s website and found nothing comparable to Jeffs. The proof is in the pudding. Give it your best shot. If you don’t want to spam the thread send me what you have at this e-mail address kt.tunstall.fan@gmail.com. If I am wrong I will admit. But when I looked it wasn’t close.
Sour grapes. Yes but not the way you think. I have consistently said I would support the candidate that has the best chance of beating Koster. Jeff Harris is a better candidate than Donnelly but I feel strong enough against Koster that I would support Donnelly if I thought she could beat him.
Outstate support. I am talking about the primary. You say Donnelly has more than one supporter outstate. Maybe she has added people in the last week but when I looked all she had was a state representative from Springfield. Correct that I think she had Bekki Cook also. Two. Jeff has more than fifty endorements outstate. Of course democrats outstate will endorse election day. But a lot of them will be unhappy if there are three St. Louis candidates Page, Zweifel, and Donnelly on the ticket. Tell me how I am wrong here.
BJ I shouldn’t blame Donnelly for running. Fair comment. I was mad. But I still think she is a spoiler.
Everything I am hearing about the polling says that. I know of one public poll and two private polls done by other campaigns. They all pretty much had the same numbers. You show me otherwise and I will switch because I want to stop Koster. The Star endorsement should be coming tomorrow. If Donnelly gets that over Harris in a place not named St. Louis that would help her.
No way Koster beats Harris in a two way race. Donnelly’s supporters are great people. Just like Harris’. I think either would beat Koster in a two way no matter how much money he has. Heck Jeff is ahead of him spending far less money. A little harder for Donnelly because Koster would do okay outstate against her. But the majority of democrats just don’t want Koster.
D. Walker:
I am appalled. I am also a family law attorney, and your comments about the closed records in Donnelly’s cases show that you have little understanding of the sensitive and personal nature of the type of work Donnelly has been involved in. The records you mention protect the identities of minors who have possibly been abused and in very tough family situations, which is not their fault. They should not have to be subjected to possibly embarrassing personal information being revealed for the sake of your insatiable curiosity about what Donnelly has or hasn’t done on their behalf.
If you are concerned that Donnelly hasn’t been effective or successful as a family law attorney in protecting children and families, look at some of the awards she has received. For example, the St. Louis Council on Child Abuse and Neglect awarded Donnelly their Child Advocate of the Year Award in 2004. Those types of organizations are sensitive to the confidentiality necessary to protect children but know what makes a good advocate. Endorsements like that should be proof enough of the good things Donnelly has done.
GO team Donnelly!
Ladies and gentlemen,
I’ve just read through all the comments and edited out some of the more intemperate language.
Whichever candidate you prefer, whatever the party, however deeply felt your passions, the guidelines of The Platform rule out personal attacks (on each other or on the people who are the subjects of posts) and abusive, hostile language.
And it surely is a really bad idea — as one of the commenters in this thread has acknowledged — to get plastered and then spew one’s anger and disappointment all over the page.
Thank you.
Donnely??? Home town edge maybe… but not the right candidate. Koster admits he misses the GOP, Harris is the right choice for AG. Sorry PD, wrong again.
Harris and Donnelly supporters… we’re all good Dems at heart and will have to come together on August 6th to support the candidate who wins the nomination. While I’m personally concerned about Koster, who doesn’t have established credentials that close to the core values of the Democratic party, any of the three candidates would be an improvement over Gibbons.
Sarah,
Sorry that you are appalled, but there is nothing that I can do to control your emotions which appears some what on the hysterical side. I spoke the truth and stand by what I stated. Nothing that you have stated convinces me that I am wrong and that you are making sense.
My point I made very clear. Donnelly’s work as the investigative arm of the court on behalf of abused children for any other purposes should not be represented in her race for Attorney General as proving that she has been a competent GAL when in fact, the public can never know if this is true. No one and certainly not this paper knows if she has been competent or as clean heart as she appears and has made herself out to be. I happen to know some cases where she has not been.
Yes kids need to be protected, but the best way to guarantee that these children are protected from abusers, including sick corrupted minded attorneys and judges are to allow these records to become public. This can be made possible by not using the real names of the children involved as it is done with most Appellant cases involving minors, but most poor parents never make it to the Appellant Courts.
There should be some way the public can see what is going on in our courts concerning this vulnerable group, where judges, attorneys and other officials nave not acted in these children best interests, but in way that virtually guarantee their ruin.
Well, it looks like Koster is the odd man out…at least on this blog.
I’m not surprised by the Donnelly endorsement, as a matter of fact, I think it’s a good PD choice, she’s a good candiadate. She doesn’t seem to have political ambitions beyond AG and she’s willing to do what is right for the people [including children] of Missouri. I like Jeff Harris and I’m still undecided. I have one week to be persuaded.
The reason for my post is Clint Zweifel…I’ve worked door to door, phone banks, and stuffed a few envelopes. He’s the best candidate for middle income workers of Missouri. Zweifel.. He’s been there, done that.
Sarah the attorney,
Donnelly also got the Dundley Dunlop Award, the same type of awards that you mentioned earlier also, didn’t she? He is the GAL on the case pasted below.
The fact that such an award could be named after such a man says everything about these types of awards and the incompetence and abuses possible in this system by such people as Guardian Ad-Litems and judges who over-see these type cases and, who are accepted by their peers and others as being mentally healthy and of moral good conscience when in fact, they are NOT!.
The fact is, there isn’t any non-interested body that oversees a GAL’s performance on a case. It is left to the judges to supervise the GAL’s that they appoint on these cases.
It is a total mess and the system in Missouri is useless in cases where a judge is corrupted and a case is fixed. There are lots of fixed cases and where you have an immoral judge and certain immoral attorneys or attorneys who are unwilling to buck the system, many abused children become chopped meat, such as what almost happened to the child in the case pasted below.
Most children are not as lucky as the ones in the case below to have a national organization take up their cause and a sharp professional mother as their other parent who was not guilty of abuse and was unknowing of the abuse.
http://www.jfcadvocacy.org/amicus-briefs/SwinnOMMJusticeforchildrenbriefS1304833.doc