Today was campaign finance filing day in MO and all three candidates released their numbers. There is a lot of bad news in here for the Republicans.

Democrat Party (technically assumed candidate and current state Attorney General) Jay Nixon was the first to report his numbers. The AG raised an impressive $1.75 million in the quarter. He showed expenditures of about $355,000 and another $350,000 in in-kind contributions leaving him with roughly $3.75 million in cash on hand.

Current U.S. Rep Kenny Hulshof, and Republican candidate for Governor, was next up. He reported fund raising totals of $1.5 million and expenditures of approximately $900,000. This leaves him with approximately $1.1 million in cash on hand.

Current State Treasurer Sarah Steelman was the last to send out her numbers, and you can see why. She raised a paltry $289,000. Her expenditures were approximately $1 million. She has an outstanding debt of roughly a half-million dollars from her wealthy husband. This leaves her with cash on hand of about $700,000.

Two important issues to note here:

1. Democrat Jay Nixon is laughing all the way to the bank. The two Republican candidates have been locked into a bitter primary battle that has forced them to spend capital that is much needed in the general election.

2. It is painfully clear that Rep Hulshof’s connections have been able to garner him much better fundraising totals. He has been backed by every major state Republican (minus the Governor who is refraining from interfering in the primary) which has surely gained him access to high quality donors. If Steelman is able to survive this primary she is going to need a lot of help.

[Update]: Rep Hulshof has pulled down another endorsement. This one is from Associated Industries of Missouri, a small business advocacy group. From their statement:

Steve Hoven, chairman of the Board of Directors of Associated Industries, pointed to the six key areas that Hulshof has outlined in his economic development platform:

• Additional lawsuit reform

• Workers’ compensation and Second Injury Fund reform

• Job training

• Quality Jobs

• Grow Me State Initiative – assisting advanced technology companies

• Capitalize on Missouri’s strengths

“These priorities mirror AIM’s vision of the manner in which Missouri’s economy will succeed,” said Hoven. “In the last four years the Show-Me State has taken great strides in improving its business environment, but recent news stories have served as a an unfriendly reminder that we must take every step available to make certain that Missouri can compete in the global economy.”