Convicted felon wins GOP state auditor primary in Missouri.
GOP in Missouri blames the upset win on Democrats!! Too funny.
Yep, those Republican voters in the Show-Me State are really well-informed. They make the Palm Beach crowd look like geniuses.
Newspaper headline: Felon upsets GOP's pick in state auditor primary
BY VIRGINIA YOUNG
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau
08/07/2002
In the biggest upset of the primary election, Al Hanson, who served time in a Minnesota prison, beat the hand-picked candidate of the Missouri Republican Party for state auditor, lawyer Jay Kanzler of University City.
Hanson, 72, of Concordia, won the Republican nod Tuesday to challenge State Auditor Claire McCaskill. With about three-quarters of the vote counted, Hanson had run up nearly twice the votes that Kanzler had. Hanson spent less than $500 on the race while Kanzler spent $68,411.
``What we are saying right now is that we are encouraging Republicans not to vote for Al Hanson,'' John Hancock, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, said Wednesday.
Hanson was convicted of felony fraud and felony larceny in Minnesota in 1978 and served nine months in prison. He has refused to discuss his criminal record. He said he is a financial consultant who travels internationally, in Asia and South America, to advise clients.
Hanson did not return phone calls Tuesday night. Felons cannot vote while confined but regain their voting rights after they are released from probation or parole. Former convicts can run for office if they are registered voters and meet the age and residency requirements.
Scott Baker, a spokesman for the Republican Party, attributed Hanson's surprise victory to Democrats crossing over to vote for him, the fact that Hanson's name was at the top of the ballot, and both Hanson and Kanzler's lack of name recognition.
Baker played down the impact of Hanson's win on the Republican ticket. "It doesn't really change our focus for the fall because we've said all along that our top priority was getting Jim Talent elected to the U.S. Senate. That remains the case."
Kanzler had waited for election results at a reception on the Washington University campus, where he works as an associate general counsel. He held out hope when he thanked supporters shortly after 9:30 p.m. but had conceded by 11 p.m. He was at a loss to explain his loss.
"I traveled throughout Missouri, I spoke to the people, I had the endorsements and I thought that I had done what I needed to do to reach the people," Kanzler said. The campaign ran radio ads featuring an endorsement from Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo.
McCaskill, who spent election night in Kansas City, had been prepared for an issues-oriented campaign against Kanzler. "My jaw is dropping," she said as she learned of Hanson's surge. "It just tells you nobody's paying attention."
McCaskill said she had looked forward to debating Kanzler.
"In some ways I'm disappointed, because I think that Kanzler was somebody who would've been an interesting opponent, and we would've had good debates, and I don't sense that Mr. Hanson is a serious candidate," she said.
McCaskill and Kanzler had disagreed on whether the state's watchdog-in-chief should focus on traditional financial audits or "performance audits," which weigh whether state programs are working properly.
McCaskill has used performance audits to spot problems ranging from weak child-care regulation to overuse of certain Medicaid prescription drugs. Kanzler contended that those reports have "no impact on the bottom line" but McCaskill said they show whether tax dollars are being wasted.
McCaskill, who is seeking her second four-year term, was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Libertarian Arnold Trembley of St. Louis County also was unopposed and will be on the November general election ballot.
Hanson, a Minnesota native, ran for state auditor in that state in 1986, losing the Democratic primary by just 7,000 votes out of more than a quarter-million cast. The Minnesota Star-Tribune disclosed that Hanson had been convicted of felony theft in one Minnesota county and theft by swindling in another.
In one case, Hanson offered to guarantee a price for farmers' grain if they would pay him an advance fee, according to the newspaper. When the time came to deliver, he was nowhere to be found, a prosecutor said. Twenty-seven farmers were bilked. In the other matter, Hanson accepted $95 deposits on Army surplus Jeeps, but never delivered the vehicles, according to reports.
When he emerged from prison, Hanson started a prison ministry program, distributing Bibles to inmates. His Internet site advertises the ministry and its free literature, which includes: "I was in Prison: Personal Witnessing in Jails and Prisons" by Allen D. Hanson.
Hanson said in an interview last month that he moved to Concordia about 12 years ago to be near grandchildren. He said he was running for auditor because "the financial markets are in chaos right now. And I have the background and the experience to help the state through this period of time."
Hanson ran a low-budget primary campaign, filing a report saying he would raise and spend less than $500. At last report, McCaskill's campaign had $381,263 in the bank. |
