© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

At debate, Spence makes serious allegations about Nixon's funding

Chris McDaniel, St. Louis Public Radio

In Missouri’s first gubernatorial debate this election season, Republican Dave Spence went on the attack against Democratic Governor Jay Nixon. They were also joined by Libertarian candidate Jim Higgins.

St. Louis businessman Dave Spence made serious allegations that the Governor is in the pocket of labor unions and attorneys.

“Labor unions: 2.3 million. Personal injury attorneys: 2.4," Spence said, rattling off campaign donations for Nixon. "You wanna know who's dictating policy and suffocating our state? There you have it."

Spence's campaign is funded largely by his own personal wealth.  Nixon deflected Spence’s attacks, saying the people of Missouri know he’s independent.

During the debate, the Governor touched on education and vouchers.

"I think it's a clear values issue that we should not take public dollars and send them to private schools," he said.

But Spence brought the question back to the economy. He said a better job market is the fix for education. With more tax payers, he says, funding for education would go up.

Follow Chris McDaniel on Twitter@csmcdaniel

  • See more stories on issues and elections from St. Louis Public Radio, the St. Louis Beacon and Nine Network of Public Media at BeyondNovember.org.