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GOP group bankrolls Greitens as he and Koster break spending record

Eric Greitens, left, and Chris Koster with images of money
Jason Rosenbaum and Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio

It’s $45 million and counting for Missouri’s two major-party nominees for governor as they head into the home stretch.

That’s how much Democrat Chris Koster and Republican Eric Greitens have raised, as of Friday, in their record-setting battle. So far, they’ve spent close to $36 million (some of it before the Aug. 2 primary.)

Those numbers come from their final campaign-finance reports, filed late Monday.

The largest chunk of Greitens’ money comes from the Republican Governors Association, which has poured in $16.5 million since the primary.

Koster has received close to $3 million from the Democratic Governors Association.

With a week left to go, Greitens is reporting almost $1 million more to spend than Koster. Greitens reported $3 million in the bank, compared to $2.1 million for Koster.

Greitens also outspent Koster during October by about $700,000: $8.6 million to Koster’s $7.9 million.

Almost $1 million of Koster's spending was directed to others, notably the Missouri Democratic Party, which is overseeing some of the get-out-the-vote efforts for its candidates.

The tallies for Greitens and Koster don’t include money that outside groups have spent on their behalf.

Also not included is money each has raised since Friday: About $1 million for Koster and about $2.1 million for Greitens.

Monday’s campaign-finance reports are the last that Missouri candidates have to file before the Nov. 8 election.

Here’s the basics for the other statewide candidates, according to their final reports. The figures are as of Friday. Contributions and debts are included only if they are significant sums:

Lieutenant Governor

Republican Mark Parson: Raised $982,515 overall, spent $748,994 overall, $281,968 in the bank.

Democrat Russ Carnahan: Raised $1.488 million overall, spent $1.338 million, $121,388 in the bank.

Attorney General

Democrat Teresa Hensley: Raised $3.78 million overall, spent $3.228 million overall, contributions totaled $265,150, $85,019 in the bank.

Republican Josh Hawley: Raised $4.04 overall, spent $3.66 million overall, contributions totaled $145,000, $1.288 million in the bank.

Secretary of State

Republican Jay Ashcroft: Raised $1.67 million overall, spent $1.46 million overall, $186,653 in the bank.

Democrat Robin Smith: Raised $638,395 overall, spent $247,049, $359,317 in the bank.

Treasurer

Democrat Judy Baker: Raised $740,553 overall, spent $639,047 overall, $95,404 in the bank.

Republican Eric Schmitt: Raised $3.19 million overall, spent $1.88 million overall, $1.016 million in the bank.

Jo Mannies is a freelance journalist and former political reporter at St. Louis Public Radio.