By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The two leading candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for Missouri governor met in St. Louis Tuesday night for the second of two live debates.
Incumbent Governor Bob Holden and State Auditor Claire McCaskill fielded questions from a panel of journalists on issues ranging from concealed weapons to highways.
McCaskill asserted that Holden has ignored most of the recommendations she's made in scores of audits that she claims would have saved the state millions of dollars.
After the debate, Holden disputed that claim. "I've instructed my staff and the departments to look at every single audit that is made and to go through it, and if there are things there that we can implement that save the taxpayers money we should do it. And we've implemented hundreds of her suggestions."
McCaskill also said the state must completely revamp the foundation formula, the system used to fund local school districts. She accused Holden of not reading her office's audit of the formula, which she said was illegal because it was not fairly distributed.
"And that audit said that very clearly, and he obviously didn't realize that when he gave his answer," McCaskill said after the debate. "So, I think that the governor, because he's feeling the pressure of these unimplemented audits, is once again maybe rewriting a little history."
Holden maintains his administration has implemented hundreds of McCaskill's suggestions as a means of saving taxpayer money.
The winner is expected to face Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt in the November general election.