Another Ashcroft enters politics, spurs GOP face-off for Missouri Senate seat
By Virginia Young, St. Louis Post-Dispatch | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
He is the middle child of
Through it all,
Then last March, Ashcroft suddenly joined the race for an open state
"I was looking at the potential people that were running for the seat and felt like I had a better view of the role of government, and that's why I jumped in," Ashcroft said. In his view, "the purpose of government is to protect your right to live your life the way you'd like to."
Ashcroft instantly became the frontrunner in the three-way Republican primary, drawing luminaries to his side. Auditor
But his candidacy also raised a question in
"That's a good question," said former Sen.
The lesser-known Republicans in the race, attorney
Spooner, a product of
Ashcroft declined to discuss his primary opponents' jabs. But he readily admitted that some Republicans have questioned whether his political brand fits the
"Several people said, 'Move west'" to a more Republican district, Ashcroft quips. "I said, 'Wait a minute. I love this district. It's a great district. It has great diversity.'"
Since then, redistricting has shifted the boundary lines north and west, removing part of
The new boundaries reach as far as
A chart prepared for the redistricting commission put the Democratic majority in the redrawn district at 54 percent. Democrats hope they can pick up the seat, though they say turning out the base could be difficult in a nonpresidential year when few hot issues are on the ballot.
"That's the wild card of this election: who shows up," said
Lamping, the incumbent, said he had trouble finding a Republican to run when he decided last year against seeking re-election. He tried to recruit
Then Spooner emerged, and Lamping thought the race was set. Spooner, 53, has a civil law practice in
After meeting with
"You need people like myself who've lived in the district their entire lives," he said.
Spooner's campaign and office websites tout his background, from scrubbing floors at a neighborhood gas station as a youth to winning a million-dollar verdict as the lawyer for a woman injured in a gruesome bridge accident. He estimated that about 20 percent of his caseload involves personal injury cases and the rest stems from business, employment and contract disputes.
Ashcroft, who has lived in
Before becoming a lawyer, Ashcroft taught engineering at
Hicks, meanwhile, said he got interested in the race after serving as the
Hicks, 54, said he is a recovered alcoholic and works as a physician career consultant and fill-in doctor for physicians who need temporary help. Hicks is largely funding his own campaign with a
Schupp, the Democratic candidate, is unopposed in the
The three Republican candidates talk largely in generalities about creating jobs, improving health care and eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in government. As for how they differ, it's hard to tell.
For example, all say they would have supported the gradual
The largest single campaign donation that Ashcroft has received so far --
"My analogy is to the government cheese program," Hicks said."It's a great idea, it's desperately needed, but if the government cheese was contaminated, was infected with E. coli, then you wouldn't just make more of it and give it out to more people, hoping it would benefit them. You'd stop and sterilize the equipment, find out where the infection came from, clean it all up and then spread it out to the needy."
Ashcroft questioned whether the state could afford to expand
"After that, they can change that amount and
His skeptical stance contrasts with a position being pushed by his campaign co-chairman, former Sen.
Noting Bond's lobbying role,
Ashcroft laughed at that accusation.
"I haven't agreed to anything with regard to
If helping people get quality medical care is the goal, "
"One thing my father did teach me was, 'You can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good,'" Ashcroft said.
He got into the race so late that when he filed for office, he hadn't even considered how his name should read on the ballot. "I'm sure I should've polled it or something."
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