Latest news out of Missouri:
One moment, Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts, was attacking wealthy corporations and the economic squeeze on the middle class.
The next, she was touting Jason Kander, a military veteran and Missouri’s secretary of state, as a cure for what she sees is ailing America.
Warren packed a capacity crowd of more than 1,000 people into the College Basketball Experience in downtown Kansas City for a rally to help Kander’s campaign for the U.S. Senate as his attempt to replace incumbent Republican Roy Blunt heads into its final days.
“Missouri needs another senator who will vote for the hard-working people of Missouri,” Warren said. “Not for Wall Street and giant corporations. Missouri needs Jason Kander.”
And for every moment Warren took to praise the young Missouri Democrat, she also took time to slam Blunt, whom Warren has served with in the Senate.
“I wish that Roy Blunt was part of the solution,” she said, before telling a story about him voting against one of her bills aimed at helping young Americans with student loan debt. “But he’s not. He’s part of the problem.”
Her speech lasted roughly a half-hour, and she cast a wide net of policy proposals, ranging from her goal of raising the minimum wage, to championing unions and the need to help ease the cost of education.
Meanwhile, here’s the latest news regarding Blunt:
The Federal Election Commission this week wrote Roy Blunt’s Senate campaign with questions about a few donations, including two from political groups or corporate PACs tied to Blunt’s lobbyist son and campaign manager, Andy.
The letters, dated Wednesday, ask for more information and are mainly routine queries about individuals or political committees that gave more than the FEC limit allowed in any election cycle. Burson Snyder, a deputy campaign manager for the Republican U.S. senator, said fixing them will require minor bookkeeping or data entry corrections.
One questioned is a $3,800 donation from former Missouri Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond that was supposed to be for the Aug. 4 primary. The overall amount does not exceed combined FEC limits that Bond could give, but the allotment is technically higher than the amount he can give in either the primary or general campaign.
Individuals can give up to $2,700 per election, or $5,400 total for both the primary and general. PACs are limited to $5,000 each for primary and general elections.
Snyder said Friday that the campaign had not received the letters, which are posted on the FEC’s Web site here and here, but did review them after alerted by a reporter.
Snyder said the letters raised a "very routine paperwork or data entry matter on a small percentage of contributions" to Blunt's campaign, and pointed out that Blunt's opponent, Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander, had also received FEC requests for clarification.
But one of the FEC letters sent to Blunt is notable because it also questioned seven “contributions from unregistered organizations,” including a $1,000 donation in June from a group called Missourians for Responsible and Better Government.
Missouri Ethics Commission records show that Missourians for Responsible and Better Government was formed in late 2014, with a $110,546 donation from Missourians for Matt Blunt, Inc., the leftover state-level campaign committee for Roy Blunt's son, the former governor.
At the time the new committee was formed, in September 2014, Andy Blunt was listed as its treasurer. That was amended in the committee's paperwork on Sept. 7, to list his wife, Jill Blunt, as the treasurer.
Lets pull off a huge upset victory in Missouri. Click here to donate and get involved with Kander’s campaign.