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Post-Dispatch to Nixon: Are You Returning Contributions or Not?

November 7, 2007

JEFFERSON CITY – You know Silent Jay Nixon is in trouble when the Democrat-leaning St. Louis Post-Dispatch questions Nixon’s promise to return unlimited campaign contributions that he vigorously opposed in court.

In an editorial today on Mayor Francis Slay’s return of over-the-limit contributions, the newspaper correctly noted that: “ Mr. Nixon said in mid-September that he would return the excess donations, but unlike Mr. Slay, he hasn’t done so yet.”

Missourians will remember that Nixon first said he was going to return unlimited contributions, then said he would give the money back only if Gov. Matt Blunt gave it back. Then, later, Nixon again said he was “prepared” to give the money back even though, as the Post-Dispatch notes, he hasn’t.

Missourians also will remember that after tanking the defense of the law allowing the contributions, Nixon abandoned his duty as the state’s attorney and opposed them before the state Supreme Court. Nixon’s decision to oppose the law to his own benefit also found him siding with the plaintiffs represented by his longtime political guru and former staffer Chuck Hatfield.

“Jay Nixon has failed to keep his word to Missourians by not returning the very same contributions he vigorously opposed, and it’s refreshing to see that some in the media have not forgotten,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Jay Nixon’s acceptance of these contributions was an act of hypocrisy that has been magnified tenfold by his failure to return them. If Jay Nixon had concerns about accepting these contributions, he should have never taken them in the first place.”