Some of Missouri’s most prominent donors have chipped in big to boost Josh Hawley’s bid for the U.S. Senate.
Hawley, who previously announced he’d raised $820,000 and had $782,000 cash on hand, is the GOP’s highest profile recruit to take on incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.
McCaskill is considered among the most vulnerable incumbents in the Senate, and the race could tip the balance of control in the Senate.
Pitching in the maximum allowed contribution to Hawley, the Missouri attorney general — $2,700 for the primary and $2,700 for the general election — is a who’s who of Missouri GOP mega donors.
The list includes Rex Sinquefield, the retired St. Louis financier who’s has contributed more than $40 million to various candidates and causes in Missouri in recent years, along with his wife, Jeanie.
David Humphreys, a Joplin businessman who gave Hawley’s attorney general campaign $2.7 million last year, maxed out his contribution. So did his wife, Debra.
Jack Danforth, the former U.S. senator who led the effort to recruit Hawley into the Senate race, gave the maximum amount, and so did Sam Fox, a former U.S. ambassador and businessman from St. Louis.
Other max donors include Peter Herschend, owner of Silver Dollar City Inc. in Branson; Gary Rust, a newspaper publisher from southeast Missouri; and Jeffery Smith, a Columbia developer.
Hawley officially started raising money for his Senate campaign in early August.
McCaskill reported raising nearly $3 million in the third quarter and has more than $7 million cash on hand.