Kander Calls Out Blunt Over Vietnam Student Deferments February 10, 2016

The Viet Nam war has turned into a campaign issue in the 2016 Missouri senate race.
Democrat Jason Kander is calling on Republican incumbent Senator Roy Blunt to explain his actions surrounding his draft status in the late 1960’s.
‘I don’t sit in judgment of anyone who chose not serve in Vietnam,” Kander said, “ but hiding three deferments and saying you couldn’t remember them is completely inexcusable.”
Wednesday, the Kansas City Star reported Blunt’s office told the Star that Blunt was never called up to military service. His office says Blunt’s lottery number in 1969, the first year of the draft lottery was in the high 300’s, so he was never called.
His office also told the Star Blunt’s status was 1A, making him eligible to be drafted.
The Star’s report says Blunt has never mentioned that he was classified as 2S. That means Blunt had a student deferment since his was in college at the time. Many draft age students had a similar status while in school at that time.
Blunt office says “poor memories and difficult to obtain records may have led to the misstatement to the Star”, according to the report.

Blunt Has $5 Million in Campaign Account January 14, 2016

(AP) — Missouri’s Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says he raised nearly $1.25 million during the past three months for his expected re-election campaign.

Blunt’s campaign on Wednesday announced it had more than $5 million in cash on hand at the end of the most recent fundraising quarter.

Likely Democratic opponent Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander that day said he raised more than $870,000 in that same period.

A release from his campaign notes he had more than $2 million on hand, less than half of what Blunt has to spend on the race.

Candidacy filing for the 2016 elections does not officially open until February.

Missouri Auditor Criticizes Missouri Secretary of State Operations January 8, 2016

(AP) – An audit of the Missouri secretary of state’s office shows $120,000 went to the wrong fund and there wasn’t adequate oversight of raises.

The audit released Thursday shows at least $120,000 in electronic payments went to general revenues. The money should have gone to a technology trust fund.

The office has asked that the money be transferred back. About a third has been returned.

The reporting spans the 2015, 2014 and 2013 fiscal years, which mostly falls under Secretary of State Jason Kander’s time in office, which began January 2013.

The audit also shows the office didn’t fully document reasons for salary increases.

Democratic Auditor Nicole Galloway donated $550 to Kander before assuming office in 2015.

A Galloway spokeswoman says professional standards did not require her recusal from the audit.

Hill Says Akin is Considering A Blunt Challenger in 2016 February 25, 2015

The Hill:
The Hill:

Todd Akin is considering a primary challenge to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) in 2016.

“I have not ruled anything out,” the former congressman and 2012 GOP Senate nominee told The Hill in a phone interview on Wednesday.

“I think there is a high level of dissatisfaction among conservatives, that they have to some degree been pushed out of the Republican Party,” he continued. “The sentiment is there. The Tea Party is skeptical and wants some fresh blood, not just the same establishment guys.”
Akin’s reemergence is sure to be an unwelcome development for national Republicans.

Now, the GOP pariah says if he did run, it’d be to try to move his party away from a singular focus on economic issues, which he says has come at the expense of social issues, like abortion.

And Blunt, he argues, will have problems with the state’s conservative base.

“I think [Blunt’s] support among conservatives is weak,” Akin said. “His biggest liability is a third party conservative getting into the race. If I were in Roy’s shoes, that’s what I’d be worried about.”

Blunt is serving his first term in the Senate after having spent more than a decade in the House. He’s viewed as a centrist and will be a formidable incumbent with more than $2.2 million in cash on hand already. He has said publicly he intends to run for reelection but has not yet officially announced.

With Akin in the race, stakes could become even higher for Republicans in defending the seat, worried about the damage to Blunt or even unlikely upset he could pull.

Democrats have landed their top recruit for the race, Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, who launched his Senate bid last week.

Akin wouldn’t say how seriously he’s considering a Senate bid. He said he’s also is considering other professional options, like political writing and speaking. He said he’s working on an invention, which he described as a “simple household device that might help people.”

He maintains that a potential challenge to Blunt isn’t personal, although he says that Blunt and the Republican establishment didn’t just abandon him in 2012, they “aggressively attacked” him.

Following Akin’s controversially remarks in 2012, Blunt publicly urged Akin to leave the race and only returned to offer him a tepid endorsement once the deadline to drop out passed.

More: thehill.com

Blunt / Kander Senate Match Up Cracks Wa Post Top 10 Senate Races February 21, 2015

The new Roy Blunt- Jason Kander Missouri 2016 Senate race has made theater top 10 list of Senate races from the Washington Post.
The #1 race race is listed as Sen Mark Kirk’s Illinois re-election campaign.
Here Is the Post’s Missouri written up:
“10. Missouri (Republican-controlled): Democrats got their candidate this week in the form of Secretary of State Jason Kander. Kander, an Army vet who served in Afghanistan, is just 33 and may well be setting himself up for another race in the future. That’s because it remains to be seen whether Sen. Roy Blunt (R) is actually vulnerable in a state that has been moving toward Republicans at the presidential level. At the end of 2014, Blunt had more than $2 million in the bank for the race. (Previous ranking: N/A)”