Spence Jackson Left a Note, Say Police March 30, 2015

(AP) – Police say the spokesman for Missouri auditor’s office left a note before his apparent suicide, which came about a month after his boss killed himself.

Jefferson City Police spokesman Capt. Doug Shoemaker said Monday that 44-year-old Robert “Spence” Jackson died Friday evening or early Saturday at his apartment.

Shoemakers says investigators found a note, but he declined to say what it said.

Jackson’s body was found Sunday evening after police responded to a well-being check. Police say they believe he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Shoemaker says Jackson’s mother called police Sunday after not being able to reach him.

Jackson’s boss, Auditor Tom Schweich, fatally shot himself last month at his home in what police also have described as a suicide

Schwiech Says Nixon’s 2012 Budget Cuts Unconstitutional September 8, 2014

(AP) – Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich (shwyk) is accusing Gov. Jay Nixon of violating the state constitution by making budget cuts in 2012.

Schweich released an audit Monday asserting that Nixon should not have blocked millions of dollars of spending that year because state revenues exceeded estimates upon which the budget was based.

The Republican auditor accused the Democratic governor of “contorting and distorting” his constitutional authority to manage the budget.

Nixon’s office said in a written response attached to the audit that Schweich’s interpretation is inaccurate.

Schweich released his report as lawmakers are preparing to convene Wednesday to consider overriding numerous line-item vetoes that Nixon made to the 2015 budget

Brunner Thinking About 2016 Governor’s Race February 15, 2014

AP) — Former U.S. Senate candidate John Brunner said Friday that he is considering running for Missouri governor in 2016, which could lead to a multi-candidate Republican primary for what will be an open office.

Brunner told The Associated Press that he has received encouragement to run, but wants to wait to evaluate the gubernatorial race until after this year’s elections.

“I’m not saying no to the opportunity is the best way of putting it,” Brunner said.

“If there’s opportunities where people across Missouri can continue to speak their mind and have their be voice heard and they want to look for somebody with more experiences to solve the problems that we have here in Missouri than maybe the other two candidates, I’d be willing to be considered” for governor, he added.

Brunner’s comments came a few days after former U.S. attorney and Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway announced her Republican candidacy for governor. Republican Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich also may run for governor in 2016, but he first must face re-election this year.

Republicans are under pressure to organize a gubernatorial campaign because Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster has been preparing to run for governor for nearly a year.

The top executive office will be open because Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon is prohibited by term limits from seeking re-election.

Hanaway Makes It Official, In for Guv in 2016 February 10, 2014

Former Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway formally entered the GOP nomination battle for Missouri Governor in 2016.
Hanaway showed her interest in making the race over the weekend.
She followed it up with a formal announcement Monday.
She blames the likely Democratic nominee, Attorney General Chris Koster and President Obama for hurting Missouri’s economy, healthcare, and “for some of our communities, a broken educational system.”
Missouri’s Republican State Auditor Tom Schwiech may also consider the Governir’s office in 2016.
In her statement, however, Hanaway concentrated on the Democrat Koster.
“We can no longer sit idly by as the de-facto Democrat nominee continues to raise money and build his organization. I am starting now so that we can build the largest and best grassroots campaign in Missouri history,” according to Hanaway’s statement.

The full text is here:
“After serious consideration, discussion and prayer with my family, I am excited to announce that I will be a candidate for Governor in 2016.

Missourians will face a stark choice in 2016. The polices of Barack Obama and Chris Koster have resulted in less economic activity, less control over our healthcare and, for some of our communities, a broken educational system.

I want to lead Missouri in a different direction. I believe we can do better as a state. We can attract better jobs, we can improve the education for our children and we should have a government that respects our freedom as individuals.

We can no longer sit idly by as the de-facto Democrat nominee continues to raise money and build his organization. I am starting now so that we can build the largest and best grassroots campaign in Missouri history.

I am proud of the work we did when I was the Speaker of the House. We overrode the Governor on laws protecting life and our second amendment. We started Missouri on a new course.

Since I last sought elective office, I’ve spent the last 10 years like most Missourians, raising a family and working to make a living. Time spent working in the private sector, going to kids’ ball games and talking to people raising their families, has only increased my worry that Missouri kids will not have the same opportunities as their parents.

Missouri has an opportunity to once again meet our challenges and create a better day for all Missourians. To do that we need a Governor who is not afraid to lead.”

Catherine grew up in rural Nebraska and Iowa, before moving to Missouri to begin her professional career. Hanaway was first elected to the Missouri House in 1998. She led Republicans to their first legislative majority in 48 years in the 2002 election. She was elected the first female Speaker of the House in 2003. She served as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri from 2005 to 2009.

She is currently in private practice with Husch Blackwell LLP in St. Louis where she lives with her husband Christopher, daughter Lucy and son Jack.

KC Rejects State Audit of Water Dept. , “What Are You Afraid Of?”, Asks Auditor August 29, 2013

Missouri State Auditor Tom Schwiech is calling out Kansas City Mayor Sly James and the City Council.
He’s unhappy they are rejecting his bid to audit the Kansas City Water Department.
“What are you afraid of?,” Schwiech said in a statement from his office Thursday.
Schwiech he now hopes Governor Jay Nixon, or citizens of Kansas City push for the audit.
Schweich calls a state examination of the water department is “long overdue”.
Water rates in Kansas City have been rising steadily in the past few years.
The department says some of that is due to the fact the rates were kept too low in the past.
Another major reason is the federal government has ordered the city to spend over $2 billion to
modernize its sewer and storm run
off system over the next two decades.
Schweich’s statement say they have “heartbreaking” stores of poor and elderly Kansas Citians unable to pay their water bills, while corporations and other cities who use Kansas City water go months without paying their bills.
Schwiech he hopes Governor Nixon steps in.
His other alternative is a citizen imitative petition.
Schweich says getting the nearly 10,
500 valid signatures to force an audit would take “an inordinate amount of time to complete”.