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Kehoe in fundraising lead in Missouri GOP governor’s race

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Kehoe in fundraising lead in Missouri GOP governor’s race


MISSOURI – FOX 2 is following the money pouring into one of the top races in Missouri: the Republican primary for governor.

Campaign finance records with the Missouri Ethics Commission reveal Lt. Mike Kehoe taking a massive lead in fundraising.

Political consultants say it’s fueling his rise in polls, with the money almost as important as the message.

Kehoe had trailed the front-runner, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, by 15%, 20%, or more in polls over the past year.

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Our Missouri Nexstar, The Hill, and Emerson College Poll this month shows Kehoe pulling within 3% of Ashcroft, which is within the margin of error.  

Ashcroft is touting an endorsement from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee this month.

Third-place candidate in our poll, Missouri State Senator Bill Eigel of St. Charles County, just debuted his first TV ad Tuesday. 

However, Kehoe continues to win big in the fundraising derby.

Records show his “Citizens for Kehoe” campaign committee had $1.74 million on hand for the quarter ending in March, compared to $656,000 for Ashcroft’s campaign committee and $727,000 for Eigel’s committee.

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Ashcroft has a huge edge in name recognition from his father, John Ashcroft, the former Missouri Governor, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Attorney General. 

Still, we’ve found fundraising gap is even more dramatic when it comes to the political action committees (PACs) supporting the three candidates.

The Committee for Liberty PAC, which supports Ashcroft, had $1.9 million on hand at the end of the quarter, taking in less than $61,000 so far in June. Its top donors in 2024 are California real estate developer Steven Craig, August Busch III, and Ashcroft’s mother, Janet.

Believe in Life and Liberty (BILL) PAC, which supports Eigel, had a little more than $1 million on hand at the end of the quarter but has raised $445,000 this month. Its top donors this year are St. Louis pro-life activist Joan Langenberg, Trial Lawyers for Justice of Montana and the Edelman-Thompson Law Firm of Kansas City.

American Dream PAC, which supports Kehoe, dwarfs the others, with $4.5 million on hand at the end of last quarter and more than $2 million raised so far this month.

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St. Louis Political Financier Rex Sinquefield has donated $1.25 million to the PAC this year.   Herzog Rail and Highway Construction of St. Joseph, Mo., has donated $1 million, and Waycrosse Inc. of Minnesota, the investment arm of agribusiness giant Cargill, has kicked in $500,000. 

Kehoe contends that his lead among small donors tells the real story.

“The fact of the matter is we’ve outraised all seven other opponents in the Republican field by three to one with Missouri dollar donors, small dollar donors (under $2,825), people who say, ‘We like Mike’s message; we think his leadership skill fits what Missouri needs right now,’” he said.

Early absentee voting, with an excuse, began Tuesday. The August 6 primary is now six weeks away.

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Both Missouri River bridges now open at Rocheport, MoDOT announces

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Both Missouri River bridges now open at Rocheport, MoDOT announces


Both east- and westbound Lance Cpl. Leon Deraps Interstate 70 Missouri River bridges now are open to traffic.

The Missouri Department of Transportation announced the full opening of both bridges Friday. A ribbon-cutting marking the occasion was held Dec. 10 on the eastbound bridge. Prior to the eastbound bridge opening, all traffic, regardless of travel direction, was on the westbound bridge.

The westbound bridge was constructed first, all traffic was shifted to it and then the prior metal girder bridge was demolished. The new eastbound bridge was built in same location as the old bridge. The dual-bridge construction was forward looking in preparation for I-70’s expansion to six lanes statewide.

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While the eastbound bridge is open, final touches still are needed and all work should finish by the spring.

“These twin new bridges would not have been possible without the foresight, cooperation and contributions of our federal and state elected leaders as well as the local communities who recognized the long-term value of investing in a bridge that connects their region, the state and the nation,” said Dustin Boatwright, Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission chair at the ribbon-cutting. “This project is a testimony to what’s possible when we work together at all levels.”



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Mizzou Lands Transfer Commitment from OT Keagen Trost

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Mizzou Lands Transfer Commitment from OT Keagen Trost


The Missouri Tigers added a second offensive lineman Friday evening, acquiring former Wake Forest offensive tackle Keagen Trost. The Tigers also added former Michigan center Dominick Giudice just hours before.

Trost joins Missouri with one season of eligibility left while Giudice has two. Trost committed to Missouri during his official visit, also visiting Nebraska one day before announcing his commitment Missouri,

Trost also had offers to Florida State and Nebraska amongst others. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound offensive lineman started in all 12 regular season games for Wake Forest in 2024, 11 at right tackle, and one at left tackle.

On 468 pass blocking snaps in 2024, Trost allowed 19 pressures.

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Trost joined Wake Forest in 2024 after transferring over from Indiana State, where he played from 2021-’23. Before opting out of the COVID season in 2020, Trost played for Morgan State. He started in seven games for Indiana State in 2023.

Missouri will lose starters at both right tackle and left tackle, with junior Armand Membou declaring for the NFL draft, and Marcus Bryant running out of elligibility.

Trost is Missouri’s ninth addition through the transfer portal thus far, but only the fourth on the offense. The Tigers have also added Giudice, wide receiver Kevin Coleman (Mississsippi State), Ahmad Hardy (Louisana Monroe).

The early transfer portal window officially closes on Dec. 28.

Recent Tiger Safety Transfer Talks Relationships, Mizzou’s System Three Transfer Portal Options for Mizzou at the Quarterback Position
2025 Missouri Tigers Football Offseason Tracker: Coming and Going

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Who's Mizzou talking to: Friday night update

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Who's Mizzou talking to: Friday night update


Who’s Mizzou talking to: Friday night update

Here’s a quick rundown of who we know the Tigers are still in communication with as we hit the final weekend of visits in portal season.

There is supposed to be a dead period for visits starting Monday. That doesn’t mean no more commitments, though.

1. Stephen Hall and Adrian Wilson, Washington State DBs

With Washington State head coach Jake Dickert and quarterback John Mateer both headed out, it seems as if the team I grew up rooting for is headed for a rough season.

Now there are even more headed out as both cornerback Stephen Hall and safety Adrian Wilson are talking to Mizzou. Wilson is scheduled for a visit this weekend, Hall received an offer during the week.

Hall would be the depth corner the Tigers have been looking for to join the room of Toriano Pride, Nick Deloach and Dreyden Norwood.

My understanding was the Tigers were done adding to the safety room, but Wilson would give them a third addition to that crew since the start of the week.

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Hall was a 72.6 overall defender and 73.7 coverage defender last season, and is a junior. At this point, it’s difficult to tell how much eligibility he would have left because of the recent Diego Pavia ruling the JUCO years don’t count against NCAA eligibility. Hall played at Northwest Mississippi Community College in 2020, 2021 and 2022, then at Washington State in 2023 and 2024. It’s possible he’s out of eligibility after next year or has another two seasons depending on how the NCAA works with the Pavia ruling.

Wilson is a redshirt freshman who will have three years of eligibility remaining. He graded out as a 68.7 overall defender, 71.5 run defender and 67.4 coverage defender according to PFF.

2. Nate Johnson, edge rusher from Appalachian State

Johnson posted that his recruitment was closed on Friday, while reportedly on a visit at Mizzou, so we should get an answer on this one quickly.

The Tigers have been looking to add to the edge rusher room since the losses of Williams Nwaneri and Jaylen Brown, but I haven’t heard a ton about the other guys they have talked to outside of a lot of offers getting thrown out.

The Tigers offered Johnson in the early days of the portal along with a number of young edge rushers.

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Johnson also visited USC, South Carolina, Kentucky and Florida State and also posted offers from LSU and Florida.

Johnson is a sophomore who will have two years of eligibility remaining, who graded out as a 75.2 overall defender, 69.2 run defender and 76.1 pass rusher this season by PFF.

3. Kofi Asare, edge rusher from UMass

Here’s another of the young edge rushers Mizzou has offered this cycle.

The Tigers offered the redshirt sophomore on Thursday. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Asare played in 12 games this season, including against Mizzou when he had three tackles including 0.5 for loss. He totaled 30 tackles, 5.5 for loss, three sacks one forced fumble that he also recovered and one pass breakup.

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UMass played a surprisingly tough schedule with matchups against Mizzou, Mississippi State and Georgia. In those three games, Asare had five tackles, 1.5 for loss and one sack.

Asare graded out as a 71.5 overall defender, 67.1 run defender and 70.4 pass rusher according to PFF.

Asare or Johnson would join an edge-rusher room that will lose Johnny Walker Jr. and Joe Moore to eligibility and Nwaneri and Brown to the portal.

They would join Zion Young, Eddie Kelly Jr., Darris Smith and Jahkai Lang.

4. TJ Shanahan, offensive lineman from Texas A&M

Mizzou is still working hard to add pieces to the offensive line that is losing 60 percent of its starters from this season in Marcus Bryant and Cam’Ron Johnson to eligibility and Armand Membou to the NFL Draft.

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Shanahan is the next in a list of Tiger targets for the line as he is in Columbia for a visit this weekend.

Shanahan appeared in 10 games and made five starts as a freshman this season, playing at both center and left guard through the season.

He opened the season at center, but moved over to guard for his final five games.

Shanahan stands at 6-foot-4, 330 pounds and graded as a 49.3 offensive player, 53.7 run blocker and 54.8 pass blocker this season, allowing two sacks, two quarterback hits and four hurries on 285 total snaps.

He would likely slot in at right guard for the Tigers, taking the spot Johnson is leaving open.

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Shanahan will have three years of eligibility remaining.

5. Keagen Trost, offensive lineman from Wake Forest

Like Shanahan, Trost would slot in as a likely starter for Mizzou, unlike Shanahan, he has a whole lot of experience playing college football.

Trost played at Morgan State in 2019, Indiana State in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, then at Wake Forest in 2024.

He will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Trost played right tackle throughout the season, except against Cal when he played left tackle.

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He graded as a 70.3 offensive player, 69.1 run blocker and 68.8 pass blocker for Wake Forest this season, allowing three sacks, one quarterback hit and 15 hurries on 772 total snaps.

Trost could slot in at either open tackle slot for Mizzou.

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Talk about this story in the Transfer Portal Central thread and discuss so much more in The Tiger Walk

Make sure you’re caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines

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You can follow me on X @kyle_mcareavy for more news and updates.



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