Auditor’s race shifts emphasis

By JOSH FLORY of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, March 5, 2006

HANNIBAL - Missouri Democrats earned a key victory last week before any votes were cast.

When state Sen. Maida Coleman, a St. Louis Democrat, announced that she won’t run for state auditor, it apparently left the field open for Susan Montee of St. Joseph. With Democrats gathered this weekend in this Missouri River town, that turn of events allowed the party to coalesce around Montee’s candidacy, while Republicans are gearing up for a crowded - and potentially bitter - primary.

State Auditor Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, is running for the U.S. Senate, creating an opportunity for someone else to become the state’s top fiscal watchdog. While a race for auditor typically doesn’t enjoy the same spotlight as races for governor or Congress, Democrats would love to retain the office because it provides a platform to investigate the actions of the GOP-dominated state bureaucracy.

In the past, the auditor’s office also has been a steppingstone for ambitious politicians. Besides McCaskill, who lost a gubernatorial bid in 2004, the list of past auditors includes U.S. Sen. Kit Bond and former Sen. John Ashcroft, who also served as Missouri attorney general, governor and U.S. attorney general.

Montee is a certified public accountant and attorney who is serving as the auditor of Buchanan County. In remarks yesterday at a Democrat Days brunch, she leaned heavily on her résumé, noting that in recent years it has been common for the auditor’s post to be filled with a CPA or attorney and saying she would be the first state auditor with both credentials.

On the Republican side, three sitting legislators - Sen. John Loudon of Chesterfield, Rep. Jack Jackson of Wildwood and Rep. Mark Wright of Springfield - have already filed. Al Hanson, a Concordia resident who won the nomination in 2002 despite having a felony conviction, also is running.

Republicans, though, have tried to make lemons out of Coleman’s withdrawal, saying it reflects poorly on Democrats. Last week in a news release, the GOP highlighted recent comments by Coleman - who is black - when she told The Associated Press that some Democrats were concerned about how a black candidate would fare in the race.

Citing those remarks, a GOP spokesman said Democrats had dismissed Coleman because of her race, which they dubbed "a slap in the face to all African-Americans."

In an interview with the Tribune, Montee said there wasn’t any "orchestrated party intrusion" to nudge Coleman out of the race. "It was the right race to have the type of credentials that I have out there."

And despite her previous comments, Coleman offered no criticism when she addressed a large crowd at brunch yesterday. She told Democratic partisans that she wanted to be a "consensus builder" in the auditor’s race and that there was no reason for Democrats to fight with each other.

"What a perfect opportunity for Republicans to tear themselves apart," Coleman said. "We don’t need that in the Democratic Party."