JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick received a $250,000 boost from a top Republican benefactor in the primary race for state auditor, in which he is facing Republican Rep. David Gregory of Sunset Hills.
Retired St. Louis financier Rex Sinquefield鈥檚 check helped put Fitzpatrick narrowly in the fundraising lead, according to quarterly reports filed by the two candidates seeking to replace outgoing Auditor Nicole Galloway, the lone Democrat holding statewide office in Missouri.
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Fitzpatrick鈥檚 fundraising increased slightly since October and shifted from majority loans to all donations, with a total for the quarter of nearly $370,000, according to Missouri Ethics Commission reports. This brings his cash on hand, in both his personal campaign account and one for a political action committee supporting him, to about $802,000 as of January.
Gregory, who also has a PAC backing him, reported having $792,000 in his account as of Jan. 1.
Over half of Fitzpatrick鈥檚 recent gains came from a single donation to the PAC from Sinquefield, who鈥檚 spent over $41 million on Missouri elections. Sinquefield also gave $250,000 to Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who鈥檚 signaled a bid for governor in 2024.
Sinquefield has supported candidates like Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt in past election cycles and long held priorities of eliminating the state income tax and boosting education initiatives.
Fitzpatrick received no other donations over $10,000, but took in several of his largest donations, between $2,500 to $5,300, from companies out of state.
Meanwhile, Gregory raised a total of just over $37,000 through his personal campaign account and a separate political action committee in the most recent quarter, marking a steep decline in fundraising from the last period, in which he brought in around $475,000, according to MEC reports.
Gregory鈥檚 largest donation of the quarter, reaching the limit for a contribution to his personal account at $2,650, came from a St. Louis-based tech billionaire couple, David and Thelma Steward. David Steward, founder of World Wide Technology, has given to both Parson and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.
Gregory previously received at least $15,000 from individuals and groups tied to the slot machine industry and a lobbyist who has worked to remove a ban on the machines.