A trio of checks totaling nearly $3 million rolled into a political action committee supporting Republican Will Scharf over the last week, boosting his campaign to unseat Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in the August GOP primary.
On Wednesday, Club for Growth Action Missouri 鈥� which is supporting Scharf 鈥� reported a $1.4 million donation from Paul Singer, one of the nation鈥檚 richest hedge fund managers.
The check comes just days after the PAC received two other massive donations: $500,000 from Club for Growth鈥檚 federal PAC and $1 million from the Concord Fund, which was formerly known as Judicial Crisis Network and is .
Leo is considered one of the main architects of conservatives鈥� efforts to reshape the American judicial system, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Another $1 million donation was reported last week coming from Leo directly, but a spokesman for Club for Growth said that was a filing error that is being corrected.
鈥淲ill Scharf is one of America鈥檚 leading conservative warriors, his campaign鈥檚 momentum is growing and we are proud to support him,鈥� said David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth Action, a national conservative anti-tax nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that endorsed Scharf last year.
A spokesman for Bailey, who was in 2022, hammered the donations as evidence that Scharf鈥檚 support isn鈥檛 coming from Missouri.
鈥淲all Street Willy is raking in millions from the same donors who literally just against President Trump,鈥� said Michael Hafner, Bailey鈥檚 spokesman. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 successful then and they won鈥檛 be successful in buying a seat in Missouri this year.鈥�
April marked the end of the first fundraising quarter of 2024, though candidates and committees won鈥檛 file the next round of disclosure reports until later this month.
The two seven-figure checks to Club for Growth are the biggest individual donations to a candidate or affiliated PAC this election cycle. The only donations that are larger went to initiative petition campaigns.
The three donations in the last week also nearly equal the amount of cash on hand reported in January by the candidates and their affiliated PACs combined.
In January, Scharf鈥檚 campaign reported having roughly $837,000 cash on hand. Club for Growth Action Missouri is an independent spending committee that Scharf can coordinate with to raise money but can鈥檛 control. It reported $605,000 cash on hand in January.
Bailey鈥檚 campaign reported $530,000 cash on hand in January, and the independent spending committee supporting his candidacy, Liberty and Justice PAC, reported $1.2 million.
While candidates are bound by campaign contributions limits, independent committees are not.
Since those January disclosure reports were filed, Liberty and Justice PAC has reported $835,000 in large donations, with the biggest chunk coming from retired Minneapolis couple Mike and Carolyn Rayner, who are part of the Cargill family and gave $500,000.
The PAC also received $100,000 checks from retired investor Rex Sinquefield of St. Louis and Kansas trial attorney Michael Ketchmark.
In a statement to Politico , Scarf said that, 鈥渨hile my opponent is being supported by liberal trial lawyers, pot dealers and special interests, we鈥檙e proud to be supported by conservatives in Missouri and across the country.鈥�
Bailey served a general counsel for Parson before taking over as attorney general when his predecessor, Eric Schmitt, won a seat in the U.S. Senate. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County, an assistant attorney general and general counsel for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
, Bailey was awarded two Army Achievement Medals, an Army Accommodation Medal, a Combat Action Badge and two Bronze Star Medals for his service.
Scharf is a former assistant U.S. attorney who worked as policy director in Gov. Eric Greitens鈥� brief administration. He entered politics in 2015 when he was hired to be policy director for Catherine Hanaway as she sought the 2016 GOP nomination for governor.
In October, he announced he had in various legal issues pertaining to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
This story was originally published in The Missouri Independent, part of the States Newsroom.
