A national political group is pouring millions into Missouri to boost Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in the Republican primary for governor, stepping in when his campaign was running out of cash and drawing howls from the backers of his rivals.

The Stand for US PAC began ordering television and radio time in the state in early July, first to broadcast an ad touting Attorney General Andrew Bailey, and then to boost Ashcroft in a fight over a new law signed by the governor that mandates steep discounts on wholesale prescription prices.

On its website, the PAC states its “mission in 2024 is to hold Republicans across the country accountable for capitulating to Joe Biden’s dangerous open border agenda.”

The group is airing two ads attacking Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and backing Ashcroft. The ads do not mention state Sen. Bill Eigel, the other Republican running a full-scale campaign for the nomination.

The Independent has tallied $2.4 million in spending by Stand for US on radio and television reported by on-air broadcasters to the Federal Communications Commission during July. Those reports don’t capture spending on digital platforms and political observers said the total across all media is in excess of $3 million.

Stand for US PAC is registered with the Federal Election Commission and the only donation this year is $1 million from Building America’s Future. It will not report the donors paying for the Missouri ads until mid-August, after the primary is over.

Stand for US has not filed a report with the Missouri Ethics Commission, and a spokeswoman disputed whether it is required under state law. Committees operating outside of Missouri are supposed to make reports to the commission when spending to influence a state election exceeds $1,500.

Its treasurer is Cabell Hobbs, also the treasurer of Save Missouri Values, a PAC that entered the 2022 U.S. Senate primary to spend $8.8 million late in the race on behalf of Republican Eric Schmitt.

“I appreciate the fact that they’re supporting me,” Ashcroft told The Independent in an interview Thursday evening. “I wonder who’s doing it, what’s behind it, but I’m thankful for anyone that wants to actually have a conservative leader for the state of Missouri.”

Kehoe’s campaign is furious.

“What secret promises has Jay made to secure this support and what do they get if he’s elected governor?” said Kehoe spokeswoman Gabby Picard. 

The outside help came at a crucial time for Ashcroft. 

When Ashcroft’s campaign closed the books on July 25 for its final report before Tuesday’s primary, it had $92,466. He had spent $800,000 since June 30. His joint fundraising PAC, Committee for Liberty, had $58,833 after spending $1 million.

Kehoe’s campaign, meanwhile, had $1.2 million left after spending $1.1 million. His PAC, American Dream, had $331,062, and had spent $5 million.

Cash continues to pour in for American Dream PAC. It reported $465,500 in donations of more than $5,000 on Wednesday and Thursday.

Eigel, whose insurgency campaign has made the contest a three-way race, is not mentioned in the Stand for US ads. His campaign spent $333,000 between July 1 and July 25 and had $135,502 on hand. BILL PAC, his joint fundraising committee, had $242,694.

Eigel’s campaign manager Sophia Shore said she is focused on building on earlier work.

“Bill Eigel is the only true conservative in the race for governor,” she said. “His message is resonating, we have all the momentum — our opponents know this and they’re scared to death.”

Kehoe’s campaign is also pushing back by trying to get one of the Stand for US ads removed from the airwaves. Marc Ellinger, a veteran Jefferson City attorney representing Kehoe’s campaign, wrote to stations claiming an ad paid for by Stand for US is libelous.

The ad fuses fear of crime by undocumented immigrants with concern about political corruption, stating that “the Parson-Kehoe Administration is adding fuel to the fire, caving to Jefferson City lobbyists and approving legislation subsidizing health care for illegals.”

“The assertion that there is a ‘Parson-Kehoe administration’ is false,” Ellinger wrote. “There is a Parson administration. All the actions referred to in the ad were solely and exclusively taken by

Governor Parson and not one action was taken by Lt. Gov. Kehoe.”

Unlike the federal system where the president and vice president run as one ticket, Missouri elects all its statewide officers separately.

Stand for US distributed the letter to reporters with a press release exulting in the response. It said the letter shows Kehoe is distancing himself from Parson while enjoying the governor’s endorsement.

“Stand for Us is doing the Lord’s work, showing Missourians what kind of hypocrite Kehoe is,” said Katie Miller, a Washington, D.C.,-based political consultant and chair of Stand for US.

340B Bill

The legislation at the heart of the Stand for US ad campaign, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, pertains to a federally mandated drug discount program. 

Called 340B pricing, it allows qualified medical providers to obtain prescription drugs for their patients at a steep discount. 

There is no requirement that the discount be passed on to the patient and the profits from retail sales often underwrite other operations at the hospital, such as charity care. That is how health care for people lacking immigration documents fits into the picture.

The bill required drug makers to ship medications purchased at a discount to any pharmacy under contract to a qualified provider. The only vocal opponents of the legislation are pharmaceutical manufacturers who have been warring with providers over how many contracts to allow.

Parson allowed the bill, which he called “flawed,” to become law without his signature.

There are two versions of the Stand for US ad, which was quickly recut to note that Ashcroft was endorsed for governor by former President Donald Trump. It does not mention that Trump also endorsed Kehoe and Eigel.

Chinese land ownership

In a news release, the bill’s sponsor and House handler, state Sen. Justin Brown and state Rep. Tara Peters of Rolla, were joined by Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin of Shelbina in denouncing Stand for US. All three support Kehoe.

They accused it of producing ads using talking points from Phrma, the lobbying arm of drug manufacturers in other campaigns, then responding with the Missouri ads when Ashcroft posted support for repeal of the legislation on social media.

“It certainly appears Jay Ashcroft is willing to trade the health of his constituents and health care providers’ ability to care for their patients for millions in campaign cash,” Peters said in the release.

The other ad focuses exclusively on China and foreign ownership of farmland. It accurately states that Kehoe, as a state senator, voted to repeal Missouri’s complete ban on foreign ownership of farmland and that Kehoe campaigns on a bus owned by the only lobbyist for Smithfield Foods, a subsidiary of a Chinese company that would have had to sell its Missouri landholdings without the 2013 legislation.

Then, using silent B-roll posted on Ashcroft’s YouTube channel, it calls him a “Trump-endorsed conservative” who has fought to ban Chinese land ownership “to protect our food supply from being outsourced to Chinese Communists.”

The single donor to Stand for US before July 1 has a tangential connection to Ashcroft’s campaign. Jason Roe, a consultant working for Ashcroft, in 2022 was on the board of Building America’s Future, the PAC that gave Stand for US $1 million.  

Building America’s Future describes itself as “a national, bipartisan coalition dedicated to infrastructure investment and reform” on its social media.

Roe said he has had no involvement with Building America’s Future since leaving the board in September 2022.

The appearance of the ads was as surprising to him as it was to Ashcroft’s opponents, Roe said.

“I don’t know who they are or why they are doing it but I am grateful for their support,” Roe said.

The Ashcroft campaign cannot legally work with outside groups, Roe noted.

“When it comes to coordinating with outside spending,” he said, “not only can you not coordinate on how they do spend their money, you can’t coordinate about how they don’t spend their money.”