Republican Dave Spence brought his campaign for Missouri governor to Callaway County Wednesday with a stop at the Hatton Community Hall and charged Gov. Jay Nixon is a tool of trial lawyers and unions that have contributed $5 million to the Democratic governor's campaign.
Spence said trial lawyers and unions each have contributed $2.5 million to Nixon's campaign.
After taking $5 million in campaign contributions from trial lawyers and unions, Spence said Nixon has blocked needed measures such as tort reform, worker compensation fixes, employment discrimination reform and other policies needed to enable Missouri businesses to grow.
He said Missouri now ranks last in the nation in job growth because Nixon's policies have stifled growth.
Spence said a state audit revealed Nixon misappropriated about $1.7 million from other state agencies to pay for his personal travel expenses, including flying a state airplane around the state.
Spence said his campaign has taken him to all 114 Missouri counties and he is dismayed by the current state of Missouri's economy.
"Why are many of our towns drying up," Spence asked, "and people moving to other states? Why are many of our town squares boarded up? That's the state of our economy in a lot of small towns. It's sad. How did we get to be last in the nation in job creation? How did we get to having one in six Missourians on food stamps? How did we get to having 16 percent of our population living in poverty?"
Spence said the answer is a lack of leadership by the governor who is interested only in his re-election. Spence said Nixon has dodged debates with him and the governor's departments only want to impose more regulations on businesses rather than helping them grow and create jobs.