Supporters of a proposed Jackson County sales tax for medical research have dramatically outraised and outspent opponents of the tax, new campaign disclosures show.
The Committee for Research Treatments and Cures raised $1,009,705 through the end of September, according to a campaign report filed Tuesday with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
It spent $694,750 during the period, primarily for advertising, political consultants and a $50,000 donation to another committee.
The figures do not include an additional $434,000 raised in October.
The tax proposal, on the Nov. 5 ballot, would impose a half-cent tax on Jackson County sales to fund translational medical research in the county. It would raise an estimated $800 million over the 20-year life of the tax.
The main opposition group, Citizens for Responsible Research, reported raising $113,506. Almost all of the money came in donations, loans and in-kind support from Springfield lawyer Brad Bradshaw.
Bradshaw gave $55,000 more to the committee in mid October, a donation not included in the report.
The committee had spent $97,424 by the end of September, mostly on TV ads and billboards.
A separate anti-tax group, the Committee to Stop a Bad Cure, raised $4,296. Almost all of it came from Jim Fitzpatrick, a teacher and former reporter for The Star.
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