There’s no love lost between state Sen. Kurt Schaefer and University of Missouri law professor Josh Hawley.
Both men are Columbia Republicans vying to be Missouri’s next attorney general. And neither has much good to say about their rival.
In the year they’ve faced off, Schaefer has had complaints filed against him with the Missouri Ethics Commission, the Boone County and Cole County prosecutors and the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit was filed that accuses the University of Missouri of violating the state’s Sunshine Law in the way it released some of Hawley’s emails and other records. Hawley was granted leave by the university to run for office, which Schaefer has questioned.
The latest turn came late last week, when Stoddard County Prosecutor Russell Oliver — a supporter of Schaefer — filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission accusing Hawley of improperly using nonprofit organizations to benefit his campaign.
Oliver’s complaint says the nonprofit groups violated campaign disclosure laws and were “nothing more than shadow unfiled campaign committees created and maintained by the Hawley campaign.” He also accuses Hawley of using his university computer to arrange events that were essentially campaign activity.
Hawley’s campaign told the Columbia Tribune that the ethics complaint was “a joke” that was no different than a complaint dismissed by the Missouri Ethics Commission last year.
Whoever emerges from the August Republican primary will face off with one of two Democrats: former Cass County Prosecutor Teresa Hensley or St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman.
See Oliver’s complaint below:
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