County Commission Race Heats Up

A complaint filed against the Fred Parry campaign with the Missouri Ethics Commission has been met with a claim that the Brianna Lennon campaign has transferred her campaign account to the Missouri Democratic State Committee in Jefferson City.

With 12 days left before the Nov. 8 election, the Boone County Commission race is becoming nearly as intense as any other this political season.

On Wednesday, Grace Haun, a digital media manager for the liberal advocacy organization Progress Missouri, filed a complaint against Parry’s campaign, citing seven campaign donations of more than $250 which were filed late.

Parry admitted his campaign did not file receipt of the donations within the 24-hour notices, but said the error was an oversight.

“We have run a very transparent campaign and feel confident that the errors in question are simply an oversight,” Parry said. “We consider our strong fundraising efforts to be a tremendous asset of our campaign and a barometer of the widespread support we have received from the community at large.”

Parry’s campaign treasurer Bob Gerding said, in a press release, that he took responsibility for the filing notice error as he was on vacation in late July and failed to file the donations in a timely fashion.

“There was absolutely no intent to circumvent campaign finance rules,” Gerding said. “I have apologized to Fred and I apologize to the donors whose donations came in during my vacation. No excuses, just my fault. I did report those contributions on the next report as required.”

The ethics commission said Wednesday that they would not take up the complaint until after the election, as it does with any complaint filed within 15 days of an election.

On Thursday, the Parry campaign said Lennon had “moved” its campaign to the Missouri Democratic State Committee in Jefferson City. The press release states that Lennon had approximately $17,946 in her campaign account, with $1,092 in outstanding debt.

In a brief statement, Lennon said using her money to support the Democratic party was not unusual.

“This is just Fred’s way of distracting people from the news about his campaign not reporting donations properly,” Lennon said.

Lennon backed up her campaign strategy saying it made sense to utilize a mail strategy through her political party.

“I am running as a Democrat and using a Democratic committee,” Lennon said. “I am interested helping Boone County and running for commissioner and I want to strengthen our ethics rules,” Lennon said.

“I am proud of the tremendous local support my campaign has received from right here in Boone County, and I am grateful to Boone Countians – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – who have rallied to support our effort to bring greater transparency, deeper accountability and positive change to Boone County government,” Parry said.