Gibbons vs. Koster

In 2004 when Republican Michael Gibbons sought re-election to the state Senate, Greg Steinhoff held a political fundraising event for him at Steinhoff's home in Columbia.

Steinhoff turned down the volume of his living-room television set, and Gibbons launched into his campaign spiel about workers' compensation and tort law. Gibbons stood with his back to the television screen where something more interesting was being portrayed - the mating processes of large, wild animals.

"We got a lesson in the reproductive habits of the rhinoceros," Steinhoff recalled. As Steinhoff's guests turned red-faced and fought the impulse to laugh, Gibbons gamely carried on with his speech, confused by his audience's reaction.

Four years later, Gibbons is still game. Now, he's running for state attorney general against Democrat Chris Koster. Gibbons is hoping the presidential election contest and the race for Missouri governor do not distract voters' attention from what he now has to say about his candidacy.

Candidates such as Gibbons and Koster in "down-ticket" election contests are always challenged to break through the clutter of the political season. But it's more difficult in Missouri this year with highly competitive contests for president and governor.

But after voters consider those two election decisions, the attorney general's race is probably the next most important one facing them in the voting booth Nov. 4. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has held the office for 16 years, longer than anyone else.

And the Gibbons-Koster contest provides voters with clear differences in political philosophy, experience, character and style.

Jim Tierney, who directs the National State Attorneys General program at Columbia University, said Missouri's attorney general contest is "the most hotly contested race" of its kind in the country.

"Politically, the challenge for both candidates running for attorney general is for anyone to distinguish you from the other races," said Tierney, who is a former attorney general in Maine. "If I were in Missouri, what would I do to get attention for myself?"

Money helps.

Both Gibbons and Koster will have cash to seek voter attention on the airwaves. Though quarterly campaign disclosure reports won't be filed until later this week, the contributions are rolling in, often in the form of six- and even seven-figure checks.

The attorney general's office is essentially the state's law firm. With more than 200 attorneys and about 150 staff members, the office represents state agencies in civil cases, prosecutes appeals of criminal cases and defends laws enacted by the legislature and governor. Many people who have served there have used it as an avenue to higher office such as governor or senator.

Gibbons and Koster have taken different routes to reach the point of seeking the office. Gibbons' trek has been traditional. After serving on the Kirkwood City Council and in the state House, Gibbons was elected to the state Senate and rose to be its president.

Koster's journey has been more unorthodox. As a Republican, he served as a county prosecuting attorney and then as a state senator. Last year, he switched parties and became a Democrat and then came out victorious by the thinnest of margins in a four-way attorney general primary.

CONSISTENT RECORD?

Gibbons, 49, is a sometimes jovial, "glass is half-full" kind of guy. Self-effacing for a politician, he is apt to make himself the target of his own jokes. He says if the race were a beauty contest, he would lose.

On the other hand, Gibbons can deliver a serious message when comparing himself with his opponent.

"I have a long history of being committed, of making commitments and sticking with them," Gibbons said. "And I think that's something important for people to know. I have a long public record that's consistent - a sense of purpose, a sense of direction - and something can be gleaned from that."

In 1992, Gibbons was elected to the state House. He succeeded Bud Barnes, a moderate Republican from an area that was reliably but not wildly conservative. Since Republicans were in the minority, Gibbons' House tenure was as a back bencher.

But that all changed in 2000, when Gibbons was elected to the state Senate and Republicans won the majority there. Within two years, the GOP controlled both the House and Senate for the first time in 50 years.

Though Gibbons has touted his consistency, he once switched votes on a highly controversial concealed weapons bill in 2003, when he was Senate minority leader. He said it was the toughest decision of his legislative career.

Gibbons voted to override Gov. Bob Holden's veto of a bill that allowed citizens to carry concealed weapons, although earlier in the session Gibbons had opposed the bill. In a statewide election in 1999, voters had rejected concealed weapons permits, and Gibbons' state Senate district was 70 percent opposed.

In defending his vote to override, Gibbons said passage of concealed weapons was inevitable. He said he was worried that the conservative legislature would approve an even less-restrictive handgun measure.

"I don't regret that vote," Gibbons said in a recent interview. "I studied that issue all summer to try to make sure I did the right thing for the right reason. I feel good about how it's played out."

Gibbons was elected president pro tem of the Senate the following year and helped pass Gov. Matt Blunt's plan to limit malpractice lawsuits, a key plank in Blunt's pro-business agenda.

"Mike Gibbons is level-headed and tries to figure out the right thing to do," said Steinhoff, who has known Gibbons since both were students at Westminster College in Fulton. "He has always been that way - a solid person."

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

Unopposed in the Republican primary, Gibbons' campaign recently got a big financial boost from the Virginia-based Republican State Leadership Committee, which donated $1.1 million. The committee, which collects money from businesses and individuals, supports Republican candidates in statewide races across the country for attorney general, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and state legislatures.

"We are building the farm team for the future," said Carrie Cantrell, a spokeswoman. "We think this is one of the most competitive attorney general races this year, and we want to make sure Mike Gibbons has the resources he needs to be victorious in November."

The committee picks and chooses its battles and how much it contributes. The fact that Missouri no longer limits how much a candidate can accept opened the door for the contribution, which Tierney called "eye popping."

Some people who have been closest to Koster in the past are now supporting his opponent. "Missourians for Gibbons" has received a $140,000 contribution from Rebecca Nassikas, Koster's ex-wife. During the Democratic primary, Nassikas donated $200,000 to a committee that produced television ads questioning Koster's fundraising tactics and ethics.

"I believe my experience with Chris Koster, as an individual and as a public servant, gives me a unique perspective," said Nassikas, who was married to Koster from 1996 to 2003. She said his record shows he is an opportunist, and she regretted helping him earlier in his political career.

According to Nassikas, Koster obtained a $580,000 settlement from her in their divorce. Nassikas' father, Frank Bowman, is a former publisher in Jefferson City. Bowman has contributed $90,000 to Gibbons' campaign.

Koster, in an interview, said he did not want to discuss why his ex-wife was providing such strong support for his opponent.

"I'm not going to speak disrespectful about my marriage," Koster said. "That's my answer. We were a family together for seven years. I'm not going there."

Late last month, Missourians for Tax Reform contributed $25,000 to Gibbons' campaign. That committee is funded mainly by retired financier Rex Sinquefield, who supports the end of Missouri's income tax. During his legislative career, Gibbons tried to overhaul the state's tax code but couldn't pull it off. Gibbons said he prefers a flat income tax.

"Too many people have an interest in the status quo," Gibbons said. "No one really wants to tackle it."

During this year's legislative session, Gibbons successfully sponsored a bill that requires cities and school districts to roll back property tax levies if their assessments increase dramatically.

"As much as I had dreams of reforming the entire tax code, at least we got a chance to make a difference there," Gibbons said.

POLITICAL AMBITION

Koster, 44, has blue eyes and copper-colored hair. He is a snappy dresser and a shrewd campaigner. Steve Kraske, a political columnist and reporter for the Kansas City Star, has written that Koster is gifted with "the look with ambition to match." His political future seems limitless.

That ambition survived the Democratic primary when Koster beat state Rep. Margaret Donnelly of St. Louis County by 829 votes: 118,934 to 118,105. Koster was helped by the candidacy of Molly Williams, a political unknown who somehow attracted 23,140 votes.

Koster won despite accusations that his campaign violated state law in raising money from multiple committees. The Ethics Commission later dismissed those complaints.

He also survived the disclosure that he played a supporting role in a plagiarism episode that damaged Attorney General William Webster's campaign for governor in 1992. Fresh out of law school, Koster worked for Webster, a Republican, as an assistant state attorney general.

Persuasive in the courtroom and on the floor of the state Senate, Koster articulates his themes on the campaign trail with the same command of facts and figures.

"He's in a hurry to get things done," said Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City lawyer who is an old friend of Koster's. Hatfield believes that because Koster's father, Rich Koster, died of a heart attack at age 58, candidate Koster is eager to make his mark.

"I think that's part of what makes him aggressive in some of his decisions," said Hatfield. "For some reason he doesn't have the time or want to take the time that other politicians take to build their career."

A former general counsel in Nixon's attorney general's office, Hatfield said the stem cell research issue is an example of Koster's willingness to stick his neck out. Koster led the charge in 2005 to block a bill that would have criminalized stem cell research. He later said the issue helped convince him to leave the Republican Party and become a Democrat.

Hatfield said Koster could have simply voted "no" on the issue. "That would have been the politically smart thing to do," he said. "Instead, he felt like he needed to get out in front of the issue."

Koster has been interested in running for attorney general since he was 27. Shortly after he was elected prosecutor in Cass County in 1994, he began toying with the idea of seeking the office.

In an interview, Koster said former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth, a Republican and former state attorney general, advised him against running for the office at that time because it was too soon after Webster's conviction for corruption in office. Koster was not accused of the law violations that sent Webster to federal prison in 1993.

For 10 years, Koster served as the prosecuting attorney of Cass County, the western Missouri county that includes the southern portion of the Kansas City metropolitan area. When he campaigns, Koster emphasizes the fact that he has argued criminal cases in the courtroom.

"If you were going to be the state's top law enforcement officer, it helps to come from the law enforcement community," he said.

PASSIVE/AGGRESSIVE

Perhaps the biggest difference between Koster and Gibbons is how they propose to use the attorney general's office. This is reflected somewhat in who is financing their respective campaigns. While Gibbons is getting money from businesses and corporate interests, Koster enjoys the support of organized labor and plaintiff's lawyers.

Gibbons will be conservative in terms of where he wants to go with the attorney general's power. He said he won't try to expand the authority of the office beyond what it has now.

"We will focus on justice, not headlines, and not running for some other office," Gibbons said. He added that local prosecuting attorneys need not worry about the attorney general trying to usurp local prosecuting power.

Koster can be expected to stretch what the office might try to do.

"My strong sense is that the office that I would run would be more activist," Koster said.

Attorneys general in other states have been willing to go after big defendants such as pharmaceutical companies, mortgage lenders and polluters, obtaining settlements for fraud and other violations. Sometimes attorneys general launch big cases using private law firms with expertise and resources that exceed the capacity of state offices.

Koster said he was willing to consider that option, especially in such issues as Medicaid fraud, where he believes that $600 million is lost to Missouri every year through fraudulent billings. Whoever would get contracts to carry out such cases would be selected through a competitive bid process, Koster said.

"Prudently aggressive is where I want to lead this office in terms of protecting the state's resources," Koster added.

For many voters, the nuances over how the office would be used will be missed. The state attorney general's race will probably be overwhelmed in Missouri by the presidential and governor contests.

Tierney, the head of the National State Attorneys General Program, put it this way: "The head of the ticket will define who the next attorney general will be."

Reach Terry Ganey at (573) 815-1708 or tganey@columbiatribune.com.