JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Gov. Bob Holden’s re-election campaign on Friday accused Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill of accepting a few thousand dollars in donations from the pornography industry and called on her to return the money.
Holden’s campaign cited contributions to McCaskill’s campaigns as long as a decade ago, when she was Jackson County’s prosecutor, to as recently as March 31 of this year. Some of the donors operated strip clubs or adult entertainment shops or were lawyers defending the industry, according to Holden’s campaign.
McCaskill – who is currently the state auditor – said she would return some donations of which she had been unaware and which made her uncomfortable. But her campaign said Holden was trying to divert attention from issues in the race for the Democratic nomination in the Aug. 3 primary.
“As Jackson County prosecutor, I busted the adult entertainment industry, prosecuted prostitution rings and stood up for Missouri values,” McCaskill said in a statement.
Specifically, Holden’s campaign cited $4,500 of the more than $3.2 million in donations and loans reported by McCaskill’s gubernatorial campaign through June.
This is not the first time the adult entertainment industry has been used against a prominent Missouri candidate.
In 2000, Republican and then U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft’s campaign criticized Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan for accepting $2,000 in contributions from the daughter of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Carnahan was trying to unseat Ashcroft, and won the office posthumously. He said at the time there was “nothing scandalous” about the contribution.
On Friday, Holden’s campaign questioned McCaskill’s connection with the industry.
“While Bob Holden has toughened restrictions on the adult entertainment industry in Missouri, Claire McCaskill has been soliciting their money for her campaign,” Holden spokesman Caleb Weaver said.
Among other things, Holden’s campaign touted legislation he signed this year that requires most billboards advertising adult entertainment venues to be removed from the state’s roadways within a few years.