The fight for Missouri’s top law enforcement job has come to the wards of St. Louis City. On Thursday, two open Democratic ward organizations voted to endorse Attorney General candidates.

Two of the three leading Democrats running for A.G. addressed the meeting of the 25th Ward Democrats at Resurrection Church in south St. Louis Thursday night. State Rep. Margaret Donnelly of St. Louis County and State Rep. Jeff Harris of Columbia both spoke about the power and influence of the Office of Attorney General and how they would use it to better the lives of Missourians.

In the end, the 25th Ward voted to endorse Harris. One week earlier, Harris, who is being helped by 14th Ward Alderman Stephen Gregali, also picked up the support of the 15th Ward Democrats.

The same night as the 25th Ward endorsement, Democrats in the city’s largest voting ward, the 16th Ward, voted to endorse State Senator Chris Koster for A.G.

UPDATE: With both Chris Koster AND Margaret Donnely dropping out of the debate, the Young Dems have cancelled the event all together.

Jason Rosenbaum of the Columbia Tribune reports that Democratic Attorney General candidate Chris Koster* will not be at next week’s debate hosted by the Truman State Young Democrats.

James Lang, the president of the Truman State Young Democrats, e-mailed me today telling me that Sen. Chris Koster, D-Harrisonville, has backed out of next Thursday’s attorney general debate.

“Since we spoke last, Koster went from confirmed to tentatively coming to not coming at all,” Lang said in an e-mail.

Lang said Koster cited a “scheduling conflict” as a reason for not going to the debate held at Truman State University.

A Koster campaign spokeswoman later confirmed to Rosenbaum that a scheduling conflict will prevent the Koster from attending Thursday’s debate.

She did say that Koster will participate in a May 22 debate at CCP in Kansas City and a May 30 debate at Missouri Bar function in Lake Ozark.

Two of Koster’s opponents, Margaret Donnelly of St. Louis and Jeff Harris of Columbia, are expected to attend Thursday’s debate, which Rosenbaum will help moderate.

*Full disclosure: Chris Koster is a client (website design) of PubDef.net publisher Antonio D. French

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                       Press contact: James Lang (314) 852-5452

Democratic AG Candidates to Debate at Truman State University

KIRKSVILLE, Mo.-  The Missouri Democratic Party’s candidates for Attorney General are set to debate on the campus of Truman State University on April 24th.   This event is sponsored by the Truman State Young Democrats.  “Since the 2006 election Northeast Missouri has been experiencing a resurgence of Democratic politics. This region of the state will be a focal point for every statewide candidate running in 2008,” said James Lang, President of the Truman State Young Democrats. “We have designed the structure of the debate so each candidate will have the opportunity to speak not only to issues affecting college students but the larger issues affecting the state as a whole.”

Truman State Senior Sam Hodge, an active Young Democrat, said, “Students are excited and enthusiastic about having all of the Democratic candidates for Attorney General debating the issues at our university.”

The debate will be hosted in Viollete Hall 1000 at 7:30PM.  The debate will feature a moderator and a panel of three questioners. Debi Boughton from Kirksville, a lawyer and Director of Tourism for the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce JoEllen Flanagan, a Truman State College Democrat and Jason Rosenbaum from the Columbia Tribune will make of the panel of questioners.  The debate will last 90 minutes. 

UPDATE on 4/19/08: Jason Rosenbaum of the Columbia Tribune reports that Democratic Attorney General candidate Chris Koster* will not be at next week’s debate hosted by the Truman State Young Democrats.

James Lang, the president of the Truman State Young Democrats, e-mailed me today telling me that Sen. Chris Koster, D-Harrisonville, has backed out of next Thursday’s attorney general debate.

“Since we spoke last, Koster went from confirmed to tentatively coming to not coming at all,” Lang said in an e-mail.

Lang said Koster cited a “scheduling conflict” as a reason for not going to the debate held at Truman State University.

A Koster campaign spokeswoman later confirmed to Rosenbaum that a scheduling conflict will prevent the Koster from attending Thursday’s debate.

She did say that Koster will participate in a May 22 debate at CCP in Kansas City and a May 30 debate at Missouri Bar function in Lake Ozark.

Two of Koster’s opponents, Margaret Donnelly of St. Louis and Jeff Harris of Columbia, are expected to attend Thursday’s debate, which Rosenbaum will help moderate.

*Full disclosure: Chris Koster is a client (website design) of PubDef.net publisher Antonio D. French

Kansas City’s The Pitch is reporting that Democrat Attorney General candidate Molly Korth Williams may be a plant.

In an article by David Martin, The Pitch insinuates that A.G. candidate State Senator Chris Koster has something to do with putting Williams in the race to siphon votes from St. Louis State Rep. Margaret Donnelly, who is obviously a woman. Koster, along with Jeff Harris, are among the Democrats running for their party’s nomination.

Sayeth Martin:

In filing the paperwork last month, Williams entered a crowded field of well-established candidates. Her qualifications to be the state’s top law-enforcement official are thin, to say the least. Williams has never held elected office, and she currently works as an eighth-grade teacher at St. Elizabeth School …

Williams is obviously a plant. Only a fake or a delusional person would challenge three state legislators who have been raising money and campaigning for months.

So the question becomes, who sent her out as a stalking horse? Circumstantial evidence points to Koster. Molly Williams is golfing buddies with a judge named Joe Dandurand, a man who’s been called a mentor to Koster.

And it only gets spicier from there!

There are pictures of Williams and Dandurand together in a 2003 newsletter of the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City from the two being in a golfing foursome at the association’s annual golfing events in 2004 and 2005. And Dandurand, a judge, presided over for a number of cases Koster tried as a prosecutor. And the cherry on top is the fact that Koster and Dandurand are chummy despite now having different political affiliations. (Koster was once a Republican.)

But Williams tells Martin she’s totally legit and his claims are baseless.

“I’d like to serve the people of the state of Missouri,” she tells me. A lawyer in good standing, Williams says she has had a “long, varied” legal career and has “temporarily” chosen to teach at her daughter’s school. “I love doing it,” she says.

Williams denies that she was prompted to run by anyone from Koster’s camp. But she is unable to discuss the specific things she would like to accomplish if elected. At this point, her candidacy amounts to little more than a declaration of eagerness and her outsider status. “I’m a lawyer,” she says. “I’m not a politician.”

Martin also points out that Williams has next to no funding and that her candidacy makes little sense considering Koster, Donnelly and Harris have stacked $1.6 million in dough for their runs.

Martin remains a skeptic, proclaiming, “it costs almost nothing at all to confuse voters. Williams’ presence on the ballot creates another option for voters who tend to support women but may not take the time to study each candidate’s qualifications.”

Click here to read the rest of Martin’s column.

Koster is a client (website design) of PubDef.net publisher Antonio D. French