Ethics Commission: Have candidates return excess contributions

The Missouri Ethics Commission filed documents with the Missouri Supreme Court Wednesday recommending that candidates be required to return all contributions in excess of the reinstituted limits:

The Supreme Court is expected to rule within weeks whether candidates have to refund money.

The commission's request was crafted by the staff of Attorney General Jay Nixon, a candidate for governor who would be affected by the court's decision.

Nixon plans to challenge Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican who would be forced to return at least $3.5 million in donations — the most of any Missouri candidate — if the high court sides with the commission.

Nixon would have to return just over $1 million, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of campaign donations since Jan. 1. Blunt has collected far more money overall, and now has more than twice as much as Nixon in the bank.

The request from the commission, as the overseer of the state's campaign finance rules, could influence the Supreme Court's decision.