Sinquefield ready to buy the governor's mansion, gives $750K to Hanaway

Retired billionaire Rex Sinquefield, who has done everything he can to reshape the state of Missouri in his own warped image, is ready to try a top-down approach this time.

Sinquefield attached strings to the back of Republican gubernatorial candidate Catherine Hanaway Monday with a $750,000 contribution to her campaign. The contribution was reported today on a 48-hour report on the Missouri Ethics Commission website.

Sinquefield, of course, is the man who has singlehandedly tried to destroy public education in Missouri, with his efforts to push vouchers, eliminate teacher tenure, and require teachers to be evaluated on the basis of student scores on standardized tests.

He, like others in his income bracket, do not like the idea of having to pay taxes for public schools. Not that Sinquefield knows anything about public schools. After all, he is the one who, during a public speech, claimed that public schools were created by the Ku Klux Klan.

He has also fought to eliminate Missouri's income tax, replacing it with a regressive sales tax that would have far more of an effect on the people in the middle and lower classes than it would for billionaires like Sinquefield.

Hanaway, a former Missouri Speaker of the House and U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, has announced her candidacy. Among those anticipated to join her in the race for governor are State Auditor Thomas Schweich, a Republican, and Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat who used to be a Republican.

Gov. Jay Nixon is barred by the state constitution from running for a third term.