Missouri House candidate overlooks primary opponent

When the Washington fundraiser for Republican Ann Wagner sent a letter to potential donors inviting them to a series of fundraising events, there was a solid hook for why donors should take their chances on a primary candidate.

"ANN is running for the Todd Akin open-seat and has NO primary opposition. This is a GREAT race to get in on early!" fundraiser Alice Perry wrote to donors.

That didn't sit well with Wagner's primary opponent, Randy Jotte, a physician and perennial candidate in Missouri.

Jotte has been in the race since Jan. 24, shortly before another Republican, Ed Martin, dropped out of the primary.

Jotte accused Wagner of misleading donors, claiming Wagner must have known he was in the race because a staffer from her campaign videotaped his announcement event in January.

“True leaders are accountable for their own actions, as well as the actions of the staff who represent them,” Jotte said. “This email is either a gross lack of accountability or outright deception. Either way, it’s more of the same politics-as-usual.”

Wagner's campaign got the fundraising firm in question, the Gula Graham Group, to pen the acknowledgement that an error had been made.

"Our company clearly overlooked the late-entry into the race of another candidate," said the firm's co-founder, Jonathan Graham. "We should have mentioned in the email message that Ann has an opponent that has yet to file and has a history of running as an independent in the state of Ohio."

Graham said the firm still believes Wagner is "in a great position to win this open seat in Missouri."

Wagner has dominated the Republican side of the race to replace Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), who is running for Senate. She raised more than $310,000 in the last three months of 2011 and has been boosted by the support of prominent Republican kingmakers including Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.).

Wagner's House primary campaign has been so successful that some Missouri Republicans continue to call on her to enter the race for Senate, where the Republican field has failed to produce a strong candidate to run against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). Wagner said in October she would not run for the Senate seat.

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