Benjamin calls for less mudslinging, more focus on issues

Candidate Chris Benjamin says the campaign for the 31st District Missouri Senatorial seal has taken a downward turn with recent direct mail pieces that mislead. Some information in the latest ads are, in fact, downright false, Benjamin said.

The two ads -- both paid for by Majority Fund, Inc. -- make statements about Benjamin's past that Benjamin said were "very surprising to me. It's unfortunate," he said, and sees it as "a major attempt to avoid the real issues."

The earlier of the two ads, circulated in early October, shows a mock case file asserting that Benjamin's actions while working for the Missoure Republican Party "resulted in a lawsuit and costly settlement costing tens of thousands of dollars." Benjamin said he has never been sued. The case cited involved the Missouri Republican Party and was dismissed. A settlement was reached, and both parties were ordered to pay their own attorney's fees and costs. "I was working for the state Republican commitee at the time," Benjamin said.

Another ad says Benjamin was "fired from his job as a paid political consultant" for making "prank calls." But Benjamin said he was never fired, and he'd called a friend; that's all. He wasn't even employed by them at the time, he said.

Benjamin did leave his job with the Missouri Republican Committee, because "things seemed to be focused on political posturing, instead of really dealing with issues."

Republican David Pearce's campaign -- Pearce is Benjamin's opponent in the race -- says the Majority Fund Inc. is responsible for its own ads; but noted that Pearce also takes exception to five ads distributed by the Missouri Democratic Party.

Majority Fund spokesman Paul Sloca said the group "stands 100 percent behind these mailers. Chris Benjamin was David Pearce's campaign manager. Then he quit. Benjamin was a Republican and quit that, and became a Democrat. He was for, and lobbied for Medicaid reform, now he's calling it Medicaid cuts. He has zero credibility."

But Benjamin says he left Jefferson City and the Republican party because of the same lack of focus on issues he's now trying to combat.

Sloca said, "Character is an important issue, and a political operative like Chris Benjamin has showed a complete lack of it."

"It's just unfortunate that the focus is on the negative," Benjamin said, noting that he sees the issues as being about delivering to the people the things that the people need.

"Right now, a lot of people are losing their jobs, "and it's the small businesses that need tax breaks, not huge conglomerates.

The important things, he said, are accessibility to health care, small business health insurance reform, and doing things to promote the future work force as well, like helping kids go to college by allowing students to use the A+ program for four-year endeavors.