Nixon is given indirect funds from Ameren
Donations sent to county party committees.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon’s campaign for governor got help from a major new supporter this year - Ameren Corp., the company Nixon has threatened to sue over the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse.

A review of state documents show that four contributions from Ameren totaling more than $19,000 were funneled through third-party entities to Nixon’s campaign in March. Because the contributions were not directly from Ameren, the utility’s name does not appear on Nixon’s campaign financial disclosures.

The contributions all came after Nixon launched an investigation of St. Louis-based Ameren over the Dec. 14 collapse of the reservoir at Ameren’s Taum Sauk hydroelectric plant in southeast Missouri. More than 1 billion gallons of water devastated Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park and injured a family of five.

Ameren has previously supported Nixon’s expected rival in the 2008 gubernatorial race, incumbent Republican Matt Blunt. An examination of campaign finance filings indicated that all of Ameren’s contributions this year have apparently gone to Nixon, who’s serving his fourth term as attorney general and established his gubernatorial campaign committee in November.

Ameren spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said Ameren gives money to both Republicans and Democrats and has not donated directly to Nixon since the reservoir collapse. She declined to discuss the contributions or say whether Ameren intended the money for Nixon’s campaign.

Between January and March, Ameren gave $5,000 each to the four Democratic groups - three St. Louis County Democratic legislative committees and the Lincoln County Democratic Central Committee. None of the groups had $5,000 on hand before Ameren’s donation arrived. Three of the groups donated $4,800 each to Nixon’s campaign; the other gave $4,700. All four checks arrived at Nixon’s campaign office March 31, according to campaign finance filings.

In an interview Thursday, Nixon told the AP it is clear Ameren donated to the groups, which then donated to his campaign. He said Ameren’s contributions will not influence his investigation. "Unequivocally, my decisions are based on what’s best for the people of Missouri, and I have a 20-year record to prove that," Nixon said. He said he wouldn’t refuse future donations from Ameren because he does not want to run for governor with "one hand tied behind my back."

Nixon’s legal power over Ameren is considerable. His office will decide whether to file criminal charges over the collapse, and in April said a lawsuit against Ameren was imminent. His stance seemed to soften last week, when he told the AP he had pulled back from filing a lawsuit and was in "complicated discussions" with Ameren.

Ameren officials would not comment on possible settlement talks.

An AP review did not turn up similar types of indirect contributions this year to Blunt’s campaign. Blunt had $1.7 million in total campaign contributions at the end of March while Nixon had $729,000, according to state records.

Last year, Ameren’s political action committee in Missouri, called AmerenUE PAC, gave no money to Nixon but gave $2,400 to Blunt, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records.

In 2004, the AmerenUE PAC gave $1,200 to Nixon’s campaign for attorney general and the same amount to Blunt in his first bid for governor. Ameren executives and employees gave a combined $13,128 to Blunt and no money to Nixon, according to ethics commission documents.

Robert Connor, executive director of the ethics commission, said there are no laws that prohibit the attorney general from taking campaign contributions from a source under investigation.

While not illegal, accepting money from Ameren could taint Nixon’s credibility in the case and give the appearance of a conflict of interest, Saint Louis University political scientist Ken Warren said. But he questioned whether Ameren’s contributions were large enough to influence Nixon in a race that’s expected to cost more than $7 million.

"You’re not going to get into a compromising position for a lousy $19,000," Warren said.

Spence Jackson, a spokesman for Blunt, said the donations called Nixon’s credibility into question.

"It raises serious questions about whether Jay Nixon can be trusted to effectively represent the state while he’s getting his palms greased by a corporation he was supposedly investigating," he said yesterday.

Officials with the four Democratic committees said there was nothing illegal or unethical in their decisions to give the donations to Nixon and said they were not pressured to do so. Attorney Art Martin of University City is treasurer of two of the committees, the 24th Senatorial Democratic Committee and the 73rd District Democratic Legislative Committee. He said he received both checks in the mail unsolicited and decided to give the money to Nixon’s campaign instead of local candidates because the governor’s race is the most important in the state.

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