KCTribune: Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned, But Don’t Discount the Power of a Union Organized

Chris Koster began his political career by winning a term as Cass County prosecutor, running with support from organized labor. Although labor sometimes endorses Republicans, Koster’s party affiliation at the time, labor is a mainstay of the Democratic Party.

Koster forged close ties with labor in two terms as Cass County prosecutor, using his influence to prosecute prevailing wage violations and to provide for construction of a new Justice Center in Harrisonville under a Project Labor Agreement that provided for union wages and a no-strike pledge.

Early in this decade, Koster ran for the Missouri Senate from Cass County, again with labor support. His votes in the Senate often were more of a Democratic perspective, and when Attorney General Jay Nixon announced he would run for governor, Koster threw his hat into the ring for Attorney General, Koster also announced that he would run as a Democrat.

Koster was the chairman of the Republican caucus in the state Senate, and had championed stem-cell research much to the consternation of some of the religious right in his party. When he chose to switch parties he stated,

"Today, Republican moderates are all but extinct."

Of course, Koster had solid support from labor in seeking the Democratic nomination, and in his successful bid to succeed Nixon.

Early in the primary campaign, Koster’s ex-wife Rebecca Bowman Nassikas contributed $200,000 to a previously dormant political committee called Missourians for Honest Leadership aiming at Koster’s defeat.

After the July contribution, Nassikas upped the ante another $140,000 in October by contributing to Koster’s opponent Michael Gibbons. In the last few weeks, KCTribune learned of another supposed “woman scorned” and her attempted email smear campaign against Koster’s character.

After many years of the “politics of personality” dominating the public meme, it appears that the electorate have become weary of the slime machine, and may care more about the issues than the personality.