Democrat Swearingen drops bid for Missouri auditor

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The lone Missouri Democrat with announced plans to challenge Republican state Auditor Tom Schweich is dropping out of the race.

State Rep. Jay Swearingen said Wednesday he has been unable to get the necessary support and that fundraising has been an issue. Swearingen said getting out now could create an opportunity for another candidate who is better able to finance a campaign.

"Overall, I just couldn't get the groundswell of support for the campaign," he said. "Maybe somebody else can."

Swearingen's decision to leave the auditor's race comes about a month before candidates can begin filing. Candidate filing runs from Feb. 25 to March 25.

Schweich said Swearingen called him Tuesday night to tell him he was quitting the race.

"I have tried to be an auditor for both parties, and I've tried to be very balanced in my responsibilities, and that is reflected in the decision by Rep. Swearingen to drop out of the race," Schweich said.

Swearingen is a two-term state House member from Kansas City. He first was elected to the Legislature in 2010 and has served on committees dealing with tax policy, professional registration, financial institutions and economic development. He works for the Missouri Credit Union Association and is the vice president of grassroots and development.

Schweich was elected auditor in 2010 after defeating the Democratic incumbent. He served as John Danforth's chief of staff when the former Missouri U.S. senator was appointed in 1999 to head a federal investigation into the Branch Davidian siege at Waco, Texas. He also served as chief of staff to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Later, he worked in the State Department as an international law enforcement official and was chosen to coordinate the anti-drug and justice reform efforts in Afghanistan.

In 2010, Schweich initially considered running for the U.S. Senate but decided to run for auditor in his first campaign as a candidate.

The auditor is the lone statewide office appearing on the November ballot in Missouri.

Schweich reported raising nearly $239,000 during the past three months from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 and reported starting the year with more than $662,000 in his campaign bank account.

Since then, Schweich has taken in even more money. On Tuesday, he reported receiving a $100,000 donation from St. Louis businessman Sam Fox.

Swearingen said he has raised $50,000 in three months and that "in every other area of my life that is an amazing amount of money but not in politics. So three months ago, I had $1.2 million to raise and three months later, I still have $1.2 million to raise in essence."

In a campaign finance report filed Wednesday, Swearingen reported raising $52,000 and spending about $26,000 last quarter. He had about $45,000 on hand to start the year.

Associated Press writer Jordan Shapiro contributed to this report.