Steve Hunter's Entry in MO-7 Race Has a Jeff Roe Feeling to It: Beat Corruption Accusation by Putting Someone More Corrupt in the Race

Today's late entry into the Missouri Seventh Congressional District Race feels artificial, perhaps planned. Steve Hunter, from Joplin, declaring his candidacy on the final day feels like it might have Jeff Roe's fingerprints all over it.

Billy Long now faces three ethics complaints. How does one take the focus off their candidate who faces a potential battle with the Federal Election Commission? You convince another candidate without a chance to run for the same office, a candidate with both local and federal corruption issues himself to take the focus of Long's own problems. This could very well be the plan with the late addition of Steve Hunter, the latest Republican running for Missouri 7.

Steve Hunter has a long history in Missouri politics, and worked closely with a Mr. Mel Hancock in the beginnings of his political career. You know the same Mel Hancock that endorsed Mr. Long. Very interesting stuff.

Obviously, Hunter's wife has her own ethics issues in Jasper County, so he enters the race already wounded before conducting battle. He's the perfect candidate to draw attention away from Billy Long's own ethics problems while possibly weakening Gary Nodler in the Joplin area. Obviously, Long knows he has to split the vote in the western side of the state to have a chance of beating Nodler. So in with Hunter in the race, it seems logical it serves Long in to different ways. Let's look at Hunter's own problems.

Last year, Hunter's wife received the interest of the feds. She was under investigation according to the Joplin Globe, which noted: State officials also would not discuss what elements of of the office were investigation, though Mays did say the unit investigates “everything from welfare fraud, to abuse involving MoHealthNet and fraud and abuse in general, and provides legal support to all our programs.”


According to Lisa Olliges, some Jasper County files mysteriously went missing during Hunter's role as public administrator. The new Jasper County public administrator claims she's missing information on wards of the court. Angie Casavecchia claims she is lacking records to adequately care for her clients.

The former administrator, Rita Hunter, says she turned over the office like it was given to her.
But Casavecchia claims that could be endangering her clients. Casavecchia says all ten cabinets that used to contain records of those who are wards of the public administrator are completely empty.

Any information once stored on computer is also gone.

Rita was also sued in 2007 by a 95 year old woman. According to the Turner Report, A 95-year-old Carthage woman has filed a $3 million plus lawsuit against Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter and attorney John Podleski and his law firm, Crandall & Podleski.In the three-count lawsuit filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Emma France alleges Mrs. Hunter, the wife of Rep. Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, took advantage of a bout of depression Mrs. France suffered after she was "the victim of several telephone scams which caused her to lose some of her monies."

She also faced a class action lawsuit for her removal from office for charging her clients an excessive amount above her annual. Myers said that the fees set by the public administrator’s office have increased about 400 percent.

Myers also contends that state law allows public administrators to be paid either a salary or by fees, but not both.

“Once you decide, you can’t change,” said Myers. “Mrs. Hunter receives a salary and charges fees.”

And the list goes on and on when you do a Google Search for Rita Hunter in Jasper County. Oh yes, doesn't this now feel like the work of Jeff Roe rushing in to save the day for Billy Long by encouraging a far uglier story for the media to work on? But will it draw attention away from Long when the FEC shows up to investigate the evidence they were sent this week?