Mailer in Missouri Senate Race sparks public dispute, questions about PAC

From The El Dorado Springs Sun

As Missouri’s Aug. 4 Republican primary approaches, the campaign season has shifted into high gear across Senate District 28. Mailboxes are filling with political advertisements, television and digital ads are increasing, polling is underway, and candidates and volunteers continue knocking on thousands of doors throughout the district.

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Political advertising has long been part of election season, with campaigns and political action committees spending millions of dollars nationwide on mailers, surveys, advertising, and voter outreach in hopes of earning enough support to win office.

This last week, however, one campaign mailer became the center of a public controversy after claims it made were challenged by the very public office it cited as its source.

Households across Senate District 28 received a mailer paid for by the Rocker P. Brand PAC, a political action committee supporting the candidacy of State Rep. Brad Pollitt. The mailer claimed Pollitt’s Republican primary opponent, Dr. Sam Alexander, had failed to pay his property taxes on multiple occasions and cited the Cedar County Collector’s Office as the source of that information.

Shortly after the mailer began arriving in voters’ mailboxes, Cedar County Collector Lisa Nelson publicly disputed the claim.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Nelson wrote that she wanted to make it “well known” that Alexander “has never been delinquent on paying his taxes” and said the information contained in the mailer was incorrect.

The collector’s statement quickly spread across social media, with residents sharing screenshots of both the mailer and Nelson’s response. Posts discussing the controversy have collectively been shared hundreds of times across multiple Facebook pages and community groups throughout Senate District 28.

The issue also received additional attention after journalist Kevin Lujin published a report summarizing the controversy and the collector’s response.

As the controversy continued to grow across the district, attention expanded beyond the mailer itself and toward the Rocker P. Brand PAC that paid for it. Publicly available records highlighted connections between Brad Pollitt’s campaign, the Rocker P. Brand PAC, and individuals associated with both organizations. While political action committees operate independently under Missouri law, the overlapping names and relationships have prompted some voters to question whether Pollitt knew more about the PAC’s activities than has been publicly acknowledged. The El Dorado Springs Sun has not independently verified any coordination between Pollitt’s campaign and the PAC, nor has it found evidence establishing that the campaign directed the mailer.

According to Lujin’s reporting, the mailer was paid for by the Rocker P. Brand PAC, with Lisa Young listed as the committee’s treasurer.

Lujin also reported that Leanna Lawson, an administrator of the Facebook group Concerned Citizens & Businesses of Sedalia, Mo., stated that Young is the daughter of Pam Moon, who serves as treasurer for Pollitt’s Senate campaign committee.

In a video posted publicly on Facebook, Debbie Covington, another administrator of the group, stated that Pettis County Treasurer Kim Lyne and Pettis County Clerk Megan Page had previously served as officers of the PAC but withdrew after learning about the mailer. According to Covington, the former officers were unaware of the advertisement’s content before it was distributed. The El Dorado Springs Sun has not independently verified those claims.

Alexander’s campaign later responded publicly to the mailer.

“My opponent, Brad Pollitt, has a voting record he can’t defend, so he has resorted to lies,” Alexander said in a campaign statement.

The campaign disputed the allegations in the mailer and pointed to Cedar County Collector Lisa Nelson’s public statement that Alexander had never been delinquent in paying his property taxes.

Alexander’s statement went on to criticize Pollitt’s legislative record, alleging that Pollitt voted to fund Planned Parenthood through Missouri’s Federal Reimbursement Allowance program, supported legislation benefiting hyperscale data centers, and voted in favor of legal protections for vaccine manufacturers. Alexander also highlighted that he has received the endorsement of Missouri Right to Life and asked voters for their support in the Aug. 4 Republican primary.

As of press time, Pollitt’s campaign had not issued a public statement responding to Alexander’s campaign statement regarding the mailer. The El Dorado Springs Sun did not conclude the disputed claims beyond the public statements made by the Cedar County Collector and the campaigns involved.

Political action committees are permitted under Missouri law to independently advocate for or against candidates, although state law prohibits coordination between a candidate’s campaign committee and an independent expenditure committee.

With Election Day less than a month away, voters throughout Senate District 28 are expected to continue seeing increased campaign advertising from candidates, political action committees and other organizations through Aug. 4.

Sources: Public Facebook statement by Cedar County Collector Lisa Nelson; reporting by Kevin Lujin; public statements from the Alexander campaign; public Facebook posts and videos referenced in the reporting.