Thurbert Baker: popular with Missouri lawyers, students

Attorney General Thurbert Baker's gubernatorial campaign disclosure: It raises eyebrows.

Ninety-eight of his 437 donors are from out of state. That's about 22 percent. When you look at the amount of money raised out of state it's about 37 percent. As past president of the National Association of Attorneys General, Mr. Baker has presumably made a lot of contacts around the country.

Fifty of Baker's donors maxed out, at least for the primary, by donating $6,100. That's $305,000, or about 43 percent of the $704,331 Mr. Baker has raised.

As Jim Galloway notes, albeit with a slightly different methodology, 115 of Mr. Baker's donations are dated after the June 30 fundraising period ended. Those post-deadline donations amount to about $274,305, or 39 percent.

Which brings us to the Hershewe family of Joplin, Missouri. Alison and Edward Hershewe are both attorneys at The Hershewe Law Firm in Joplin. Open Secrets lists the couple as significant Democratic donors on the national level. They maxed out for both the primary and general election, giving the Baker campaign $12,200 apiece.

Their children, Anne and Mary Hershewe, are listed as students on Baker campaign documents. Both also gave the Baker campaign the maximum: $12,200 apiece. I'm assuming they have high-paying internships, or wildly successful lemonade stands.

All told, the Hershewe family of Joplin, Missouri, has donated $48,800 to Thurbert Baker's gubernatorial campaign.

I left a message for Ed and Alison Hershewe at their law firm this morning, in case they want to comment. Rick Thompson, who heads the Georgia State Ethics Commission, said there's no rule against giving your children money, which they can then donate to a political campaign.

The key is choice: All donations must be made of the donor's own free will, he said.

Baker campaign manager Jeff DiSantis said Baker and Ed Hershewe met through mutual friends. He didn't know Anne and Mary's ages, but said both have reached the "age of majority."

"If they're adults and they want to contribute they're allowed to contribute," DiSantis said. "And the guy's got means and wanted to help. ... We were told that it was their money and they wanted to contribute."

One other example: Out in California Stacey Siebel, homemaker, also maxed out for Mr. Baker, donating $12,200. There's another $12,200 listed as coming from the Siebel Living Trust.

Mrs. Siebel appears to be the wife of Thomas Siebel, whom DiSantis said Baker met through a mutual interest in fighting methamphetamine. I'm not sure how the trust fits in, but Thompson said trusts are often legally separate entities, and thus able to donate as such.

On the national level, Open Secrets shows Mrs. Siebel to favoring Republican candidates with her donations, including U.S. Sen. John McCain. I was unable to find a good telephone number to reach her for comment.

UPDATE: Clever comment from the peanut gallery: They say Georgia elections are won north of I-20. Joplin is north of I-20.