Remember when we were all worried about how much money the Osage County Republican Committee might have in their treasury? And when we were worried that we might have to file a lawsuit because we couldn’t get the minutes, bylaws or the treasury information?
Well, we don’t have to worry about that anymore.
Why? Because it’s all gone. ”Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday; Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang, bang; Gone like a ’59 Cadillac; Like all good things that ain’t never coming back. It’s gone, gone, gone.”
I’ve always liked that old 2004 Montgomery Gentry song and like the song, the old Republican committee’s money is truly gone and never coming back.
A second-quarter Missouri Ethics Commission report dated July 14, 2026 says the committee now has a grand total in their treasury of $92.
Ironically, nothing in this quarter of donations shows funds were given to local Republican candidates. I think a little money might have been given to John Glavin and Valerie Prater in the last quarter because they vetted early on for their position.
The report showed $6,094.92 was spent on expenses for their Trump Day Dinner which was held on June 18 which included $1,500 that was given to award winner Mike Lindell (the My Pillow guy) for winning the second annual Mark Lieneke Lincoln Day Dinner award at the annual dinner and another $800 for other speakers, security and insurance for the event.
To finish out the donations of the committee, nearly $1,500 was given to Pacs that encourage vetting and other conservative values.
Those and some other miscellaneous expenses and POOF it’s all gone.
The good news is we now have the minutes, their old bylaws, which I hope the new committee will throw out and adopt new ones, and an incomplete checkbook. But, at least we have some records and the opportunity to do things the right way. The new committee promises transparency and invites everyone to attend their organizational meeting on Aug. 18 in the third floor courtroom of the Courthouse.
I think the new group wants to start fresh and this is our opportunity to do that.
To those of you that say that some of us are just trying to make the current committee members Craig and Linda Rantz, Joyce Weber and George Luebbering look bad, I would say this.
They have done a pretty good job of doing that all by themselves. They didn’t need our help. A little sunshine goes a long way.
Jerry Voss
