WASHINGTON – Attorney John Simmons of Alton and 35 other Simmons Hanly Conroy lawyers each gave Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill $5,400 last year, Federal Election Commission records show.
Their contributions plus three smaller ones added up to $199,900 for the firm, which has pursued asbestos claims across the nation and expects to play a big role in opioid litigation as it gets underway in federal and state courts.
Some political analysts consider McCaskill, seeking re-election in a state that President Trump won by 19 points in 2016, to be the most vulnerable Democrat senator in this year’s general election,
An Axios survey released last week showed McCaskill trailing Republican challenger Josh Hawley, Missouri Attorney General, by 8 points, 52-44.
According to campaign finance reports at the FEC, McCaskill received $6,046,276 in itemized individual contributions, so Simmons Hanly Conroy accounted for about $1 of every $30.
Itemized individual contributions from 13 other national plaintiff firms totaled $245,950, with about a third of it coming from Chicago.
In all, the 14 national plaintiff firms gave McCaskill $445,850. That was 7.4 percent of her itemized individual contributions.
She also received $3,520,212 from individuals she didn’t itemize, and $1,371,412 from political action committees.
The Simmons firm entered the campaign quietly on June 23, when Robert Phillips of Wildwood, Missouri, contributed $1,500.
On July 25, Suvir Dahr of St. Louis, Paul Dix of Alton, Christopher Guinn of Troy, Valerie Nasiff of Chatham, New Jersey, Deborah Rosenthal of San Francisco, and Thoma Sheridan of New York City each contributed $5,400.
John Barnerd of Alton contributed $2,700.
On July 27, Taylor Kerns of St. Louis contributed $5,400.
On July 28, Dennis Danzinger of Hinsdale contributed $5,400.
On July 29, Daniel Blouin of Darien, Connecticut, contributed $5,400.
On July 31, John Foley of Alton and Andrew Williams of O’Fallon, Missouri, each contributed $5,400.
On Aug. 1, Karoline Carstens of Glen Carbon contributed $5,400, and Barnerd delivered another $2,700.
On Aug. 2, Andrea Bierstein of New York City contributed $3,000.
On Aug. 3, John Richardson of St. Charles, Missouri, contributed $5,400.
On Aug. 4, Ryan Dickherber of St. Louis, Shane Hampton of Godfrey, and Paul Hanly of Alton each contributed $5,400.
On Aug. 7, Myles Epperson of Swansea, Michael Favilla of Godfrey, Benjamin Goldstein of San Francisco, and Tim Thompson of Edwardsville each contributed $5,400.
On Aug. 8, Mike Stewart of Edwardsville contributed $5,400.
On Aug. 9, Ted Gianaris of Edwardsville contributed $5,400, and Brent Zadorozny of Los Angeles contributed $1,000.
On the firm’s final day of action, Aug. 18, Simmons contributed $5,400.
So did Randy Cohen, Amy Garrett, and Trent Miracle, all of Edwardsville, Warren Copple of Godfrey, and Ryan Kiwala of Maryville.
On the Missouri side, Michael Angelides of Clayton, Nicholas Angelides of Courtney Gregory of St. Louis, Matthew Petersen of Foristell, James Sealy of Chesterfield, and Melissa Schopfer of St. Louis each contributed $5,400.
From the Chicago area, Perry Browder of Glenview contributed $5,400.
Across the river from the Simmons firm, six national plaintiff firms gave McCaskill a total of $86,200.
Christine Moody of Korein Tillery contributed $7,000, Stephen Tillery contributed $5,000, and Christopher Hoffman contributed $250. George Zelcs of the firm’s Chicago office contributed $5,400, and Alexis Libras of the Chicago office contributed $5,000, for a total of $22,650.
Asbestos lawyer Andrew O’Brien of St. Louis contributed $16,200.
Marcus Raichle of the Maune Raichle asbestos firm contributed $10,800, and Tonia Raichle contributed $2,700. Barton French of Maune Raichle contributed $2,000, for a total of $15,500.
Don Downing of Gray Ritter contributed $6,000, Maurice Graham contributed $5,400, and Cort Vanostran contributed $350, for a total of $11,750.
Jerome Schlichter of Schlichter Bogard contributed $2,750, Susan Schlichter contributed $5,400, and Andrew Schlichter contributed $2,000, for a total of $10,150.
John Driscoll contributed $8,100, and Christopher Quinn of his firm contributed $1,850, for a total of $9,950.
Kansas City partners Norman Siegel and Patrick Stueve each contributed $5,400.
George Hanson of their firm contributed $5,900, and four others combined to contribute $3,700, for a total of $20,400.
Four plaintiff firms in Chicago gave McCaskill a total $77,650.
Robert Clifford and wife Joan Clifford each contributed $5,400, as did Kevin Durkin and Keith Hebeisen of Clifford Law.
Clifford lawyers Timothy Tomasik and Bradley Cosgrove each contributed $2,000, and Sarah King and James Pullos each contributed $1,000, for a total of $27,600.
Joseph Power of Power Rogers Smith contributed $10,800, and John Power, Thomas Power, Larry Rogers each contributed $2,000, for a total of $18,800.
John Cooney, Robert Cooney, and Kevin Conway, all of Cooney and Conway, each contributed $5,400.
Kathy Byrne of their firm contributed $2,250, for a total of $18,450.
Partners T.A. Demetrio and Philip Corboy each contributed $5,400, and Benn Greenspan of their firm contributed $2,000, for a total of $12,800.
Plaintiff firms in California and Texas contributed $61,700.
Elizabeth Cabraser, of Lieff Cabraser in San Francisco, contributed $10,800.
Kelly Dermody and Steven Fineman of the firm each contributed $5,400, and Richard Nelson contributed $4,000.
Donald Arbitblit, Jonathan Selbin, and Michael Sobol of the firm each contributed $2,000, and four others together gave $3,100, for a total of $34,700.
Houston partners John Williams and Steven Kherkher each contributed $10,800, and John Boundas of their firm contributed $5,400, for a total of $27,000.