From Missouri Digital News: https://mdn.org

JEFFERSON CITY - The race for Missouri state treasurer has gone negative with statewide television ads.

Rep. Clint Zweifel, the St. Louis County Democrat in the race, has targeted Republican candidate Sen. Brad Lager in his first statewide television ad. 

Although Zweifel has made several campaign videos mocking Gov. Matt Blunt, this is the first time Zweifel has pulled a cardboard cutout of his opponent  into the mix.

The ad calls Blunt and Lager "best friends" and features a cutout of Blunt alongside what appears to be a cropped photo of Lager photoshopped onto someone else's body.

Zweifel accused Lager of "raiding the student loan program" and "forcing through Matt Blunt's Medicaid cuts."

The Lager campaign called the ad "goofy." Lager's press secretary Angela Landers said Zweifel was "running the ad two weeks out to tip voters."

The ad comes at an upswing for the Zweifel campaign, which has raised $17,000 in online contributions in one week, surpassing their goal of $10,000.

"Most of the campaign money goes to the campaign ads and literature and pamphlets," said Patrick Lynn, the campaign manager for Clint Zweifel.

Online contributions represents about 10 percent of funds raised by the Zweifel campaign.

They tend to be mainly low dollar amounts and are almost solely from individuals as opposed to businesses or political groups.  Lynn said, the average amount in online contributions is about $250.

In the September campaign contribution report, the Zweifel campaign said they received $297,998.43 in contributions during the month.  Lager's campaign raised $270,939 in the same time period.

In October, Zweifel has received three donations over $5,000, which have to be disclosed to Missouri Ethics Committee within 48 hours, and Lager has received two such donations.

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