Missouri Republican Sen. Bill Eigel’s campaign for governor engaged in several violations of campaign finance law, including accepting contributions in excess of the legal limit and corporate contributions, according to new ethics complaints.

The complaints come amid an intensifying Republican race for governor. Eigel, an outspoken and sometimes acerbic presence in the Missouri Senate, is competing for the nomination along with Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

John Maupin, a St. Louis-area attorney and former chair of the Missouri Ethics Commission, filed two complaints with the commission on Thursday. The Star obtained copies of the complaints after they were filed.

Maupin alleges the Weldon Spring senator’s campaign accepted 24 contributions above legal limits during the current campaign, and that 2.4% of his contributions have come from anonymous donors – more than the 1% limit in state law. Eigel also accepted two contributions from corporate entities in violation of the Missouri Constitution, Maupin alleges.

The campaign has solicited contributions over the legal limit, Maupin says, pointing to Eigel’s campaign website, which invites visitors to contribute amounts up to $2,900 and $5,800 in excess of the state’s limits for individuals and couples – the current limit is $2,825 for individuals and $5,650 for couples.

Voters in 2016 reimposed campaign contribution limits after Missouri spent a decade as one of a very small number of states without limits. In 2020, voters also approved lower limits for state legislative candidates.

“Taken together, these errors show more than sloppy and inaccurate record keeping and reporting,” Maupin, who last year donated the maximum amount to Kehoe’s campaign, wrote in one of the complaints.

“They suggest a fraudulent attempt (to) inflate the amount of Eigel’s contributions by tens of thousands of dollars, thereby artificially boosting its publicly-reported cash-on-hand figures and providing Missourians with an inaccurate picture of Eigel’s fundraising.”

Eigel’s campaign in a statement on Friday didn’t confirm or deny the alleged violations, but sought to place any blame on an unnamed campaign vendor.

“The establishment is scared and they should be; we’re going to win,” Eigel campaign manager Sophia Shore said. “We are in the process of reviewing the complaints. Any clerical accounting and reporting errors would have been made by a vendor, not by Bill, and if legitimate, will be corrected immediately.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported on the complaints.

Ashcroft’s campaign faces its own ethics complaint. In May, attorney and lobbyist Jane Dueker alleged it illegally coordinated with a political action committee on a letter attacking his opponents. The Ashcroft campaign has denied the allegation.

It’s unclear whether the Missouri Ethics Commission will take action on either complaint. The commission lacked a quorum to meet until earlier this week when Gov. Mike Parson appointed Whitney Smith of Des Peres to the commission – filling the fourth of sixth commission spots.

Publicly-available polling has generally shown Ashcroft leading the race, with Kehoe in second and Eigel in third. Whoever wins the primary will likely take on either House Minority Leader Crystal Quade or businessman Mike Hamra, the two major Democratic candidates.

The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed reporting