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Missouri Candidate Had Talked of Suicide for Years

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“The late Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich (R) talked to those close to him about killing himself for years — long before the alleged anti-Semitic ‘whispering campaign’ that obsessed him in the weeks and hours before his suicide,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Said a police investigator: “He had talked about it [suicide] with family … He had mentioned that he had those thoughts before, with his family members. It was something that, according to his wife, he had mentioned off and on, for several years.”

Huffington Post: Missouri appoints new auditor

Staffer Killed Himself Over Unemployment

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Spence Jackson, spokesman for the late Missouri gubernatorial candidate Tom Schweich (R), “apparently faced unemployment in the wake of his boss’ suicide last month. And that, according to a note Jackson left, was the reason he took his own life Friday,” the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.

Jackson left a suicide note saying in its entirety: “I’m so sorry. I just can’t take being unemployed again.”

Aide to Dead Candidate Found Dead Himself

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The St. Louis Dispatch reports that Spence Jackson, who was media director for the late Missouri state auditor Tom Schweich (R), was found dead of an apparent suicide.

“Jackson’s death comes about a month after Schweich’s suicide. Amid the subsequent turmoil in the state’s Republican Party, Jackson emerged as a strong critic of Schweich’s political adversaries, to the point of calling for the resignation of a top party official.”


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Missouri GOP Chief Likely to Survive

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“More than two weeks after the shocking death of Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich, the new chairman of the Missouri Republican Party appears positioned to hang onto his office,” the Kansas City Star reports. “Despite a myriad of predictions that John Hancock would have to resign, he is moving ahead with the actual work of managing a party and preparing it for the 2016 elections.”

“In his final days, Schweich was said to be furious at Hancock for an alleged anti-Semetic whispering campaign last fall. In fact, among the final words he ever spoke centered on his frustration over what he believed to be Hancock’s role in undermining his candidacy based on Schweich’s faith.”

Aide Says Missouri Auditor Shot Himself After Call

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An aide to former Sen. John Danforth (R-MO) said that she was on the phone with Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich (R) — “discussing his angst over perceived rumors about his religion — just moments before he killed himself,” the AP reports.

“Martha Fitz said in a written statement that Schweich threatened to kill himself during their conversation and then handed the phone to his wife, Kathy.”

Said Fitz: “Seconds later, I heard Kathy say, ‘He shot himself!'”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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