During the two-year 2008 election period, millions of dollars were donated to various political action committees in Kansas.

But no donor was as generous as James and Virginia Stowers, the Missouri financier and his wife, who topped the list of the large contributors with their  $900,000 donation to the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce political action committee in 2007.

The Stowers are the wealthy founders of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, a biomedical research group which uses a variety of research methods, some of which - like adult stem cell research - are not controversial. But some are, including research done using human embryos. 

Donating heavily to Democrats and liberal Republicans who will support embryonic stem cell research apparently has been the motive behind the Stowers' generosity.

Stowers money seems to have had an impact in Missouri, where the state constitution was amended in 2006 to reflect a more lenient approach to embryonic stem cell research. According to wire service reports, the Stowers provided the majority of the funding to back the $30 million campaign to pass the amendment, often referred to as the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.

Stowers' influence is growing on the Kansas side of the border, too, where the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce has been the recipient of large donations, which are then redirected toward supporting candidates who will be friendly to the Stowers' projects.

“The Stowers support anyone who has a strong commitment to keeping Kansas science friendly and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce has a life science political action committee,” said Laurie Roberts, spokesperson for the Stowers Institute. “So they can easily determine which candidates are dedicated to keeping Kansas science friendly.” 

Critics say keeping Kansas "science-friendly" can mean different things to different people.  For example, Kansans for Life Saving Cures and Missourians for Life Saving Cures, both of which were started by Stowers, have articles of incorporation that state their purpose is to oppose any legislation that would ban somatic cell nuclear transfer, the same process used to create Dolly the Sheep. 

Because the process creates an embryo, the method is also called human cloning, since a new human life would be created with the same DNA as the somatic cell.

According to Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission reports, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce PAC, or BizPAC, spreads the money out to a variety of recipients including both Kansas and Missouri candidates and groups. 

Its largest contribution included a May 2008 donation of $714, 964 to the Life Sciences Fund of the Greater KC Chamber of Commerce PAC.

Peter Levi, president of the Greater KC Chamber, said the Life Sciences Fund is a separate branch of the BizPAC. 

Levi said a dispersement committee of approximately 15 members decides who BizPAC donates money to.

“These members of the chamber contribute to the committee that authorizes contributions to candidates and these are either Democrats or Republicans who support issues important to the Greater KC business community,” he said.

The next largest donations of over $25,000 went to the Kansas Senate Republican Leadership Committee, money which was used to support liberals in Kansas senate campaigns.

Next of the largest donations went to Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan with a $25,000 donation in June of 2007 and a $25,000 donation to Missouri governor hopeful Jay Nixon in Jan 2007. However, Carnahan and Nixon did not profit much from BizPAC as Carnahan herself donated $24,925 to BizPAC in December, 2007 and Nixon donated $23,725 to BizPAC in Feb, 2008.

BizPAC’s next largest contribution was a $23,725 donation to the Washington, D.C. Democratic Governors Association in December, 2007.  

Levi said it was not unusual for BizPAC to contribute to both Missouri and Kansas politics.

“Our chamber consists of about 8,000 members and roughly one-third are on the Kansas side so we do cover issues on both sides of the metropolitan area,” he said.

The Kansans for Life Saving Cures PAC also benefited from the Stowers’ money.  According to the January Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission report, the Stowers donated $100,000 out of the total $101,840 in contributions to the Kansans for Lifesaving Cures PAC. 

During the Ethics Commission’s January reporting period, the Kansans for Life Savings Cures filtered $24,250 into campaign contributions for Kansas senators and representatives and made its largest contribution of $5,000 to the Kansas Democratic Party in 2007. 

During the July reporting period an additional $28,250 was filtered into campaign contributions and the Kansans for Life Saving Cures PAC’s largest donation was a $10,000 contribution that went to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ PAC the Bluestem Fund in 2008.  

- Holly Smith

Where Stowers' money went

• Who received Stowers' money through the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce? Click here.
• Who received Stowers' money through the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures PAC? Click here.

The Week in Review