ST. LOUIS, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A man who served a prison term for fraud and larceny in Minnesota has won the Republican nomination for Missouri state auditor in an upset that left his party-backed opponent stunned.
Missouri voters Tuesday nominated Al Hanson, 72, as the GOP candidate, giving him 66 percent of the vote to 34 percent for St. Louis lawyer Jay Kanzler. Hanson will face incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill, 48, who won nomination without opposition.
"I don't know what to say. I don't know why the numbers are the way they are," said Kanzler, 41, associate general counsel for Washington University.
Hanson, who runs a prison ministry and works as a financial consultant, said he did not accept or spend more than $500 on his campaign while Kanzler, who had the backing of Sen. Kit Bond, had a $115,000 war chest.
Hanson served nine months in prison in Minnesota on felony convictions for fraud and larceny but has refused to discuss his prison record.
