Neophyte Politician’s Pay Pledge Puts Him in Legal Jam

When hog farmer Martin (Bubs) Hohulin told voters he would give away part of his legislative salary if they elected him to the Missouri House, he was trying to show he thought state lawmakers are overpaid.

Hohulin did win, and now that promise has put the Republican rookie into an unexpected legal jam.

“Back when I was a teen-ager, I did some things I probably should have gotten in trouble for, and now I get into trouble for something like this. It’s wild,” said Hohulin, 26.

The snag: State law prohibits candidates from promising a part of their salary to any public or private interest.

Hohulin promised to donate $2,800 of the $22,863 annual House salary for college scholarships to eight high school students in the district.

“It was my way of showing that I was against lawmakers voting to raise their pay,” said Hohulin, who hails from Lamar, the birthplace of Harry S. Truman.

Democrats raised the issue of the promise during the campaign and then filed a complaint after Hohulin defeated Democratic Rep. Jerry Burch, a 12-year incumbent, 5,051 votes to 4,500. The Missouri attorney general’s office is looking into whether the promise violated the law.

“If we find there is a violation of the law, then we will prosecute,” said spokeswoman Mary Jenkins, whose boss, Atty. Gen. William Webster, is a Republican.

She said the infraction would be a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine, but no forfeiture of office. State election officials said they didn’t recall a similar case.

“I honestly in my heart thought I was trying to do something good for the people in my community. Anybody who knows me knows I’m not a dishonest person,” Hohulin said.

Asked if he would make good his promise, Hohulin said he was waiting to see what the attorney general’s office decided.

“If I did something wrong, I’m sorry, but I don’t know all the laws. I’m a farmer, not a lawyer,” said Hohulin.

Democrats said they aren’t swayed by Hohulin’s remorse.

“Campaigns shouldn’t be run on a bidding basis, saying you’ll take less money than your opponent,” said state Democratic Chairman Gene Bushmann said. “If we’ve got the law on the books, then we ought to enforce it.”

Few people in the district abutting the Missouri-Kansas border seem to view Hohulin’s promise as the key to his victory.

They attribute Burch’s defeat to an anti-incumbency attitude and a feeling by some that he was more interested in statewide matters than local problems.

Burch, who had a good shot at becoming House majority leader next year, voted to spend state money to build a St. Louis sports stadium and to repair sports complexes in Kansas City--an unpopular idea in the conservative farming district.

“Everybody is upset over government spending too much money. People were really infuriated over the stadium bill,” said Doug Davis, publisher of the weekly Lamar Democrat. “They felt Jerry sold them out and they felt they were going to have to pay taxes for the benefit of Kansas City and St. Louis.”