
U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell spoke at an event on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at which a historic marker was unveiled at the site of Pruitt-Igoe.
The $50,000 missing for a year from reports by a group supporting U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell has now been officially recorded.
Ring The Bell — a local political action committee formed in late 2023 to support Bell’s winning run against incumbent Cori Bush in the August 2024 Democratic primary — filed an amended report Monday with the Federal Election Commission.
Federal records list Kenneth Strawbridge as treasurer and custodian of records for the Brentwood-based PAC. Strawbridge is a district vice president of the Gateway Region YMCA of ѿý.
The contribution in question came from the Midwest Regional Laborers Political League, a group which backs mostly Democratic political candidates.
The laborers’ contribution was made July 25, 2024 — 10 days before the Aug. 6 primary. The contribution was properly included on the union PAC’s FEC report filed in August.
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Ring The Bell failed to note the contribution on any of four campaign reports it filed after the contribution was made.
Sean Stott, government affairs director for the Laborers group, said wire transfers are regularly used as an election date draws near, and campaigns need quick infusions of money.
Strawbridge said Tuesday that the donation was the only wire transfer the PAC received, and the money went directly into the Ring The Bell account at PNC bank in Maplewood.
Although the federal paperwork is now up to date, it still is unclear as to how the $50,000 went unaccounted for from a PAC that had only 19 donors and raised slightly less than $170,000 in 2024.
Strawbridge said he and the compliance company he uses failed to notice the discrepancy between bank statements and the federal reports.
“This is something that should’ve been caught before this, and I wished it had been,” Strawbridge said.
The compliance company used by Strawbridge is Hawkbill Operations LLC, which is in Canfield, Ohio.
In a statement, Hawkbill principal Zak Kozberg said their work is “based on information submitted by (Ring The Bell) leadership.”
The amended report filed this week now shows that Ring The Bell has about $78,000 in its account.
ѿý County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell speaks to supporters after winning his election to represent Missouri’s 1st Congressional District.