How a Nebraska veteran unwittingly became a repeat donor to a Missouri county campaign (R)

A Korean War veteran from Nebraska named Russell Wood made 35 donations totaling $1,050 over the last year to Bill Eigel’s campaign for St. Charles County executive.

The problem is, Wood, who is 92, has never heard of Eigel or set foot in St. Charles County. He told The Independent he had no idea he had made so many donations to Eigel’s campaign.

At some point in the last four years, one of Eigel’s fundraising emails — which focus on national issues and often don’t make any mention of Eigel — showed up in Wood’s inbox. He’s concerned about immigration and crime and donated thinking he was giving to help Donald Trump and other Republicans defeat Democrats.

That’s when he appears to have been caught in an online fundraising practice that makes donations automatically repeat on a weekly or monthly basis unless the contributor changes a pre-checked box.



https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/17/how-a-nebraska-veteran-unwittingly-became-a-repeat-donor-to-a-missouri-county-campaign/