![Cort VanOstran has a campaign ad.[YouTube/screen shot]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2018-10-10-at-3.17.49-PM-e1539199416953.png "Cort VanOstran has a campaign ad.[YouTube/screen shot]")
A noted anti-police business owner held a fundraiser on Monday for Democratic congressional hopeful Cort VanOstran’s political campaign in Missiouri.
Chris Sommers, the owner of multiple St. Louis-area pizza shops, raised money at one of his restaurants for VanOstran, according to the Missouri Republican Party. VanOstran is running for Congress in Missouri’s 2nd District. (RELATED: Missouri Judge Says Voters No Longer Need Photo Identification To Cast Vote)
Sommers came under fire in September after he referred to law enforcement officers as “dimwits,” “simple-minded” and “shitheads” and further accused the police of “terrorizing” the area. His anti-cop rhetoric seemed to stem from the heightened police presence after protesters took to the streets following the announcement that a now-former police officer would not be convicted for the fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, reported St. Louis Magazine.
The pizza restaurateur has also made significant in-kind contributions to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill who is running for re-election in Missouri, as well as the Democratic National Committee going back to 2010, according to Federal Election Commission records.
VanOstran is an attorney who is running for his first political office. He did not reply to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request to comment.
VanOstran and Republican challenger Ann Wagner are in a statistical dead heat, according to a poll conducted in September. VanOstran is ahead by 2 percent, well within the margin of error.
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