With the Missouri gubernatorial race now entering the home stretch, the leadership colleagues of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) have stepped up to fill the campaign coffers of his son, Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Blunt.

The younger Blunt cruised through the GOP primary last week and is now set to face state Auditor Claire McCaskill (D) for the governorship in November. Both sides expect the race to be close and expensive, and Blunt has prepared himself by raising more than $4.5 million to date, some of it from his father’s fellow Republican lawmakers.

“This is one of the top targeted gubernatorial races in the country, so we would expect to get a lot of support from many, many Republican sources nationally,” said Blunt campaign spokesman John Hancock.

During the primary, Blunt received maximum allowable contributions — $1,200 each — from Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Texas), Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce (Ohio) and Chief Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.). DeLay and Pryce gave from their leadership PACs, while Cantor contributed from his re-election campaign account.

Republican Members who aren’t in the leadership are also pitching in. Matt Blunt has secured four-figure checks from the leadership PACs maintained by Rep. Buck McKeon (Calif.) and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), as well as the personal campaign accounts of Reps. Tom Davis (Va.) and Devin Nunes (Calif.).

Also getting into the act is Rep. Hal Rogers (Ky.), who is running to be the next chairman of the Appropriations Committee. His HALPAC ponied up $1,175 for Blunt in February.

While those lawmakers have been eager to give to Matt Blunt’s campaign, his father may have been a bit too eager. Roy Blunt’s Rely on Your Beliefs Fund gave $1,200 to his son in February and the same amount again in June.

Matt Blunt ended up having to return the second donation because Missouri law, unlike federal law, prevents donors from giving both primary and general election money before the primary. Now that the primary date has passed, Roy Blunt is free to give again.