Catherine Hanaway, the former Missouri House speaker who has already started her 2016 (yes, 2016) campaign for governor, is getting some high-powered help in recent days.

Hanaway, who will almost certainly be battling state Auditor Tom Schweich for the 2016 Republican nomination, got a $50,000 donation today from conservative political kingmaker Rex Sinquefield, the wealthy Missouri businessman.

At the same time, the group Missouri Club For Growth — a Sinquefield-funded entity — dropped another $100,000 into Hanaway's campaign.

That comes on the heels of a string of five-figure donations to Hanaway from prominent business and GOP party figures, including $10,000 each from state Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey (on March 13) and state Senate Majority Floor Leader Ron Richard (on Monday), records show.

Schweich's allies have been trying to build an aura of inevitability around his yet-unofficial bid for the party's nomination for governor, bringing major Republican figures like former U.S. Sens. John Danforth and Jim Talent into Schweich's auditor re-election race this year.

The fact that Hanaway is also pulling in heavyweight support signals that this will be more of a fight than either side might have bargained for.