Chuck Basye is getting a lot of help in the Republican primary in the 47th District as GOP leaders make bets that he can beat both his intraparty rival and incumbent Rep. John Wright.

At a fundraiser last night at D. Rowe�s, Reps. Caleb Rowden and Caleb Jones, both of Columbia, and David Muntzel of Boonville were on hand, as was Jon Ratliff, political director of the House Republican Campaign Committee, or HRCC.

�It is my No. 1 target for this summer to help unseat the incumbent representative in this district,� Muntzel told the group of about 30 who took part in the fundraiser.

Basye, a farmer, is running against Betsy Phillips, president of the Boone County Pachyderm Club, in the Aug. 5 Republican primary. Basye reported raising $12,834 as of March 30, with $8,750 of that amount coming from incumbent GOP lawmakers, including $2,500 from Jones and $250 from Muntzel.

Phillips filed late and did not report any fundraising in the first quarter. Wright contributed $165,573 to his re-election campaign through March 30.

The next reports, for the period that ends Monday, are due July 15.

�He�s a pretty nice guy; he just votes wrong,� Muntzel said of Wright.

In 2012, Wright spent $441,253, including more than $300,000 of his own funds, to win the district that includes large portions of western Columbia plus western Boone County and parts of Cooper, Howard and Randolph counties. His opponent, Mitch Richards, spent $34,034 he was able to raise and received $80,832 in assistance from the HRCC.

Wright won that race by 549 votes of 15,727 cast, carrying the Boone County portion of the district but losing the race in Cooper, Howard and Randolph counties.

Basye didn�t go into much detail about his stands on issues last night in front of the friendly audience.

�I think you all know what I stand for,� he said. �I am a solid conservative. I believe in low taxes, cutting a lot of the regulations that are thrown at us relentlessly from Washington, D.C. I�m a big proponent of the NRA, pro-life, and I am very much concerned about agriculture in the state.�

Republicans hold nearly two-thirds of all legislative seats and have overridden a record number of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon�s vetoes.

Rowden said defeating Wright can increase their power. �There is no reason to believe we won�t grow our majority,� he said