Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Dems: Hicks Should Resign
Democrats seized on Rep. Ron Hicks’ admission that he’s no longer residing in his district and asked him to “be an honorable man” and take “seriously the solemn oath” to uphold the constitution which says the seat should be vacated.
See their letter here. And the Post-Dispatch article here.
This looks bad. Put aside the complete silence from all those “constitutional conservatives” on the issue.
How can the House makes ethics reform its number one priority then ignore their member openly disregarding the constitution – especially when some think it’s to qualify for a pension!
Bayh News Follow-Up
A second opinion on the news….
Indiana may have been a problem for Jason Kander except for the fact that Evan Bayh has been sitting on about $10 million in a dormant Senate campaign account. Not many more DSCC or other resources are going to need to go to Indiana. But it forces the Republicans to have to spend A LOT to stay competitive there. So it actually is a positive for Kander…
Koster Match-Ups
I asked around last week to get a sense of who folks thought would be the hardest Republicans for Chris Koster to beat. Here’s one response which makes points that are pretty representative of what I heard….
Greitens vs Koster
Should be the best candidate the GOP has, but he has to talk about issues (instead of “I am Navy SEAL…”), and Koster is so smooth he will eat this guy for lunch. Plus the Brunner/Greitens phone call (I can't wait to meet you my friend), shows this guy cannot take a punch and you know Koster and his people will land some devastating hits.
Brunner vs Koster
He spends his own personal money and could also get serious funding from RGA. No vote record to go after, good personal story and biography. Koster probably wins still, but Brunner keeps him honest.
Kinder vs Koster
Good name ID, but you have to believe the RGA takes a walk from this race to one they have a better shot of winning.
Hanaway vs Koster
Easiest match-up for Koster. Two words "NRA endorsement". You tell me how she gets the endorsement over him? How does a GOP candidate win a race for Governor, in Missouri, without the NRA endorsement?
Tipster: Senate 19 Starts in Webbers Favor
MOScout reader says that Rep. Stephen Webber is up 12 points in the early polling, and keeps his numbers above 50% even after respondents hear the negatives about him…
Tipster: GOP AG Buys
According to one MOScout reader watching the Republican AG race closely, the third party expenditures are giving Josh Hawley an air advantage over Sen. Kurt Schaefer…
Media buys
Hawley campaign - $1.4-ish million.
Pro Hawley “Tea Party Patriots” - $780K-ish
Pro Hawley SCRAPAC - $1.1-ish million.
Pro Hawley Freedom and Faith - $136K-ish
Versus Schaefer campaign - $1.4-ish million.
The Next Abortion Fight
Sens. Jamilah Nasheed and Jill Schupp, together with Reps. Stacey Newman and Lauren Arthur will announce their intention to repeal the anti-abortion laws in Missouri which are similar to the Texas laws that the US Supreme Court struck down.
Follow-Up Bits
The teary waitress video is no longer up on Youtube…. Don’t see it here.
And this nugget from a MOScout reader on “waitress-gate:” The owner of The Rocks (unless he sold it very recently) is Jay Steed, who gave $10K to Greitens at the end of 2015…
Granges AB wins auction for Noranda “downstream” assets. See it here.
CORRECTION on Senate 23 IE: I incorrectly wrote earlier this week that AFSCME was working in Senate 23. It’s the AFL-CIO’s Working America. My apologies for my confusion.
They’ve got campaign workers on the ground helping Rep. Anne Zerr.
From lobbyist Andy Arnold’s blog: Appeals court denies SOS Jason Kander’s motion regarding the RYH4K initiative petition. See it here. RYH4K will presumably appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Other Bits
EMILY's List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Judy Baker, who's running for state treasurer in Missouri… .
Channing Grate, who has served as Nixon's communications director since 2013, is leaving to serve as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's deputy chief of staff heading into the final three-plus months of the election. See it here.
eMailbag: On Andy Blunt to DC
For what it's worth, it's probably safe to say that the vast majority of Missouri lobbyists who have represented a state association have been to DC for the associations’ annual legislative conference. It's always the same song and dance, a day or two of internal meetings and then a day on the hill to meet with the Missouri delegation. It's rare you ever meet with a member of congress, you just distribute a one-pager to a staff member who has probably seen it a hundred times. In other words, to say Andy should be a registered lobbyist would be like saying every person who visits Jeff City for their associations annual lobby day should register with MEC.
Help Wanted
House seeks Budget Analyst. “This position will draft and review legislative appropriation bills and track relevant legislation. Job responsibilities include data entry, public speaking, preparation of fiscal and statistical data for use in budgetary evaluation, and review of agency budget requests and Governor’s budget recommendations for accuracy. Additionally, this position serves as the main budget liaison for members of the Missouri House of Representatives and is also responsive to state departments of government and the general public. The position is located in the Missouri State Capitol Building, Jefferson City… Salary range begins at $3,696 per month with actual starting salary commensurate with applicable education and experience…” See it here.
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Soybean Association Golf – Shirkey Golf Course – Richmond.
Lobbyists Registrations
Phillip Scaglia added Starship Technologies, Ou.
Kate Segal added Biogen.
Jon Sundvold added University of Missouri Board of Curators.
Johnnie Chester Sr added Prophesy M B Church.
Mark Rhoads deleted Noranda Aluminum.
William Lionel McCoy deleted Xaxax Consulting.
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri Democratic State Committee - $10,000 from Anheuser Busch Companies. Hanaway for Governor Inc - $10,000 from Samuel Hais.
Citizens for Will Kraus - $15,840 from Axiom Strategies LLC.
Terry Dotson for Cass County Sheriff - $7,000 from Terry Dotson.
Freedom Incorporated - $8,000 from Teresa Hensley for Missouri.
Friends of Elijah Haahr - $25,000 from Grow Missouri.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to former Reps. Brent Lasater and Tim Meadows, Jeff Craver, Gary Marshall and Cory McMahon.