Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Hanaway Ad
Here’s Catherine Hanaway’s first TV ad. It should be up today. It’s called “Midwestern Values.” And while it hits a number of points and images (including her raising a hunting rifle), it highlights her mom-ness and her prosecutorial experience, both differentiating characteristics.
Ardini One Step Closer to Judgeship
Long-time Nixon aide Ted Ardini, who for years has been influential in helping the governor choose appointees including judges, is likely headed for a judgeship himself. He’s been named on a panel to fill the vacancy on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. And observers can’t imagine Governor Jay Nixon would pass him over.
The commission which selected Ardini and two others (Judge W. Brent Powell and Teresa A. Woody) is composed of Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge, Michelle Beckler, Scott Bethune, Thomas Burke, Cheryl Darrough, Nick Robinson, and Donald Woody.
Randles Radio ad
Republican lieutenant governor candidate Bev Randles’ radio ad can be heard here. It touts her as a “conservative outsider.” It gives a little biographical information (growing up in southeast Missouri, leadership of Rex Sinquefield’s Missouri Club for Growth) and her top policy positions (pro-life, pro-gun, anti-common core, pro-RTW).
The Taint of Trump?
Two columns in the Washington Post yesterday had a pair of opinion pieces talking about the lasting damage that Donald Trump may do to politicians who endorse him.
Eugene Robinson (see it here): Mitt Romney is usually not the most eloquent of public figures, but he got it right when he explained his increasingly lonely resistance to Trump: “I wanted my grandkids to see that I simply couldn’t ignore what Mr. Trump was saying and doing…
Jennifer Rubin (see it here): The “winners” here are the ones who announce their refusal to endorse or simply never get around to it… Democrats will not be able to tar them as enablers of a racist, misogynistic bully. Both in primaries and general elections they can take the high ground, reminding voters they did not twist themselves into pretzels to back someone with few conservative positions and virtually no redeeming personal qualities.
I tend to agree. Whether Trump’s candidacy implodes or explodes or how it goes, history will not be kind to folks who deliberating ignoring his consistently discriminatory and un-American positions (refusal to denounce David Duke, a national database tracking Muslims, barring Muslims from entry, disqualifying judges based on their heritage, and general chauvinistic attitude toward women).
MO Court Sides with Normandy Parents
Post Dispatch’s Elisa Crouch reports on the an appeals court ruling on the transfer law. See it here.
Pull Quote: The Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday laid to rest the legal fight over Missouri’s school transfer law, involving several Normandy parents, area school districts and the state. In a unanimous ruling, the Eastern District’s three-member panel affirmed the rights of Normandy children to attend schools in higher-performing districts, even after many school boards in 2014 voted to send them back to Normandy… According to a spokeswoman from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, state attorneys “are reviewing the ruling and considering whether or not to appeal to the state Supreme Court.”
Committee for Accountability Makes New Ad Buy
David Humphreys’ PAC – Committee for Accountable Government in Missouri – appears to be preparing for a primary election onslaught, and is buying TV time. See the contract here.
Hitting Back on MRTA
Reader 1: Public funding and services already go to private providers of early childhood education through programs such as the Missouri Preschool Project and Title I grants. The Early Childhood Health and Education Amendment compliments existing public/private partnerships and ensures greater access to quality preschool programs so all children, regardless of circumstance or geography, are prepared for Kindergarten. Per the U.S. Constitution, no funding from the Early Childhood Health and Education Amendment may go toward religious curriculum. No funding from this initiative can go towards vouchers.
Reader 2: The fact that MRTA has chosen to oppose the RYH4K proposal means they oppose early childhood educational opportunities for future generations, as this is the number one priority of Raise Your Hand for Kids, and that is why education will get a guaranteed 75% to 85% of the proceeds of the tax, with the remaining divided between smoking cessation and early childhood healthcare.
To call this a "voucher" program is laughable. The proposed constitutional amendment does not make early childhood education mandatory. If a given educational program is not mandatory, the Blaine Amendment cannot apply. That is the case with many other programs dealing with non-mandatory educational programs, including Missouri Preschool Project funding, Title 1 funding, and in higher education the Access Missouri and Bright Flight scholarship programs. Does MRTA consider these programs to be vouchers and oppose them?
Lobbyists Registrations
James Moody added Aetna Better Health; and deleted Healthcare USA, and Missouri Primary Care Association.
Lucy McBath added Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund.
John Kirby added Sanofi US.
Jay Hahn deleted Associated Industries of Missouri.
Rodney Boyd, Brian Grace and Kelvin Simmons deleted Mississippi Lime Company, St. Louis Sports Commission, Tropicana Entertainment Inc., and Patek & Associates.
Kelvin Simmons and Brian Grace deleted Kansas City Missouri School District Administration, and Newmark Grubb Zimmer.
Ashley McDonald deleted Missouri Farm Bureau.
Jacqueline Clark deleted Ash Grove Cement.
$5K+ Contributions
Teamsters Local Union No 688 Political Action Committee - $10,175 from DRIVE Committee.
Citizens Committee for Soil, Water and State Parks - $9,000 from Missouri Farm Bureau Federation.
Missouri Democratic State Committee - $10,000 from the Boeing Company.
Missouri Democratic State Committee - $10,000 from Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Action Committee.
MO Petroleum Marketers + Convenience Store Assoc PAC - $75,000 from Xcaliber International LTD LLC.
St. Charles County Republcian Central Committee - $9,600 from FM NewsTalk 97.1 Emmin Communications Corporation.
MO Beverage PAC - $7,173 from Coca-Cola North America.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Tricia Workman.