Monday, April 23, 2012
Senate Budget Battle
Post-Dispatch Virginia Young writes on the brewing budget battle in the Senate. Fireworks this week? Yes. Read it Here.
Lobbyist to Drebes: “Budget week is going to be a doozy I suspect. Just camp outside Sen. Joe Keaveny’s office. From there, you will be able to see who goes in and out of Sens. Mike Parson, Tom Dempsey and Victor Callahan’s offices, and who goes in and out of Pro Tem Rob Mayer’s office. Something tells me not the same people...”
Splitsville: Wiegert & SLPOA
According to the 24 State blog, Tea Party lobbyist Gary Wiegert has had a falling out with the St. Louis Police Officers Association. He had been a long-serving member of their executive board, and a fierce critic of St. Louis winning local control of the department. Read it Here.
Pull Quotes from Wiegert’s email with the SLPOA President
“The SLPOA by-laws were violated when I was improperly expelled from the SLPOA. I was not notified of the date or time of the hearing or allowed to defend myself against the accusations made by SLPOA employee Jeff Roorda.
“The secretive decisions made by the Executive Board are consistent with the improper actions of the E-Board when they invalidated an SLPOA election in an attempt to deny the will of the membership and disallow your election victory for President of the SLPOA. The E-Board then continued the fraud when they along with Jeff Roorda blamed a 34 year employee, Patricia Heisner with fixing the election. She was then improperly terminated with no due process and the E-Board awarded Jeff Roorda a five year $300,000.00 contract with a clause that he cannot be fired. I suggest you stop allowing alcoholic beverages to be served at the Executive Board meetings.”
Bootheel Talk
Senate 27
I’ll have an updated Republican Senate Primary Report out tomorrow which shows goes beyond the breakdowns by county population, to show the breakdown by county primary vote. For example, 25% of Butler County is in Senate 25. However it’s actually half the Republican primary vote in that district.
In Senate 25, 22% of Scott County is in the district, but because it’s not as heavily Republican as other places, it’s only about 11% of the Republican primary vote (based on 2010 and 2008 primaries). That is slight negative for that county’s representative, Rep. Ellen Brandom. It’s only a slight negative though because the real landscape of the district – Cape Girardeau as linchpin – is unchanged. 44% of Cape accounts for 52% of the primary vote.
One on-the-ground source says Rep. Wayne Wallingford’s April quarter was impressive as he appeared to be nailing down some important Cape support. This source also says that Brandom has hired Dave Hageman to run her campaign, while Wallingford has turned to James Harris.
House 149
And I’m moving my call on House 149 away from Republican American Idol star Neal Boyd back to incumbent Democratic Rep. Steve Hodges. Boyd still hasn’t formed a campaign committee and it’s said that he’s “put the weight back on.” In other words, there’s no indication that he’s taking this race as seriously as must in order to beat an incumbent.
Secretary of State Money
As observers continue to look for signs of one of the Republican secretary of state candidates to break out on the fundraising front, one source says that colleagues might provide a lift next quarter.
Rep. Shane Schoeller’s reports have shown some of his money coming from other state representative. That hasn’t been the case for Sens. Scott Rupp and Bill Stouffer. However after session lets out, that may change on the senate side. That’s when enators don’t worry about creating a floor enemy for their legislative agenda.
The Big Reveal? Carnahan Endorsements This Morning
Congressman Russ Carnahan will hold a press conference at 11:30am this morning to “announce key endorsements.” I know, I know, the waiting is the hardest part….
Kudos to Schweich for Not being a Hypocrite
At the First Congressional Republican Caucus yesterday Steve Gleason was challenged for being a “libertarian.” The body voted to seat him. Among the delegates that voted to seat Gleason despite the accusation of “disloyalty” was none other than erstwhile Claire McCaskill donor Tom Schweich.
Read Reboot Congress’ coverage Here.
It’s Not Politics It’s Personal
Dems say that the ugliest primary they have simmering this summer is between Reps. Mary Nichols and Eileen McGeoghegan. Word among Dems is that they’re sunshining each other looking for dirt – and trash talking each other, spreading it around.
And how did the fates came to pit these two against each other? The word is that McGeoghegan moved into a specially designed house for her disabled husband. It was in her old district, but when the new maps came out it fell in the same district as Nichols.
Interestingly though, McGeoghegan has more of her old district in the new than Nichols does.
Economy, Stupid
POLITICO’s Ben White says don’t get distracted, it’s still an “economy, stupid” election cycle… “The 2012 campaign sometimes feels like a debate over dogs riding on car roofs and which party likes moms more. But the election almost certainly will still turn on the state of the U.S. economy as the nation tries to pull away from one of the worst recessions in history. And both President Barack Obama and likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney have their work cut out for them in gaming out an uneven recovery. Will Obama convince voters that he steered the nation away from the cusp of total collapse and has the economy moving sharply ahead? Or will Romney succeed in selling the idea that the 'Obama economy' is an abysmal failure? ...”
Lobbyists’ Principals Changes
From the Pelopidas website:
Heath Clarkston, Harry Gallagher, and Jodi Winegar added Gillham Professional Group.
Scott Penman and David Winton added Glazer’s Family of Companies.
Theresa Ruiz deleted American Society.
The Giddens Group added Fresenius Medical Care.
$5K+ Contributions
7th District Congressional Republican Committee - $20,000 from David Humphreys.
Missourians Against Costly Mandates - $20,000 from American Coalition for Clean Coal.
Enough Taxes Already - $50,000 from Cheyenne International.
Save Our States Job Coalition - $16,968 from Missouri Restaurant Association.
Save Our States Job Coalition - $6,200 from Leonard’s S and S Inc.
Lewis & Clark Regional Leadership Forum - $12,000 from Ameren.
Missourians for Health and Education - $75,000 from American Cancer Society.
Missourians for Equal Credit Opportunity - $75,000 from Missourians for Responsible Government.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Gina Walsh (55).