Monday, January 4, 2015

Big Checks At Quarter’s End

John Brunner tossed in $3,635,000 of his own money at the quarter’s close.  This brought his quarter raise to a clean $4 million.  Meanwhile Eric Greitens reported a flurry of checks, including a $500,000 check from a west coast venture capitalist.

Neither of these checks is a game-changing surprise.  It’s long been assumed that Brunner would be contributing whatever amount he felt was necessary to win the race.  (In other words: this won’t be his last check).  And Greitens has demonstrated he’s the best fundraising candidate in Missouri history, tapping the ultra-wealthy around the country to invest in his start-up political career.

Questions

How long until these reserves of money start to be deployed?  And when they are, how bloody and muddy with this Republican primary be? When will Catherine Hanaway show any fundraising juice beyond her initial Rex Sinquefield investment?  Is it possible that Peter Kinder – who leads the polls, and will presumably have the least amount of cash on-hand at the end of this quarter – will stay out of the line of fire, and in the front-runner position while Brunner and Greitens throw punches at each other?

And

Team Brunner’s statement on their big self-fund… “Today we want to make it very clear and reinforce to Missourians that John Brunner is the only candidate for Governor who cannot be bought or owned by special interests.  John and Jan Brunner are proud to make this commitment to our supporters… John's investment today marks the beginning of the next phase in our campaign. We are excited and energized as our team continues this mission into the New Year, and as we have said from the beginning, our campaign will have the resources necessary to be successful in 2016.”

December Quarter $5K+ Contributions Totals for Statewide Candidates

The candidates’ previous quarter’s closing cash on-hand is in parenthesis.

Governor

John Brunner - $4,000,000 - ($256,562)

Eric Greitens - $1,306,000 - ($2,284,943)

Chris Koster - $773,000 - ($5,019,644)

Peter Kinder - $65,000 - ($275,973)

Catherine Hanaway - $20,000 - ($1,549,939)

Lieutenant Governor

Mike Parson - $70,000 - ($907,188)

Brad Bradshaw - $5,000 - ($463,777)

Tommie Pierson - $5,000 - ($23,941)

Bev Randles - $0 - ($906,786)

Treasurer

Eric Schmitt - $55,000 - ($1,957,679)

Judy Baker - $20,000 - ($24,295)

Pat Contreras - $5,000 - ($76,240)

Secretary of State

Jay Ashcroft - $70,000 - ($88,655)

Robin Smith -$10,000 - ($81,669)

Will Kraus - $0 - ($614,990)

Attorney General

Kurt Schaefer - $527,500 - ($1,485,926)

Josh Hawley - $80,000 - ($717,975)

Teresa Hensley - $25,000 - ($151,160)

Jake Zimmerman - $0 - ($1,064,217)

Dempsey Gives $60K to St. Charles Committee

Former senator Tom Dempsey gave $62,000 from his campaign committee to the Saint Charles County Regional Leadership Fund.  That committee’s treasurer is Brad Harmon. (Harmon was fined $41,000 by the Missouri Ethics Commission last year. See it here.)

The purpose of the St. Charles County Regional Leadership Fund is unclear.  However, last quarter they did contribute $2,500 to Rep. Anne Zerr’s Senate 23 campaign…

New Pre-Files

Sen. Paul Wieland pre-filed a bill to abolish the death penalty in Missouri.  See it here.  Democrats have filed similar bills, but having a Republican senator champion the issue could give it the bipartisan sheen and make it a less verboten topic in the redder Missouri districts.

Rep. Jay Barnes pre-filed a bill to make caller-ID “spoofing” a crime.  See it here.  I’m actually surprised this isn’t already a crime.

CitiesStrong – Better Together Debate Continues

The back and forth between the CitiesStrong and Better Together continued throughout the holiday weekend.

CitiesStrong has asserted that the Better Together study wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison.  Better Together retorts that it’s not possible to make a perfect comparison, but theirs is closer to an “apples-to-apples” than CitiesStrong’s.

The argument landed in the ‘letters to the editor’ section of the Post-Dispatch and then spilled onto Twitter with the Better Together tribe rallying.  BT tweeters including Laura Slay (who does Rex Sinquefield PR), Katie Casas (of Gate Way Group, which lobbies for Sinquefield), Kyle Juvers (junior researcher for Better Together) and the eponymous @BetterTogetherSTL. Sinquefield is the funder of Better Together.

So

The debate over studies appears to be morphing into a shouting match over “why you can’t trust the other guy.”   Better Together points out that CitiesStrong is “tax-payer funded” coalition of municipals defending the status-quo.  And CitiesStrong is calling Better Together a “Rex astroturf tended by a cadre of consultants.”

Happy New Year…

Hancock on Tobacco “Civil War”

KC Star’s Jason Hancock writes that “a civil war in the tobacco industry could play out in Missouri this year. A pair of rival ballot measures seek to raise the state’s lowest-in-the-nation 17-cents-a-pack tax on tobacco products.”  See it here.

Pull Quote: The key issue drawing the two forces into the debate is the fact that for more than a decade Missouri lawmakers have declined the state attorney general’s request to pass a law to nullify a pricing advantage that small tobacco manufacturers enjoy.

Big tobacco companies like R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris were included in a 1998 legal settlement that forced them to make annual payments to Missouri to cover the health damage their products caused smokers. Smaller tobacco companies were not included in that settlement.

The early childhood education ballot measure would address that difference. The transportation funding ballot measure would not.

Another major difference in the two proposals is a provision in the road funding measure voiding the tax increase if any future tobacco tax increase is placed on a state or local ballot. That means if a tax increase only appears on a local ballot, even if it never passes, the 23-cents-per-pack increase would disappear.

And

From Rumorville…. “Lee Albright will likely be hired to run Raise Your Hands for Kids’ signature collection campaign… Albright’s National Petition Management collected signatures for last cycle’s teacher tenure reform IP…”

Readers’ Poll Results: Jefferson City

Best Coffee

Coffee Zone 54.55%  (Second place: Café Via Roma  22.73%)

Best Lunch Place

Arris’ Bistro  52.70% (Second place: Madison’s  20.27%)

Best Kitchen

Grand Café  59.76%  (Second place: Alexandros  20.73%)

Best Place for a Drink and Bump into Other People

Pfenny’s  50.60%  (Second place: Gumbo Bottom’s  20.48%)

Best Place for a Drink and Not Bump into Other People

Ecco Lounge 45.71% (Second place: High Street Pub 21.43%)

Best Hotel

Doubletree 79.01% (Second place: Capitol Plaza  11.11%)

Best Day of the Week

Friday  44.94% (Second place: Thursday 32.58%)

Feds Approve Disaster Declaration

The press release: Gov. Jay Nixon tonight announced President Barack Obama has approved the Governor’s request for a federal emergency declaration to speed debris removal and relieve the strain of response and recovery costs in the St. Louis region. Gov. Nixon signed the request this morning after the St. Louis region was inundated by record flooding, including along the Meramec and Bourbeuse rivers, which damaged homes, businesses and public infrastructure...

At the state level, the Missouri National Guard will manage the program and coordinate with the federal and local governments…

Green Leaves Senate?

Highly respected Senate staffer Brad Green appears to be moving on… he’s no longer listed on the Senate website…

Tweet of the Day

‏@MariaChappelleN: The flooding in St. Louis is bad...and guess what's in it? Radioactive Waste. As the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi...

New TV Ad Buys

One Nation (see their website here) is buying television ads in Springfield. See the contract here.

And the American Chemistry Council is also buying TV.  See the contract here.  Maybe these are the pro-Roy Blunt ads?

Help Wanted

Missouri Department of Revenue seeks Legal Counsel. “The Missouri Department of Revenue General Counsel's Office has an opening for an attorney to conduct administrative alcohol hearings and represent the Department in circuit court bench trials. Trial experience is preferred. Starting salary is $43,474 plus full state benefits…” See the ad here.

Lobbyists Registrations

Dawn Nicklas added Planned Parenthood Advocates of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

Greg Johnston deleted Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation.

Chastity Young deleted Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Benjamin Jones deleted Equal Justice USA.

James Farrell added St. Louis - Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, Cortex, and Historic Alliance for Missouri; and deleted Carpenters Council of Greater St. Louis, and Alliance for Investment, Jobs and Preservation.

Stanley Shurmantine deleted Stanley Shurmantine.

Richard AuBuchon deleted Interact, and Luxottica Retail.

Richard McIntosh added Horizon LLC.

Don Soph, Mark Bruns, Andrew Foley, Gary Burton, James Foley, Neal English, and Chris Liese added Citigroup Washington Inc; and deleted Citigroup Management Corp.

Tami Holliday, Susan Henderson Moore, Rodney Gray, and Peter Levi deleted Kansas City Arts Community.

Richard Doherty and Fred Dreiling deleted Missouri Coroners & Med Exm Association.

Jay Hahn deleted American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Tom Carter deleted Occupational Health Services.

Glenn Smallwood Jr. deleted Union Electric Co., Dba Amerenue, Ameren Services, Ameren Corp.

$5K+ Contributions

Citizens to Elect Kurt Schaefer Attorney General - $7,500 from HealthPAC.

Missourians for John Brunner - $600,603 from John G Brunner.

Missourians for John Brunner - $3,000,000 from John G Brunner.

Citizens for Jeanie Lauer - $5,001 from CHIPP Political Acccount.

Missourians for John Brunner - $35,000 from John G Brunner.

New Approach Missouri - $6,000 from Missouri Norml.

Schmitt for Missouri - $5,001 from Paul Hayes.

Saint Charles County Regional Leadership Fund - $62,000 from Dempsey for Missouri.

Silvey for Missouri - $10,000 from Missouri Freedom.

Missouri Research: Cures, Jobs, Health & Lower Taxes from $6,000 from Brad Bradshaw.

Missouri Medical Marijuana - $54,000 from Brad Bradshaw.

Friends of Caleb Rowden - $10,000 from Committee to Elect Ron Richard.

Friends of Caleb Rowden - $10,000 from Lewis & Clark Ozarks Mountain Forum.

New Approach Missouri - $12,000 from Show-Me Cannabis Inc.

Missourians for Byron DeLear - $18,000 from Byron DeLear.

Citizens for Stephen Webber - $10,000 from Thomas Smith.

Schmitt for Missouri - $10,000 from Group MVT LLC.

New Approach Missouri - $10,000 from Michael Freelander Revocable Trust.

Greitens for Missouri - $50,000 from Bryan Magers.

Greitens for Missouri - $25,000 from Irvine Kessler.

Greitens for Missouri - $50,000 from Market Street Bancshares Inc.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Jeff Layman.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Howard Rosenbloom.

New Approach Missouri - $10,000 from Richard King Enterprsies.

New Approach Missouri - $20,000 from Thomas Smith.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Dealers Interested in Government.

Schmitt for Missouri - $15,000 from Zevan & Davidson Law Firm.

Friends of Curtis Trent - $20,000 from Curtis Trent.

Hawley for Missouri - $10,000 from Erin Hawley.

Missourians for Peter Kinder - $10,000 from Chester Bross.

Missourians for Peter Kinder - $10,000 from AMS Medical Lab.

Missourians for Peter Kinder - $10,000 from MidAmerica Hotels Corporation.

Greitens for Missouri - $10,000 from Blake Spahn.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Mary Beth OReilly.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Michael Burns.

Greitens for Missouri - $500,000 from Michael Goguen Trust.

Citizens to Elect Kimberly Gardner - $5,001 from Eddie Randle and Sons Inc.
Schmitt for Missouri - $15,000 from Langdon & Emison.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Sen. Rob Schaaf, Jeff Windett, and Adam McBride.