Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Republicans Win the Special Elections
No surprise upsets last night as Republicans retained House 50 and Senate 28 in special elections. Sara Walsh won House 50, taking over for Caleb Jones who joined the Greitens administration. And Rep. Sandy Crawford won Senate 28. She’ll join the Senate in the seat that Mike Parson vacated to become lieutenant governor.
One Jon Ratliff fan notes that he (and fellow Palm Strategies colleague Alex Zumsteg) ran the Walsh campaign. It’s the latest in a string of Mid-MO victories for Ratliff. He won “Caleb Rowden’s House primary in 2010 (against former Sen. Smith), Rowden’s House general in 2010 (against former Sen. Jacob), Chuck Basye’s general in 2012 (against John Wright), Rowden’s Senate general (against Stephen Webber), and now the Walsh special. No one has ever been better at Boone/mid-MO…”
Dems Get Participation Award?
Press release from MODems: Former Republican State Representative Caleb Jones never faced a Democratic opponent in 4 elections. That means Democrats have never run a candidate in HD50 since this district was drawn. In 2016, Donald Trump won this district 58-37 in 2016, meaning Michela Skelton outperformed the top of the ticket by about 10 points….
Then State Senator and now Lt. Governor Mike Parson never faced a Democratic opponent in SD28. He ran unopposed in 2014 and there was no Democrat on the ballot in 2010. Donald Trump carried this district 76-20 in 2016, meaning Al Skalicky outperformed the top of the ticket by nearly 12 points….
Hawley’s Exploratory Committee
See the paper work here for Attorney General Josh Hawley’s US Senate Exploratory Committee. His treasurer is Salvatore Purpura who apparently had a bit part in a Stephen Colbert prank some years ago. Read about that here.
Ridgely and Grave River PAC Amendments
Last month I wrote about a pair of PACs that were formed recently. (See it here).
To recap: Stan Herzog’s company contributed $100K and $50K to Ridgely PAC and Grace River PAC both formed on May 17 with the address of Graves Law Firm where Todd Graves, chair of the Missouri Republican Party, is a principal. And the treasurer of both committees was Kristen Blanchard Ansley, former executive director of the state Republican Party.
Now they have both been amended (See Ridgely PAC amendment here, and Grace River PAC amendment here), changing their address, treasurer, and name. Ridgely PAC is now American Democracy Alliance – Ridgely PAC. And Grace River PAC is now Missouri Alliance for Freedom – Grace River PAC.
American Democracy Alliance, meanwhile, in the large contributions (below) is contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to committees aimed at defeating the anti-right to work referendum.
The Case Against A Democratically Elected SLPS Board?
One MOScouter: No one on the current elected board has been elected to govern the district, so why have this conversation with them? The conversation should be between the appointed board and the State Board with input from stakeholders… There is nothing in statute the requires the district go back to an elected board. Why would the SBOE want to do that? We have decades of history to demonstrate an elected board doesn't work and 10 years of history to demonstrate an appointed one at least works better than the elected one.
Cracking the Code: PW = Penman Winton
The recently formed PWPAC appears to be a vehicle for political contributions from the lobbying firm Penman Winton, as they contributed $20K into it yesterday.
This follows a similar PAC established last week (SHSPAC) which appears to be related Andy Blunt’s Statehouse Strategies firm.
Bits
On Twitter former Rep. Keith English (@keithenglishmo) offered “Best of luck to @SaraForMissouri and @SandyCrawford2 today!”
When auto-correct attacks a by-line you get a commentary from Sen. Dan Hegemony. See it here.
Help Wanted
Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer’s Jefferson City office has internship openings for the Fall 2017 school semester. If you are interested, contact the office: 573-635-7232.
Lobbyists Registrations
Mark Rhoads added General Dynamics Information Technology on Behalf of Multistate Associates Inc.
Charles Hinderliter deleted St. Louis Regional Chamber.
Misty Snodgrass deleted Missouri Coalition of Community Mental Health Centers.
$5K+ Contributions
Missourians for Worker Freedom - $100,000 from A New Missouri.
Missourians for Worker Freedom - $150,000 from American Democracy Alliance.
Liberty Alliance - $350,000 from American Democracy Alliance.
PWPAC - $20,000 from Penman and Winton Consulting.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Missouri REALTORS PAC Inc.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Lyndall Fraker, former Rep. Brian Baker, Winston Apple and Christopher Till.