Friday, June 17, 2016
Wieland for Caucus Chair
Sen. Paul Wieland announced that he will seek a leadership position in the Senate Republican Caucus. He’s going to run for Caucus Chair, a position currently held by termed Sen. Eric Schmitt.
Wieland made waves at the end of last session by switching his vote on the polarizing “Paycheck protection” override vote.
The vote failed to muster the two-thirds necessary, but Wieland’s change in position is significant for future votes. And it probably makes him a target by pro-labor interests when he runs for re-election in 2018.
One rule of thumb in politics is that as individuals move up – either through higher offices or leadership positions – they tend to move closer to their base and farther from the middle.
Parson Sikeston Fundy
Wednesday night Republican LG candidate Mike Parson held a fundraiser in Sikeston. That’s the hometown of his primary rival, Bev Randles. One supporter marveled at the strong turnout – 100+ – for the event and felt it showed that Parson is likely to show strength among the rural Missouri electorate – even in Randles’ hometown.
Ameren Outage
Post Dispatch reports on the electrical outage that struck downtown St. Louis yesterday. “[T]he fix is temporary, and permanent repairs to underground cables damaged in a fire that started overnight late Wednesday could continue into the weekend.” See it here.
The episode brought renewed calls for the legislature to prioritize utility legislation… “Without serious investment in modernizing Missouri's aging electric infrastructure, these types of events could well become more frequent. Let's hope the MO Legislature finally addresses this serious problem, and passes electric grid modernization legislation.”
W Trying to Save GOP Sens
The New York Times reports that former President George W. Bush is actively engaged in this cycle. See it here.
Pull Quote: After eight years of largely abstaining from politics, former President George W. Bush is throwing himself into an effort to save his party’s most vulnerable senators, including several whose re-election campaigns have been made more difficult by Donald J. Trump’s presence at the top of the ticket….Next week, he will appear in St. Louis at a fund-raiser for Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri… “I’m pleased he is coming,” Mr. Blunt said in a brief interview this week on Capitol Hill. He added: “He hasn’t given a political speech since he left, so I am interested to hear what he has to say. In Missouri he is still very popular, as he is more and more all over the country.”
AG GOP TV Ad Buys
The next few weeks of the air war in the Missouri Republican attorney general’s race tilts slightly in Josh Hawley’s favor, but it’s competitive.
According to one source keeping a close eye on it, Hawley is poised to spend $581K on TV ads through July 4. That’s $202K for the week ending this Sunday, $192K for the next week, and $186K in the week through July 4.
Meanwhile Sen. Kurt Schaefer’s buys amount to $331K, with $138K being spent this week, $149K the next, and the July 4 week as yet undetermined.
And
The video that will haunt Schaefer this primary??? See it here.
McCaskill on PDMP
The press release: After the Missouri State Senate failed to create a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) for the sixth time last month, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today fought to make St. Louis County eligible to apply for federal resources to combat Missouri's opioid epidemic… Missouri's status as the only state without a PDMP may make it ineligible to receive some of these federal resources. A motion shaped by McCaskill calls on Congressional leaders to enable St. Louis County's network of county-level PDMP's to be eligible to apply for resources.
The motion instructs those committee members to allow local governments in states without a state-wide prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) to apply for funding that is traditionally limited to states. If adopted by the committee, this language would make local governments in Missouri, like St. Louis County, that are working on a county-level PDMPs, eligible to apply for federal resources…
Bits
Yikes! A devastating critique of Kansas Sam Brownback focusing on tax policy from a company vowing to move to Missouri. See it here.
Missouri Club for Growth which has received $1.75 million from Rex Sinquefield this year, released their primary endorsements. See them here.
Brandon Davis, former Claire McCaskill campaign staffer, was named “general election chief of staff for the Democratic Party. His selection formalizes the coordination of the Clinton campaign and the committee…” See it here.
The Sixteenth Circuit Judicial Commission selected their panel… Lisa Noel Gentleman (3 votes); Scott Randall Manuel (5 votes); Mark A. Styles Jr. (5 votes)… The commission has submitted the panel to Governor Jay Nixon, who will have sixty days to appoint one of the nominees as circuit judge for Division 19.
Missouri Ethics Commission fined Len Pagano $2,000 for failure to accurately report contributions. See it here.
Senate Pro Tem Ron Richard announced four appointments to the University of Missouri System Review Commission: Neal Bredehoeft, Renee Hulshof, Dave Spence, Michael Williams. Four more members will be appointed by Speaker Todd Richardson. Once the review of the UM System is complete, the commission will also prepare a report for the General Assembly, due by Dec. 31, 2016, with recommended changes.
eMailbag: Taylor No Greitens Omen
VA Beach is dominated by military personal, Navy Seals, Navy base and navy aircraft, totally different race…
eMailbag on Koster Taking All the Dem $$$?
Wonder how the down ballot Democrats feel about Chris Koster's haul, just yesterday? $175,000! Which equals a good quarter for most. Starting to look a bit too hooverish when he has over 7 million in the bank and no primary… Cue the Vacuum noise.
Today’s Events
Powered by Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
House 119 candidate Nate Tate dinner - Sullivan Eagles Hall, Sullivan, MO – 6PM.
$5K+ Contributions
Koster for Missouri - $25,000 from Teamsters Local 955 PAC Fund.
Koster for Missouri - $25,000 from Teamsters Local 838 Political Action Fund.
Citizens for Brice Stewart - $6,000 from Brice Stewart.
Glazer’s Missouri PAC - $70,000 from Glazer’s Wholesale Drug Co. Inc.
MO Republican Party - $15,000 from Anheuser Busch Companies.
Greitens for Missouri - $25,000 from Ed Cuccio.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Lincoln Hough, former Rep. Barbara Fraser, and REALTOR’s Sam Licklider.
Saturday: Logan Thompson, and House 68 candidate Jay Mosley.
Sunday: former Sen. Brian Nieves, Jason Cohen, Keith Kirk, Misty Snodgrass, and Angela Bingaman.