Monday, April 4, 2014

Large Contributions Tallies April Quarter

Here’s the amount statewide candidates pulled in from campaign contributions over $5K during the last three months.  Their last quarter’s cash on-hand is in parenthesis.

Governor

Chris Koster – $1,342,180 ($5,786,701)

Eric Greitens - $842,533 ($3,434,231)

Catherine Hanaway - $375,249 ($1,534,554)

Peter Kinder - $125,000 ($445,268)

John Brunner - $95,005 ($3,600,196)

Lieutenant Governor

Mike Parson - $20,250 ($1,025,884)

Bev Randles – $50,000 ($645,878)

Tommie Pierson – $0 ($9,176)

Russ Carnahan – $20,000 (N/A)

Secretary of State

Will Kraus – $10,000 ($667,885)

Jay Ashcroft – $290,000 ($174,049)

Robin Smith – $20,000 ($68,070)

Attorney General

Jake Zimmerman – $5,000 ($1,184,875)

Teresa Hensley – $10,000 ($228,198)

Kurt Schaefer – $50,000 ($2,071,695)

Josh Hawley – $351,300 ($802,542)

Treasurer

Dan Brown – $250,000 ($136,160)

Eric Schmitt – $550,000 ($2,103,756)

Pat Contreras – $0 ($84,681)

Judy Baker – $15,250 ($85,989)

Few notes: The majority of Hanaway’s contributions this quarter were from an in-kind radio buy from Missouri Club for Growth, so it won’t show up on her bottom-line in the quarterly numbers.  Koster has already booked $410K in this new quarter.

Schaefer’s Resolutions

Tomorrow in the Senate Rules Committee Sen. Kurt Schaefer’s resolutions – regarding subpoenas for Planned Parenthood and Pathology Services (see them here and here) – are scheduled to be heard.  The resolutions say that Planned Parenthood and Pathology Services “failed to comply with a properly executed subpoena duces tecum issued by the Missouri Senate and has not indicated that it intends to ever comply with the subpoena duces tecum…”

Lobbyist Daryl Duwe in a note to clients explains: Missouri law allows any member of the Senate (or the House) to issue subpoenas if signed by the President Pro-Tem (or Speaker). The resolutions filed this week, if approved by a vote of the full Senate, summon the appearance of both Kogut and Dr. Miller to the Senate at 10am on Monday, April 18 to show cause why they should not be punished for contempt.  And what would that punishment be?  Article III, Section 18 of the Missouri Constitution says the House or Senate “may arrest and punish by fine not exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisonment in a county jail, or both.”  The resolutions (SR 1793 and SR 1794) have been referred to the Senate Rules Committee.  The floor debate, whenever it occurs, is expected to be contentious….

STL in NYT

Sunday New York Times reports on the violence in St. Louis, saying its related to the heroin trade.  See it here.

Pull Quote: “St. Louis is a dangerous place right now,” Johnny Barnes, Ms. Walker’s longtime boyfriend, said during a recent interview. “It’s all around us.”

The death of Ms. Walker was linked by the authorities to a violent St. Louis street gang with ties to a Mexican drug cartel that in the past has supplied marijuana and cocaine throughout the Midwest. In recent years, however, Mexican traffickers have inundated the St. Louis area with a new, potent form of heroin, drastically reducing prices for the drug and increasing its strength to attract suburban users.

The dispersal of the cheap heroin has led to a surge in overdoses, addiction and violence in cities across the country.

Besides St. Louis — where the problem is particularly acute — Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Philadelphia have attributed recent spikes in homicides in part to an increase in the trafficking of low-cost heroin by Mexican cartels working with local gangs.

“The gangs have to have a lot of customers because the heroin is so cheap,” said Gary Tuggle, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s chief in Philadelphia, who observed the same phenomenon while overseeing the agency’s Baltimore office. ”What we are seeing is these crews becoming more violent as they look to expand their turf.”

Greitens in NYT

Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens made the front page of the Sunday Times as the poster child for a growing rift within the Navy SEAL community – whether it’s okay to tout your experience in the elite military organization in order to parlay it into other opportunities, or if the “code” is “quiet professionalism:” do your job and keep your mouth shut – or maybe just don’t tell everyone you know about it.  See it here.

Pull Quote: Eric Greitens’s bid for governor of Missouri hinges on his experience as a Navy SEALs member, which he has chronicled in three books and promotes on his campaign web site, where he is pictured wearing his combat uniform, holding a rifle. “In the SEALs we learned, ‘there is no prize for second place in a gunfight,’ ” he said recently on Twitter. Now Mr. Greitens, seeking the Republican nomination, finds himself in a battle with some former comrades, who charged in a slickly produced YouTube video that he exaggerated his record and was unduly benefiting from his time in the SEALs. The dispute lays bare a widening rift among Navy SEALs, provoked by what leaders and many in the ranks describe as rampant commercial and personal exploitation of a brotherhood that once prized discretion.

And

See the paper “Navy SEALs gone wild” here.

Pull Quote: Within this subculture there has been a shift away from the traditional SEAL Ethos of quiet professionalism toward a Market Ethos of commercialization and self-promotion.  Put another way, it appears that many former SEALs have adopted a position that is counter to Naval Special Warfare’s (NSW) traditional norms, namely, an adherence to a code of ethics that discourages profiting from or making a spectacle of one’s membership in the SEAL Teams.

Quorum-less MEC is a Toothless MEC

The latest Missouri Ethics Commission decisions are dismissed (see one here) because the commission lacks a quorum.  Yikes! Tony Messenger writes on the problem here.

Pull Quote: That is to say that the body that is supposed to monitor candidates’ spending and actions to make sure they don’t run afoul of the law is unable to do its job. It’s been that way since March 15 when the terms of three members of the Missouri Ethics Commission ended. The ethics commission is unique among boards and commissions in the state in that commissioners can’t serve beyond their term. There are six commissioners on the Missouri Ethics Commission and by law, four of them are needed to hold meetings and take action….

Observer: I am not sure who to blame more Governor Jay Nixon or MEC which should have been riding his ass to get this done….

Corlew Opponent Hints at Position

Sean Pouche has filed as a Republican in a primary against Representative Kevin Corlew in District 14. It looks like Pouche will attack Corlew for being pro-labor and pro-tort reform. From Pouche's press release announcing his candidacy: "Corlew has recently come under fire for his unpopular opposition to Right-to-Work and much negative publicity surrounding unethical contributions from outside special interest groups.  Corlew, an attorney, also favors 'lawyer' and 'tort' legislation that has even drawn ire within the profession across the state. 'All of this is embarrassing and unacceptable for the district,' said Pouche."

Observer: Having been recruited by David Humphreys and MO Alliance for Freedom, you'd expect Pouche to support RTW. One has to wonder, however, whether they knew that Pouche opposes tort reform…

New Utility Framework Passes Commerce Committee

Here’s a press release from supporters of the new utility regulatory framework praising the Senate Commerce Committee for approving the bill.

Press release: On Thursday, the Missouri Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee voted 7-2 to pass Senate Bill 1028, the 21st Century Grid Modernization and Security Act.  The legislation includes provisions that will encourage investments in energy infrastructure, cybersecurity and expands a commitment to clean energy sources in Missouri.  Senate Bill 1028 also represents an unprecedented effort to cap consumer electric rates… Special thanks to Chairman Ryan Silvey for shepherding this bill through thoughtfully considering the needs of various impacted constituencies. Also supporting the bill were Senators Holsman, Emery, Cunningham, Riddle, Wallingford and Keaveny.  Their input and consideration was key to its passage.

eMailbag on SJR 39

Also note that in the Senate hearing on SJR39 there were no big businesses and even more telling, no business chambers testifying in opposition of the bill…

Today’s Events

Powered by Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:

Rep. Gary Cross Reception – NCAA Championship – Bones

Lobbyists Registrations

Matthew Keppler added March of Dimes.

Elizabeth deLaperouse added HDC Development Company LLC.

Eapen Thampy deleted Kansas City Concentrates.

$5K+ Contributions

Missourians for Peter Kinder - $25,000 from Friends of Wayne Wallingford.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Robert Beyer.

Greitens for Missouri - $10,000 from Linda McMahon.

Greitens for Missouri - $10,000 from ELX83 LLC.

Greitens for Missouri - $10,000 from Dick Arnoldy.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Pamela Tynes.

Greitens for Missouri - $25,000 from Bernard Marcus.

Greitens for Missouri - $50,000 from Ronald Weiser.

Citizens to Elect Kurt Schaefer Attorney General - $10,000 from Citizens to Elect Mike Kehoe.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Snyder Construction Group.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Larson Farm & Lawn.

Greitens for Missouri - $100,000 from James Parsons.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Janet and Timothy Chestnut.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Talya Nevo-Hacohen.

Greitens for Missouri - $25,000 from William Draper.

Greitens for Missouri - $48,000 from McKinley Financial.

Greitens for Missouri - $10,000 from White Impala LLC.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from John Ghirardelli.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Michael Grealish

Friends of Caleb Rowden - $5,001 from Friends for Munzlinger.

Raise Your Hand for Kids - $43,640 from RAI Services Company.

Raise Your Hand for Kids - $117,270 from RAI Services Company.

Missourians for John Brunner - $25,000 from Digital Monitoring Products.

Baker for Missouri - $5,250 from Committee to Elect Gail McCann.

Baker for Missouri - $10,000 from GMES LLC.

Koster for Missouri - $400,000 from Eastern Missouri Laborers’ Educational Benevolent Fund.

Koster for Missouri - $200,000 from Working for Working Americans.

Koster for Missouri - $10,000 from Robert Millstone.

Koster for Missouri - $200,000 from heavy Constructors Association.

Friends of Caleb Rowden - $100,000 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.

Missourians for Peter Kinder - $10,000 from Cape Aerospace Jets LLC.

New Approach Missouri - $10,000 from Karl Domann.

Citizens to Elect Jamilah Nasheed - $6,000 from Reduce & Reform STL.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. David Wood,  Matt Villa, and Theresa Garza.