Thursday, July 7, 2016
Schaefer Swings Again
Sen. Kurt Schaefer released another TV ad aimed at his primary opponent Josh Hawley, connecting law work done with a terrorist organization. See it on Schaefer’s Facebook page here.
What It Means
While you might think that no reasonable person would really think that a Republican candidate for attorney general was really a terrorist ally or sympathizer, the conventional wisdom is that these hits are deadly. First, they are placing Hawley on a defensive footing, forcing him to rebut the charges (often in timid tones – name was on document by mistake or only did a little work on the case). But more importantly, when folks go into the booth to get down to attorney general unless they’re super-informed on the race, they probably going to choose the “not terrorist” candidate.
I think Schaefer wins the primary.
Meanwhile
Adam Andrzejewski, the CEO of OpenTheBooks.com, writes on Forbes.com about conflicts of interest in the Missouri-style of government, using Sen. Kurt Schaefer as an example. See it here.
Pull Quote: Two hundred-seventy one individuals or their affiliated companies gave $720,000 in political cash to Schaefer’s campaign committee. Those companies received $3.1 billion in state payments since 2008. That means campaign gifts from interested parties amounted to $1 of every $3 of Schaefer’s $2.08 million in campaign cash on-hand as of April 30, 2016. All of these transactions are legal, but the pattern is troubling. Missouri may want to learn an ethics lesson from Illinois before it’s too late.
Parson Unveils 90 Endorsements
Sen. Mike Parson announced the endorsements of ninety county officials from across rural Missouri. See the announcement here.
Parson has the best sign coverage across the rural areas of Missouri of any statewide candidate, and maybe this is why. He’s corralled a lot of the officials to support him.
Rex Sinquefield has sent oodles of money to support his primary opponent, Bev Randles. And Parson is seemingly committed to running a positive race. Still, I think Parson wins this primary.
SEALs Against Greitens
MOScout reader: There are two Navy SEALS in Missouri today that will be doing media statewide exposing what they consider fraudulent and inappropriate campaigning by Eric Greitens. They have had enough of Greitens using the SEAL community for his own personal benefit and enrichment, especially when they believe much of this usage is loosely based on fact. Neither of these two SEALS work for any MOGov campaign and they have endorsed no one. One is from Ohio and the other is from New Hampshire… They are both here on their own time and at their own expense… They will be doing Springfield radio and TV, McGraw Milhaven, Allman, Dana Loesch and talking to print journalists….
MO in Play?
The Hill reports that Missouri is one of the 17 states Trump is targeting for early funds. See it here. Does this mean that Missouri is in play?
Pull Quote: Four of the states — Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Missouri — traditionally lean Republican, the Journal pointed out, but Trump will look to shore up his numbers there. Most of the others are more traditional battlegrounds.
Broadcasters Join Realtors Coalition
The statewide coalition behind The Taxpayer Protection Amendment continues to grow.
The November amendment would prohibit any new sales tax on services. And services-intensive trade associations are starting to join the amendment’s initial proponent, the 20,000-member Missouri Realtors.
One new campaign donor isn’t a familiar name: Missouri Time Sales Service, Inc. But its parent entity is more recognizable: the Missouri Broadcasters Association.
Advertising is a service, and TV and radio broadcasters want to keep that service free of sales tax. MBA counts among its members every network TV affiliate in Missouri and scores of radio stations statewide. MBA has not been a major player in campaign donations, so the $5,001 it contributed has heavy symbolism: it’s the largest such donation ever by the association. This follows $100,000 in combined donations last week by the Missouri Bankers Associationand its regional PACs.
Also the Missouri branch of the National Federation of Independent Business has signed on to the coalition. They have 8,500 member businesses across the state.
Nixon Withholds
Governor Jay Nixon announced $115 million in budget withholds. See it here. My thanks to the peerless John Combest for the link.
Cort Against Lobbyists
Running in the House 133 four-way Republican primary to replace termed Rep. Eric Burlison, David Cort took to Facebook to vent against Springfield’s use of lobbyists…
It amazes me that the City of Springfield sees fit to spend $100,000 of your hard earned tax dollars to hire lobbyists in Jefferson City. It's remarkable (yet not surprising) that the Springfield Pubic Schools pay a lobbyist from your pocket to lobby for them in Jefferson City… Your elected Representative is YOUR paid lobbyist. He/she is paid to represent YOUR interests in Jefferson City. YOU have a direct line to your paid lobbyist. And your lobbyist has a vote. I will introduce a bill that prohibits any political subdivision of the State of Missouri from paying a lobbyist to lobby the lobbyist we already pay….
I am picking Trent Curtis to win this primary.
See Cort’s campaign website here.
See Curtis’ campaign website here.
KMOX on Messer Disappearance
We’re at the two year anniversary of Kerry Messer’s wife’s disappearance. KMOX has a story out reporting on a note that Lynn left. See it here.
MEC Fines Bynes
The Missouri Ethics Commission fined Patricia Bynes $9,679 for inaccurate reports and unauthorized use of contributions. See it here.
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
House 90 candidate Mark Milton Reception –2027 Briargate Lane – Kirkwood – 5:30PM.
Rep. Warren Love Golf – Shadow Lake Golf Course – Wheatland – 9:30AM
Lobbyists Registrations
Deanna Hemphill added Great Saint Louis; and deleted American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists - Missouri Sector, Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists, Missouri Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, Missouri Dermatological Society Association, and Heyltex
Katherine Casas deleted E-cell, Inc., Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists, Primary Marking Systems, Missouri Society of Interventional Pain, American Congress Of Obstetricians and Gynecologists--Missouri Section, and Missouri Ambulatory Surgery Center Association.
Sarah Rossi deleted ACLU of Missouri.
$5K+ Contributions
MO Republican Party - $10,000 from Herzog Contracting Corp.
Citizens for Will Kraus - $25,000 from Axiom Strategies LLC.
MEDA PAC (MO Energy Dev. Association Political Action Committee) - $100,000 from AmerenMO.
Grow Missouri - $208,306 from Great St. Louis.
Koster for Missouri - $10,000 from Jon Stryker.
Koster for Missouri - $10,000 from Comprehensive Health Systems Inc.
Koster for Missouri - $10,000 from Tim Gill.
Parson for Missouri - $6,500 from Missouri Hospital Association PAC.
Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Bryan Bradford.
Grow Missouri - $197,872 from Great St. Louis.
West Central Missouri Regional Lodge #50 Fraternal Order of Police PAC - $10,000 from West Central Lodge 50.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to former Reps. Gayle Kingery and Fred Kratky, Ryan Hobart, and Eddie Roth.