Monday, December 14, 2015
Labor Loves Koster
In the large contributions, the Western Missouri and Kansas Laborers’ District Council PAC puts in $100,000 to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Koster.
Two months ago the Eastern Laborers gave Koster $300K.
I scrolled through Koster’s $5K+ contributions. By my tally the various organized labor groups have given him $1,170,000 so far this year.
MOScout Poll: Koster Leads All GOPers
In the MOScout poll over the weekend, Democratic Chris Koster continues to lead all the Republican candidates for governor. See the results here.
A few things to note…
This is with the weighting used by pollster, Remington Research (owned by Jeff Roe), which sees the 2016 general election Missouri turnout mix with a Republican tilt: 43% GOP, 38% Dem; 19% Indy.
And it’s before that could be a negative mud-throwing primary on the Republican side.
Also note that I added in Independent Lester Turilli, whose billboards peppering I-70 several readers have mentioned. They don’t seem to be giving him much of a break through however as he’s in the mid-low single digits in this poll.
Kander’s Camp Says Blunt’s Hire Creates Conflict of Interest
From the press release: [I]t was announced that Andy Blunt, the son and campaign manager for Senator Roy Blunt, has taken on another lobbying position that creates several conflicts of interest… Andy was hired as the Executive Director for the Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association (MCTA).
This new position creates a blatant conflict of interest since Senator Blunt sits on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet. This subcommittee is directly responsible for the oversight of the telecommunications industry and issues that the MCTA fights for….
Tobacco-Spittin Roe on Cruz’ Micro-Targeting
Washington Post has an article about Ted Cruz’ campaign use of “psychological” data. See it here.
Pull Quote: Cruz has largely built his program out of his Houston headquarters, where a team of statisticians and behavioral psychologists who subscribe to the burgeoning practice of “psychographic targeting” built their own version of a Myers-Briggs personality test…. Micro-targeting of voters has been around for well over a decade, but the Cruz operation has deepened the intensity of the effort and the use of psychological data… Some of the data comes from typical sources, such as voters’ consumer habits and Facebook posts. Some is homegrown, such as a new smartphone app that keeps supporters in touch while giving the campaign the ability to scrape their phones for additional contacts.
Another emerging tactic that the campaign has employed is “geo-fencing,” a technique that allows people to send messages to digital devices in narrow areas, such as a city block or a single building… Cruz has also applied geo-fencing to wooing National Rifle Association members at a recent annual meeting and to similar gatherings elsewhere…
Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, spit chewing tobacco into a soft drink bottle as he explained the campaign’s heavy investment in data and analysis. It’s critical because of changes in the nature of the electorate, popular media, polling and campaign finance law, which make many of the old axioms of campaigning — gathering endorsements, purchasing high-cost broadcast ads — less valuable.
“There is no handbook for this,” the Missouri-based political consultant said of running a presidential campaign in 2016. “The conventional wisdom has been destroyed. What you can do is rely on data.”
Better Together Says StL Region’s Administration Cost Too High
In 2014, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and the 90 municipal governments in St. Louis County spent $281,078,709 on general administration. Per capita, a resident of the St. Louis region paid $213.16 solely for general administration costs in 2014.
By way of comparison, Louisville-Jefferson County, which has 83 municipalities and a fully integrated regional government as of 2003, spent $95,913,714 on general administration in 2014…. or 41% less per capita than in the St. Louis region.
If the St. Louis region were to reduce its per-capita general administration cost to that of Louisville-Jefferson County, it would result in a savings of $113,545,198 annually. Savings of more than $100 million, year in and year out, could be put toward other issues that matter to our region’s residents, such as providing additional training and resources to police officers and increasing neighborhood safety.
Bits
Legislators and lobbyists are well aware of the difference of a single word… See (here) how it relates to the climate agreement.
On Friday, Missouri State University gave Sen. Mike Parson the university’s first-ever Governmental Excellence Award in honor of his work in support of higher education. When the award was announced, Dr. Clifton M. Smart III, President of Missouri State, said, “Senator Parson has long supported Missouri State in his role as a state representative and senator. Most notably, he championed the bonding package that appropriated almost $19 million to renovate Ellis Hall, Hill Hall and Missouri Hall.”
Local minister is spreading a message of hope and love in St. Louis City. Post-Dispatch’s Valerie Hahn reports on it here. Pull Quote: The Rev. Kenneth McKoy felt like a hypocrite conducting funerals…. “I was doing all these funerals,” he said. “And I thought, ‘I’m not doing anything but these funerals.’ ” As he watched the homicide numbers in St. Louis rise, he decided to get his feet on the ground. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night since May, he and members of his outreach team have walked the streets of north St. Louis. They wear bright yellow vests and call themselves “NightLIFE.” From about 10 p.m. until after 1 a.m., they hand out bags of sandwiches, chips and cookies to those who need them. They talk with whoever wants to talk, pray with whoever wants to pray….
TV AD Buys
Hillary Clinton made buys in Kirksville. See it here. The Kirksville media markets hits some of Iowa.
Federal Filings
The Now or Never PAC’s December report showed no receipts and $525 cash on-hand.
Help Wanted
Membership Management Specialist Wanted. “Fast-paced group looking for trustworthy self-motivated detail-oriented individual to assist in the management of non-profit organizations. The successful candidate should possess excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal skills. This position requires walking stairs and routinely handling objects weighing up to 25 pounds and occasionally objects weighing more. Experience in any of the following areas a plus: event planning, and communication. Background in non-profit organizations is preferred, but not required. Individual required to work in Jefferson City office. If interested please contact staffopeningjc@gmail.com.”
Lobbyists Registrations
Josh Haynes added Missouri Care (aka Wellcare Healthplans Inc).
Megan Browning added The Research Foundation; and deleted Brent Hemphill & Associates and their clients.
Janet Lindstrom added Aegerion Pharmaceuticals.
Brendan Cossette added Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and deleted Missouri Primary Care Association.
Lowell Pearson and James Atkins deleted Uber Technologies Inc.
James Harris deleted Delta South Properties LLC, and Belmont Development Company LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
Friends of Todd Richardson - $7,500 from Express Scripts Inc.
Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Robert O Block.
Scott Sifton for Missouri - $15,000 from Safer Families for Missouri.
Progress KC PAC - $50,000 from ST Systems Inc.
Progress KC PAC - $7,213 from The Brass on Baltimore.
Friends of Kevin Elmer - $50,000 from Deloris Petty.
Koster for Missouri - $100,000 from Western Missouri and Kansas Laborers’ District Council PAC.
Notes on Money
Kevin Elmer is running for Circuit Judge (Circuit 38 Division 2) in Christian County.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Cheryl Dillard.