Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Parkinson Exits Senate 23

Rep. Mark Parkinson announced yesterday that he would drop his bid for Senate 23.  This is Tom Dempsey’s old seat.  Rep. Anne Zerr is running for it, as well as newcomer Bill Eigel.  Zerr has angered some conservatives with her spirited opposition to right to work – a position also held by Dempsey.

Conservatives have been privately pressuring Parkinson for quite a while to quit the race, fearing that he and Eigel would split the right-side of the primary voters and assure a Zerr victory.

Parkinson has struggled to raise money and yesterday capitulated.

His press release contained both an endorsement of Eigel and presaged the attacks that Zerr will face in the primary.

Meanwhile

The rift among Missouri Republicans on the labor issues also played out on twitter yesterday.  MOFreedom dinged Rep. Elaine Gannon on the campaign contributions she has received.  Rep. Kathy Conway fired back noting that MOFreedom doesn’t disclose their donors.

‏@MissouriFreedom: Since #RTW vote on Feb 12, @votegannon has received $10,801 from #Unions - 60% of donations. #EmployeeChoice #moleg

‏@KathieConway: @MissouriFreedom @votegannon Who funds you?

A Whole Deck of Fear Cards

Press releases started flying yesterday that Missouri must not take any Syrian refugees.  People are afraid of them.  See the Post-Dispatch article about it here.

Here are some statements I received:

Brunner: I call on Governor Nixon to reject President Obama’s Plan to relocate Syrian refugees to Missouri. The first and most important order of our state is to protect our citizens and their property…

Greitens: If you want to help Syrian refugees, defeat ISIS. The refugee crisis is a consequence of the Obama administration's failed strategy in Iraq and Syria…

Hanaway: I am calling upon Governor Nixon to suspend the resettlement of additional Syrian refugees until further security measures are put in place to understand who and where these refugees are coming from

Koster: I believe it is prudent to pause the admittance of refugees from Syria to allow the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and our other national security agencies to re-evaluate the screening processes to ensure we are preventing terrorists from entering our country.

I rarely editorialize but here’s my statement.… Send us the refugees.  Send them all.  Let them come build a better life in America.  And if there is some small risk to me and my family, I accept it.  It the price of being an American citizen.  And I will gladly pay it.

Ed Martin: Consider Running for Office

It is getting worse not better.  We are losing our security, our future, our nation.  And the men and women in the current Congress continue to surrender.  They are refusing to do their duty under Article I of the Constitution (it's their job description!)…

The Speaker of the House is already surrendering on immigration (he is for amnesty for illegals and for more legal immigration like the Syrians arriving in America!).  The Surrender Congress of 2015 has given in to Obama on amnesty, on funding Planned Parenthood, on Iran and the bomb, and on and on….  There is only one way to change this.  Every member of The Surrender Congress of 2015 is "guilty until proven innocent."  They all should face opponents in 2016 in both the primary and general elections.

We cannot wait for a new President.  We have to start now.  Please visit www.WhiteFlagCongress.com.  Consider running for office….

All the best.

Ed

Hawley Does DC

Tomorrow night GOP AG candidate Josh Hawley will be holding a fundy in Washington DC.  From the invite: Please Join Hosts Chuck and Debbie Cooper, Attorney General Mark Brnovich,

Attorney General Adam Laxalt, Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Honorable Ken Blackwell, Honorable David McIntosh, Honorable C. Boyden Gray…  Donation Request:  $5,000 Host  *  $2,500 Co-Host  *  $1000 To Attend…

St. Louis County Fire Districts Study

Better Together released their study of St. Louis County fire districts.   See the Post-Dispatch article here.  See the study here.

Pull Quote: The county is broken into 19 municipal departments and 23 fire protection districts. The study is the result of a year-long dialogue among the organization Better Together and fire chiefs and firefighters. It says other benefits of a single regional district include: A unified command and control structure with standardized equipment; Large-scale equipment purchases at a discounted rate; A better structure to form specialized units for unique disasters; Elimination of equipment redundancies; Uniform training and pay parity.

And

Here’s a list of some lobbyists who might have an interest in this subject…

Neal English and Kyna Iman (Creve Coeur Fire Protection District).

Jim Foley, Gary Burton, Mark Bruns, Andrew Foley, Chris Liese, and Don Soph  (Florissant Valley Fire Protection District, Metro-North Fire Protection District, Robertson Fire Protection District).

Lynne Schlosser (IAFF #73).

Steven Carroll (Mehlville Fire Protection District).

David Klarich (Metro West Fire Protection District).

Jeff Brooks, Cynthia Gamble, Lana Ladd Baker, Bill Gamble, Sarah Topp, and Jorgen Schlemeier (Missouri Fire Service Alliance).

Mark Habbas (Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters).

Bits

Next Monday, Yogi Berra will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom.

According to the Senate website Heidi Geisbuhler is now on staff for Sen. Bob Dixon.

Politico reports that the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are getting along better.  See the article here.  Pull Quote: The uptick in contributions from individual lawmakers sometimes involves small dollar amounts, but it matters symbolically because of the past friction, people on both sides of the issue say. During the 2012 election cycle, Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) sent just $15,000 to the DCCC; this year, he has given the committee $18,500.

Help Wanted

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership is soliciting proposals for liaisons between the Partnership and both the federal-level governmental agencies, officials and elected representatives, and state-level governmental agencies, officials and elected representatives.

See the RFPs here.

Southeast Missourian seeks a business reporter.   “The ideal candidate is a creative storyteller who is fair-minded and enjoys networking with those in the business community. Candidates should be able to demonstrate the ability to write breaking news, feature stories and analysis pieces with precision accuracy...”  See the ad here.

Federal Filings

McCaskill Senate Fund’s October quarterly filing showed receipts of $1,195 and $14,401 cash on-hand.

Now or Never PAC (James C Thomas III treasurer) November filing showed $0 receipts, and $1,375 cash on-hand.

Monsanto Company Citizenship Fund’s November filing showed $55,684 receipts, and $244,064 cash on-hand.

$5K+ Contributions

Missourians for Peter Kinder - $5,001 from Paul Thompson.

Eastern MO Laborers Education & Benevolent Fund - $60,452 from Construction & General Laborers' Local No. 660.