2nd Update - Day After Election
Source: Kinder to Seek LG in 2016
A source passed along this note from Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder preparing for a 2016 re-election bid…
Dear
I trust that this message finds you doing well and working hard to elect Republicans in the fast-approaching election. The groundswell of disdain for liberal Democrats like President Obama is so large that it gives our party a real opportunity to make record gains in our Statehouse and in our courthouses across Missouri.
I want to let you know how much your hard work on behalf of our Republican Party is appreciated!
I also want to let you know that I will be expressing my intention to seek re-election as your Lieutenant Governor very soon. In support of-and out of respect for-our Republican candidates on the ballot this November, I will decline to make any public or press statements until the 2014 elections are completed.
However, I wanted to ask that you inform me at your earliest convenience of your 2015 county Lincoln Day date and the date of any other significant political events in your area once they are scheduled. I anticipate a very aggressive campaign travel schedule and plan on attending as many Republican events in the coming year as my calendar will allow.
I appreciate your feedback and, again, I certainly appreciate all you are doing to elect an unprecedented number of Missouri Republicans next Tuesday.
All the best,
Peter D. Kinder
What it Means
Looks like bad news for Sen. Will Kraus to me. Here’s my thinking: Speaker Tim Jones is still deciding where to run in 2016. Rex Sinquefield’s $250K to Sens. Kurt Schaefer and Eric Schmitt presumably will steer Jones away from Attorney General and Treasurer respectively. That leaves LG, Secretary of State – or governor. But the truth is that Jones is unlikely – even with his $1 million war-chest – to wade into an already brewing gubernatorial primary. That leaves LG and SOS. Do you want to run against Kinder? Kinder who just doesn’t lose? Kinder who beat back Sam Page when all other Dems won in 2008? Kinder who beat back Brad Lager after months of negative headlines and Lager’s big donors coming in with big checks? Kinder who beat back Susan Montee after escaping Lager? The answer is no, no, no, no, no. No, you don’t want to run against Kinder, so he runs for secretary of state and the $100K from that Kraus got from Sinquefield pales next to Jones’ stash.
But I could be wrong…
WINNERS FROM LAST NIGHT
Scott Dieckhaus – 117. No need to say anything more.
Jane Dueker – The Dueks grabs Steve Stenger’s hand and leads him through an improbably journey, ousting an incumbent, weathering a racial storm, and stopping the Republican gambit by just a pinch. That’s chief of staff material Stevie.
Mike Pridmore – Campaign manager of winning Jill Schupp race, Democrats’ only bright spot. The Democratic stable of consultants has been filled with far too much big-thinking strategists and not enough nuts-and-bolts, make-the-trains-run-on-time competence. Pridmore is the new model Dems need to clone: head down, no drama worksmanship.
Eric Schmitt – The only Dem who’s talked about state treasurer so far, John Wright, loses in an upset. And as much as Schmitt was rooting for Rick Stream, one has to believe that having passed on the chance to run for the position himself, if he’d seen a Republican actually win that unwinnable race, he’d be spending today in the fetal position sucking is thumb, and trying to make sense of a senseless world.
Brad Green – The mastermind behind the Senate Republicans picking up one seat. Not as glamorous as the House +7, but not less remarkable. It’s worth noting that just a few years back Senate Republicans were still hammering away in rural districts and praying that Schaaf, Brown, and Munzlinger would win. Now they have won Ryan McKenna’s old seat and brought it very close in the tough district od Senate 24.
LOSERS
Jay Nixon – A long two years ahead. His lame-duckity starts now. Oh yeah and that tweet yesterday will be immortalized on the Internets long after people have forgotten about comeback of the auto industry in Missouri.
Chris Koster – If he makes it to the governor’s mansion he’ll inherit super-minority positions in legislature from Jay Nixon
Roy Temple – I’m not sure actually. Certainly someone must be to blame for the disaster for Dems last night. Poor targeting, poor polling, poor GOTV. It’s hard to know what went wrong, and it’s hard to blame Claire McCaskill who put in $750K of her own money. So is Temple the fall guy?
Who am I missing, folks?....