Friday, July 25, 2014
Friday bits… in no particular order…
2016 Watch
Cory McMahon, former intern to Rep. Sue Allen, is eyeing a 2016 run for the legislature in House 45 (Rep. Chris Kelly is retiring, and Democrat Kip Kendrick is unopposed to replace him this cycle). In the meantime, McMahon is running to be the committeeman for the sixth ward on the Boone County Republican Central Committee.
And the old St. Louis shuffle might be happening soon. With Alderwoman Jennifer Florida’s appointment to Recorder of Deeds, there’s a vacancy on the board of aldermen. One possible replacement is the committeewoman of that ward, Missy Pinkerton. Pinkerton had previously been considering a 2016 state rep run to replace termed Rep. Mike Colona. We’ll see….
Money News
In the large contributions below, there are two interesting items.
First, the late money to fight Amendment 1 (“right to farm”) from the Humane Society. $375K of their dollars are flowing into the campaign committee established by former Sen. Wes Shoemyer. The deputy treasurer of that committee is Amanda Good; she’s the state director for the Humane Society. Before that, she was with MATA; and before that she helped the Democratic Senate campaign committee. It’s been assumed that the ballot language was too good to fail – who can be against the right to farm? But dollars can create doubts, so, we’ll see…
And the other item is former state senator Jane Cunningham sending some real money to St. Louis County Executive candidate Rick Stream. Stream’s July quarter showed him with only $40K on-hand, so Cunningham’s $75K is a nice injection.
Rumorville: Lager to Herzog
It’s just a rumor, but it’s coming from two separate sources, so I figured it’s good enough to pass along… Sen. Brad Lager is headed to work for Herzog Contracting… Through the campaign dollars, it’s appeared that Stan Herzog and Lager have known each other quite some time.
In 2008, Herzog Contracting contributed $100K to Lager; In 2010, another $100K; And in 2012, another $275K– in addition to various in-kind donations.
Small Tent
Linda Rallo, former legislative assistant to Cole McNary and now an alderwoman in the St. Louis suburbs, called into NPR’s Diane Rehm show recently. Listen to it here. She’s at about the 27 minute mark, expressing the belief that as a “moderate” Republican she cannot seek high office because she’d lose any primary to a right-wing opponent.
File Under “Ouch”
One Dem watching the House 112 Democratic primary tips that the firefighters endorsed Robert Butler in that race – not the former deputy fire chief Larry Steinkamp. Ouch.
SITC Star Nixon to SOS
Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon used the Secretary of State’s resources in a recent episode of The Learning Channel’s Who Do You Think You Are? See the SOS presser here.
Death Penalty Problems
Washington Post reports on another bungled execution. Read it here.
Pull Quote: For the third time this year, an execution in the United States went awry, prompting outrage, questions and calls to get rid of the death penalty. But yet again, experts said it was unlikely that the prolonged execution in Arizona would prompt changes or if this is simply the new normal…But officials in states that carry out the most executions said they did not plan to change anything after the episode in Arizona. Missouri said it is still prepared to carry out its seventh execution of the year on Aug. 6 using the same drug protocol — an injection of pentobarbital — it has used since last year. That would tie it with Florida and Texas for the most executions so far this year.
Compromise in Ameren Noranda Tiff?
The Post-Dispatch reports that Public Counselor Dustin Allison has proposed a compromise after Public Service Commissioners recently indicated that they were not inclined to approve the rate reduction for which Noranda is asking. Read it here.
Pull Quote: On Thursday, the Missouri Office of Public Counsel, which advocates for retail ratepayers in front of the commission, submitted a settlement proposal to the case that would give Noranda a little more than half of what it’s asking for — a rate reduction of 16 percent rather than roughly 25 percent. In contrast to the PSC, the public counsel’s motion agrees with Noranda’s argument that ratepayers would be worse off if the smelter closes.
Recorder of Deeds Deep Throat Revealed
Committeewoman Marie Ceselski writes on her blog that she has been one of the sources of information about former St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Sharon Carpenter’s various misdeeds, including using public resources for political purposes. See it here.
Messer Mystery Continues
Here’s the latest news report about the mysterious disappearance of Lynn Messer, wife of lobbyist Kerry Messer… About two weeks ago “As we were laying our heads on the pillow she was talking about plans for the next day and babysitting three of our grandchildren.” Then at 4am, she was gone.
And
If you have an extra five minutes and want to have one more thing to worry about… Read this.
Fundraising Calendar
Today’s fundraising events from Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Rep. Michael Butler Golf – Emerald Greens Golf Course, St. Louis –1pm Tee.
Rep. Chrissy Sommer Ice Creme Social – Webster Park, 2201 S. River Rd – 3pm.
Rep. Warren Love Reception – Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland – 8:30 pm.
$5K+ Contributions
Lavender for State Rep - $15,000 from Missouri Democratic State Committee.
Missouri’s Food for America - $375,000 from Humane Society Legislative Fund.
AGC MO PAC - $9,200 from Twehous Excavating Co Inc.
Missourians for Safe Transportation & New Jobs Inc - $12,500 from D & S Fencing Co Inc.
Onder for Missouri - $10,000 from Six State Rental Inc.
Dooley for St. Louis County - $15,000 from CooperSteel.
Dooley for St. Louis County - $10,000 from Robert Vincent.
Friends of Rick Stream - $75,000 from Cunningham Campaign.
Schmitt for Missouri - $10,000 from Lewis & Clark Leadership Forum.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays to former Sen. Charlie Shields (55), lobbyists Jay Atkins and Sarah Greek.
Saturday: Rep. Donna Lichtenegger (64), Mike McMillan (43), and Annette Read (52).
Sunday: Congressman Lacy Clay, former Rep. Jim Avery (43) and Shanon Hawk.