Monday, October 6, 2014

$100,000K for Stumpe

Who is Brian Stumpe and why did he just receive $100K from a national Republican PAC?  Stumpe is running for 19th Circuit Judge.  A few weeks ago, I wrote that there were hints – in the way of a very well research and detailed poll – that this race might heat up.  Read my thoughts then here.

A lot of the state’s high-profile political lawsuits are filed in the 19th Circuit, therefore there’s more at stake than a regular judicial election.  Over the weekend the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national political action group (see their website here), sent $100K to its Missouri PAC.  This morning that money was reported as passed through to Stumpe’s campaign.

The Democrat, Pat Joyce, in this race is the incumbent.

Ballot Issues Poll

The Weekly Poll showed two of the ballot issues  - teacher tenure, and early voting – going down in flames next month.  Find the full report and crosstabs in the Special Reports section here.  Teacher tenure has had its support withdrawn by the prime supporting group – TeachGreat.  And the early voting proposal was a watered down version of the Democratic version which never had any firm supporters.  That leaves these two issue luffing in the wind for the next thirty days.

Among the Democratic statewide leaders, Chris Koster, unlike Jay Nixon and Claire McCaskill, had greater favorables than unfavorable, but he had a much higher “no opinion” than I would have expected as someone who has spent millions on television commercials in the last six years.

eMailbag: Where’s Blunt?

“I see your MO Scout poll today has Favs/ Unfav on McCaskill, Nixon and Koster.  Where is the Fav / UnFav on Roy Blunt?  I bet Jeff Roe didn't want to include it since Blunt's numbers are so bad…”

Following the Money

In the $5K contributions below, Democrats are putting money into House 35 (incumbent Republican Gary Cross), and House 106 (incumbent Republican Chrissy Sommer).  Following the money can give an indication of targets.

Post On Schweich

Post Dispatch profiles the unopposed state auditor Tom Schweich.  Read it here.

Pull Quote: “I personally can see no harm coming if Catherine Hanaway and Tom Schweich spend a million dollars bashing each other,” said Roy Temple, chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party.  Schweich said he is focused on the auditor’s race and helping other Republicans in key contests this year. He is mum about his interest in running for governor, other than to say that Democrats should “watch out what you wish for.”

Political on Ag Econ

Politico describes the “wild west of agricultural economists.”  Read it here.

Pull Quote: A&M’s consortium, which included the well-known Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, or FAPRI, at the University of Missouri, came away with about $1.35 million, far less than it had hoped.  Illinois got the remaining $1.65 million, of which more than $395,000 — almost a full quarter — went to Watts & Associates Inc., a private firm with ties to Montana State University and the National Corn Growers Association. The Farm Service Agency, which oversaw the competition, says it was guided by review panels that couldn’t agree on a single winner. But the split decision had two immediate impacts.  First, it spread the wealth and broke A&M’s dominance after years of strong ties to Congress and a history of developing such models with USDA.  Second, it was a triumph for Vilsack’s former FSA administrator, Jonathan Coppess, who had recently joined Illinois’ faculty after serving as chief counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman, Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)...

Help Wanted

St. Louis Association of REALTORS seeks Community and Media Relations Coordinator.

“Salary Range: $26,000 - $30,000… Assists the Director of Marketing & Communications with achieving a consistent brand message that directly supports the association’s strategic goals and vision.  Assists with coordinating the activities related to the association’s member driven events and outbound communications vital for the organization’s success. Also, tracks statistics relating to marketing and communication efforts.”  See the ad here.

Tenth Judicial Circuit Juvenile Office seeks Chief Juvenile Officer/Attorney.  “The Tenth Judicial Circuit Court Chief Juvenile Officer is a full-time position and is responsible for the planning, coordination, and general administration of juvenile court services for Marion, Monroe, and Ralls Counties. The Chief Juvenile Officer is also responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures to ensure that the Tenth Circuit Juvenile Office complies with Missouri law and Supreme Court Rules. The Chief Juvenile Officer must be available for on-call responsibilities. The starting annual salary is $49,548. Following successful completion of a six-month probationary period, the annual salary increases to $50,592. This position is an employee of the State of Missouri and eligible for full benefits and vacation accruals provided through the state….” See the ad here.

eMailbag

A Democrat’s big wish? “Since you talked about John Diehl's poll the other day, he canvassed door to door yesterday in Town and Country with two other Republican State Reps. Also he did a negative mailer against his democrat opponent Alan Gerber former Town and Country Alderman. Do we have a Congressman Cantor election in MO?”

Fundraising Calendar

Today’s fundraising events from Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:

Sen. Wayne Wallingford Golf – Dalhousie Golf Club, Cape Girardeau – 11 a.m.

Lobbyist Registrations

From the Gate Way Group website:

Sarah Wood Martin added Gateway Government Relations.

Larry Rohrbach deleted Luxco, The Bio2 Solution, Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System, Morphotrust USA, Wellcare Health Plans Inc.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $25,000 from Citizens to Elect Mike Kehoe.

Missouri Right to Life Political Action Committee - $10,000 from Timothy Sullivan.

Progress KC PAC - $14,000 from The Civic Council of Greater Kansas City.

Missourians for Koster - $25,000 from Collar, Burns & Becker LC.

Citizens for Steve Stenger - $10,000 from Anheuser Busch.

RSLC-Missouri PAC - $100,000 from Republican State Leadership Committee.

Schupp for Senate - $13,210 from Missouri Democratic State Committee.

Committee to Elect Ken Tucker - $13,000 from Missouri Democratic Party.

Duvall for Missouri - $5,100 from Missouri Democratic Party.

Citizens for Stumpe - $100,000 from RSLC-Missouri PAC.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthdays to Schaefer’s Yancy Williams.