Thursday, June 19, 2014
Dooley: Stenger = Romney
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley launched a pair of television advertisements. See the Public Radio article here.
Pull Quotes: Dooley’s positive ad features the voice of his adult daughter, Stephanie Dooley, who describes some of her father’s achievements during his 10 years in office. The ad appears to particularly target women, since it focuses on health-care issues and access to mammograms.
But it’s the Stenger attack ad that’s likely to generate talk. Dooley’s campaign attempts to cast Stenger as the local version of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney….
Dooley’s ad zeroes in Stenger’s 2008 federal tax return, arguably the most complicated of the six years that Stenger has made public. The ad notes that Stenger reported income of $222,000 that year, but had to pay only $21 in taxes.
But the ad fails to offer the additional details – namely that Stenger reported significant deductions and losses that year. As a result, Stenger’s adjusted gross income in 2008 was in the red – a minus $60,259. The federal government gave him a refund of $47,027. Dooley’s ad does not mention those details.
Roorda Rolls
Word is that Rep. Jeff Roorda, running in Senate 22, received the AFL-CIO endorsement last night. His Republican opponent, Rep. Paul Wieland, vied for the endorsement and has a generally positive labor voting record, so there was the possibility that the big organized labor group would sit on the endorsement fence. It’s a nice win for Roorda.
And he has a labor fundraising event on Tuesday. Lead sponsors ($5K+) are the Saint Louis Police Officers Association, and Laborers Local 110. Other hosts are: Missouri NEA, CWA District 6, MO State Council of Fire Fighters, Teamsters Local 688, Missouri State Teachers Association, Sen. Gina Walsh (President Missouri State Building Trades), St. Louis Building Trades, Amalgamated Transit Union #788, Schuchat, Cook & Werner Law Firm, UFCW 655, Rognan & Associates CPA, Missouri State UAW, Laborers Local 42, St. Louis Port Council, Gas Workers Local 5-6, and IBEW Local 1.
Ashcroft Event
Jay Ashcroft, running in the Republican primary in Senate 24, is lining up the deep pockets to support his bid.
His June 30 (right at the quarter deadline of course) event had a serious host committee: Rachel Keller Brown, Travis H. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. John Brunner, August Busch III, William H.T. Bush, Mr. And Mrs. Larry Collett, Jane and Gary Cunningham, Rep. Paul Curtman, Ambassador and Mrs. Sam Fox, Catherine and Christopher Hanaway, Jerry Hunter, David Jackson, Speaker Tim Jones, Rep. Andrew Koenig, Representative Donna and Mr. John Lichtenegger, Kirk Mathews, Mr. and Mrs. Richard McClure, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Oliver, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Palmer, Mr. Roy Pfautch, Rep. Dave Schatz, Shane Schoeller, Charles and Laurie Sharpe, Mr. And Mrs. Rex Sinquefield, Harvey T. Tettlebaum, Ray Wagner, Ambassador and Mrs. Bert Walker, and Aaron Willard.
The special guests: Senator Roy Blunt, Congresswoman Ann Wagner, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, Congressman, Jason Smith, Congressman Billy Long, and Auditor Tom Schweich.
It’s pretty clear the establishment is 100% behind the younger Ashcroft.
Roe Speaks
Political consultant Jeff Roe was interviewed by the mighty Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies and Chris McDaniel. Listen to it here.
I found his hierarchy by delivering messages to be most interesting. Network television is still the big daddy to “move” voters. And cable is a weak alternative, less attractive in Roe’s mind than old-fashioned avenues of radio and direct mail.
The ability of cable television to segment the market and give advertisers the slice that they’re targeting fails to provide enough saturation in Roe’s view. Those voters need to see the ads again and again, and it’s hard to get those results through cable.
Nixon Calls for Creation of A Plan
The press release: Gov. Jay Nixon today signed Executive Order 14-06 to formally launch the development of a comprehensive State Energy Plan, led by the Missouri Department of Economic Development's Division of Energy. Under the Governor's order, the Division of Energy will gather input from Missourians around the state and submit a final report by May 31, 2015. Gov. Nixon made the announcement during a speech to Midcontinent Independent Service Operator (MISO) stakeholders in St. Louis.
Yes, that’s right, in his sixth year in office, he’s now calling for a plan – to be created by next year. Bold.
Congressional Republicans Leadership Vote
Today, Congressional Republicans will vote on their leadership. This follows the stunning electoral loss of their majority leader, Eric Cantor. It’s an event which could propel Congresswoman Ann Wagner along her own path to leadership.
See New York Times article here. See The Hill article here.
Hoskins Ethics Complaint Dismissed
Former state representative Ted Hoskins, now mayor of the city of Berkeley, had an ethics complaint dismissed by the Missouri Ethics Commission. It alleged improper use of committee funds for sponsoring the Mayor’s Super Bowl Party. See it here.
Thompson Complaint
Meanwhile in a race which seemed destined to get more heated, Alderman Jeffrey Boyd was making hay over St. Louis City License Collector Marvis Thompson’s response to an ethics complaint. He says she co-mingled official pamphlets with political pamphlets. See it here.
Pull Quote: “I was not there, I can’t tell you what happened,” she says. “What I’m saying is, if I go out myself, I have my campaign literature in one hand, and I have the license collector’s informative pamphlets in another hand.”
House 110: Dem Disqualified
Christine Alt was disqualified from the ballot in House 110. This is Speaker Tim Jones’ district. He is term limited. Kirk Mathews, a potential star of the freshman class, is the Republican nominee. Dems now have until July 11 to select their candidate.
Side Note
I had been waiting for these drops and new candidate shuffles to end to finally do my Primary Guide. But seeing it will never end, I plan to publish it next week in the Special Reports. I will then make updates to it as necessary.
Help Wanted
BioSTL, a privately-funded non-profit organization advancing St. Louis biosciences, seeks a communications professional to join our team and help us achieve our mission of advancing St. Louis’ prosperity by cultivating a thriving bioscience sector. See ad here.
Fundraising Calendar
Today’s fundraising events from Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Rep. Warren Love Golf – Shadow Lake Golf Course, Wheatland.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Gate Way Group website:
Jeff Klusmeier deleted Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $25,000 from Committee to Elect Ron Richard.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays to Sen. Brian Nieves (49), Angela Bingaman (28), Keith Kirk (50), Misty Snodgrass (35), Rachel Keller Brown, and Jason Cohen.