Thursday, June 5, 2014

Schupp Event

Rep. Jill Schupp’s event last night at the home of Amy and Rob Soper in the posh suburb of Ladue was called “Win with Women.” 

Rory Ellinger’s widow Linda Locke introduced Schupp with a speech about the need for women representation, and Medicaid expansion.  She never mentioned that she was Ellinger’s wife.  But later Schupp let everyone know and when she did there was a collective gasp in the room that indicated the impact of Ellinger in that community. 

Schupp spoke at length about women’s health.  She reminded folks how Sen. John Lamping ran without a record and his constituents got a senator who didn’t really represent their views.  She talked about the student transfer bill saying it was just a vehicle for vouchers. And then she hammered how the Republicans failure to pass Medicaid.

Speaking on the race, Schupp said that despite the Republicans’ three-way primary she was confident she would face Jay Ashcroft, and alluded to the fact they were already considering their messaging against him.

Additionally Schupp told the audience that it was enough for her to win, Democrats needed to win more seats and take away the Republicans’ super majorities that have the potential to render the governor’s vetoes meaningless.

Stenger Ads

St. Louis County Councilman Steve Stenger is swinging at incumbent Charlie Dooley right out of the gate. Here are his ads…

First one – here – hits Dooley for closing parks while spending money on cars.

The Second one – here – talks about FBI investigations and features Democratic County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch.

Both have the tagline… “because ten years is long enough…”

eMailbag: Stenger on TV

Political observer: “I am not involved in the St. Louis County Executive race but Charlie Dooley has enough money to begin buying TV ads in two weeks.  Will he come up on the air in days and stretch his media buy? Or wait? The chess move is his. His move tells us how far ahead he is and how effective Steve Stenger’s ad is.”

Munzy Gets Win on Conservation Commission?

Governor Jay Nixon appoint Dave Murphy to the Missouri Conservation Commission yesterday.  The press release says that Murphy grew up in “northeast Missouri,” and is a “Lewis County native.”

Geography matters on this appointment.

Sen. Brian Munzlinger has lead the Senate’s rejection of the two previous appointees from the governor.  Munzlinger has long complained that the northeast portion of Missouri has been grossly unrepresented on the Conservation Commission.

We’ll see whether Murphy’s appointment meets Munzlinger’s criteria….

And

Nixon also made several other appointments…

Children's Trust Fund Board (Michelle Crockett - Lamar)

Lincoln University Board of Curators (Frank James Logan Sr. - St. Louis)

Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Landscape Architects (Sherry Cooper - Chesterfield; Noel Thomas Fehr Sr. - University City)

Missouri Board of Examiners for Hearing Instrument Specialists (Dr. Kevin W. Lollar -Hannibal)

Missouri Community Service Commission (John Albright - Sunrise Beach; Reena Hajat Carroll - St. Louis; Cynthia L. Heislen - Jefferson City; Cheryl Hibbeler - O'Fallon)

Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund Board of Trustees (Steven D. Bodenhamer - Springfield; Rita Milam - Benton; Thomas Rodenberg - Blue Springs)

Missouri State Foster Care and Adoption Board (Kimberlee J. Pate - Fredericktown)

Missouri State University Board of Governors (student representative) (Caleb Austin Doyle - Barnhart)

Missouri Veterinary Medical Board (Christopher Rohlfing - Fayette)

Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents (student representative) (Ve'Shawn Dixon - Maryville)

Platte County Election Board (Betty A. Knight - Platte City)

Schaaf Starts Campaign Committee for Amendment

Sen. Rob Schaaf is the treasurer for a new campaign committee, Protect Our Privacy.  It’s supporting the constitutional amendment on the ballot this August that will “provide that a person’s electronic communication and data are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Koster’s Walgreens Deal

Attorney General Chris Koster announced his deal with Walgreens over the allegations that they were advertising one price and then charging another.  See it here.

Basically, Koster will have stores audited to see if they’re cleaning up their act, and in the meantime customers will get items for free if they catch that they’re being overcharged.

Bits

Here’s a bit… Secretary of State Jason Kander stomps down on a Bitcoin scammer… “Kander halted Springfield resident Kenneth Slaughter's Bitcoin-based investment scheme that used deceptive tactics to convince online investors to pay for the development of Bitcoin ‘mining’ equipment… In exchange for purchasing stock in Virtual Mining Corporation, investors could see a two-year return on their investment as high 2,812 percent, Slaughter stated on Bitcointalk. The offering brought in more than $200,000 in Bitcoins. Peddling shares of Active Mining Corporation, Slaughter also told potential investors that his company had offices in London and that investors would receive ‘100% return’ from the ‘global profits’ of his technology sales.”

Laura McQuade has been selected as its new President and Chief Executive Officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

Catherine Hanaway tweeted a picture of herself with former Vice President Dick Cheney.  See it here.  Cheney made a “surprise appearance” to promote Kansas City’s bid for the Republican National Convention.  Hanaway’s tweet was retweeted by Progress Missouri’s Sean Nicholson.  It’s a visual that might come in handy if Hanaway wins the nomination and starts to move to the middle in 2016.

Governor Jay Nixon has signed SB 892.  It move Missouri’s 2016 presidential primary from February to March.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Dale Singer reports on a forum where Sen. Scott Sifton and Rep. Rick Stream looked around the corner at what might come next on the student transfer issue.  Read it here.

AP’s David Lieb looks at how economic policies on the state level could be contributing to the inequality gap.  Read it here.

eMailbag on Atkins’ Possible Indy Run

Concerning the possibility that Dems might support former Rep. Bert Atkins running against Rep. Keith English as an Independent… “As much as it fuels revenge fantasies I wonder what happens in a 70% Dem district when you split the vote?  Could you end up with another Bill Alter.”

Fundraising Calendar

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

Sen. Kurt Schaefer Golf Tournament – Eagle Knoll Golf Club – Hartsburg.

Lobbyist Registrations

From the Gate Way Group website:

Shanon M Hawk added CCRC of Gladstone LLC.

$5K+ Contributions

MO Democratic State Committee - $6,250 from U-Gas Inc.

Committee in Support of Public Educators - $10,000 from Central MSTA Region.