Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Senate 12 Follow-Up
Johnson In, Berry Out
Rep. Delus Johnson sent out a note to his House colleagues announcing for Senate 12…
I’ve enjoyed my time serving with each of you in the House of Representatives over the past three years as we’ve tried to move Missouri forward through common-sense conservative change. However, I want you to know that I will not seek reelection to the House and will instead seek election to the 12th State Senate District.
I’ll be formally launching my campaign today, but I wanted each of you to know in advance.
I welcome your advice, prayers, and if you would like to help out in any way, I would truly appreciate your support.
God Bless You All.
Delus Johnson
Meanwhile the representative that many had be trying to talk into running officially decided to declare himself not a candidate. Rep. TJ Berry says that he is starting a new company and having started companies before he knows the amount of time and effort they demand. Therefore he will not be a candidate for Senate 12, though he will run for re-election in his House seat.
And
One reader dismisses the talk of Casey Guernsey bowing out because of thin skin as revisionist history that misses the mark… He writes: “Casey never had a tough race? He took on an entrenched Democrat in a seat that had historically elected Democrats, and LOST. Some of the highest spending in any house race that cycle… He got out because he doesn't want to wake up in 9 years and not have a career or family but have a lot of bills on the wall with governor's pens in them… Also you had a spelling error.”
MOScout House Preview Report
I’ve updated the 2014 House Preview Report. It’s in the Special Reports section. See it here. It contains profiles, biographical information, fundraising numbers and district information for everyone who had a campaign committee filed by the end of last quarter. Unopposed incumbents are not included. Still it weighs in at 111 pages. By the time we get to a final Primary Preview in early summer this thing will be massive…
Sifton for AG?
A couple Dems report that Sen. Scott Sifton is mentioning a possible attorney general run in 2016 to donors.
But one Dem discounts the talk saying, “You have to remember elected officials say stuff like that ‘I’m running for...’ ask for more money… It is Chris Koster’s decision who runs for AG in ’16.”
If Senate runs for attorney general in 2016, the front of the line Democrats to replace him in the Senate would be Reps. Bob Burns and Vicki Englund.
Johnson in House 56
In House 56 – where Rep. Chris Molendorp has announced his retirement – Democrats now have a candidate… Patty Johnson. She’s an attorney. She write in her bio, “My mother and father raised my two brothers and me on our family farm near Sweet Springs, Missouri. We raised cattle, hogs, and grew soybeans, corn and wheat. My mother still operates the farm. My father, besides being a farmer, was a member of Operating Engineers Local 101…”
This is a definite lean Republican district, but could be competitive with the right match-up in the right year.
Ferguson-Florissant School Controversy
A new political action committee was formed in the Ferguson Florissant School District where an upcoming school board election appears to be a referendum on the current board’s handling of its superintendent Art McCoy.
The treasurer for Citizens for Educational And Community Change is Alfred Long. He’s been a vocal supporter of McCoy. This Post-Dispatch article notes that McCoy is a school choice supporter.
According to KSDK (read it here), their candidate slate is: Reverend F. Willis Johnson, James Savala, and Donna Thurman.
The election is April 8.
Bits
Hoping on the Propane Outrage Train… Governor Jay Nixon announces some federal funds to help pay for the gas. And Speaker Tim Jones placed HCR 18, “a resolution calling on the United States Department of Justice to investigate allegations of price gouging, on the legislative fast track.”
Across the United States, a question in state capitols: what to do with surpluses unseen in half a decade… Speaker Tim Jones quoted. Read it here.
And St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley asks his employees for 1% of their salaries… surely he can charge a fee for such services, we’re not communists after all… Read it here.
Holmes Osborne who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer. Last month he pulled the plug on his campaign committee to run again in 2014. It’d have been a very uphill battle.
$5K+ Contributions
MO Chamber PAC - $10,000 from Kansas City Southern Railway.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Gate Way Group website:
Ginger Steinmetz added Propel Financial Services LLC.
Jon Galloway deleted Mortgage Research Center.
Daniel Jay Hegeman deleted Kansas City Power & Light.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Diane Franklin, and lobbyist Danny Pfeifer (36).