Friday, March 9, 2012
Bigwigs Beg Schweich to Run for Senate
St. Louis Beacon put up the letter. Read it Here. It’s pretty funny. It starts: “Due to the current circumstances, we urge you to reconsider your intention to serve your full term as Missouri State Auditor and run for the United States Senate. This will not be an easy decision because you take your commitments seriously…”
Among the signatories to the letter are Jack Danforth, Sam Fox, Bert Walker, Sen. Ron Richard, and Deputy Auditor Harry Otto.
Limbaugh Bust Day 5
House Dems released a few old documents establishing, they believe, that the Office of Administration controls the space of the Rotunda.
That means ultimately that Governor Jay Nixon can block the installation of the Rush Limbaugh bust. And also, that the story gets at least another chapter and Dems can keep the issue alive a little longer.
Kander Hires Rakov
Rep. Jason Kander has hired Abe Rakov to be campaign manager of his secretary of state race. Rakov worked for Robin Carnahan for a couple years ago doing communications, and will return to Missouri from Washington DC where he’s been working for Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.
Cleaning the In-Box: Rumors, Snarks, Bits
Hater: The Schweich “Save Us” letter was written on March 7 and Schweich filed his exploratory-ish paperwork on March 6....sounds to me like this is Tom’s idea and he just called his Sugar Daddies to give him cover.
Several members of the Capitol lobbying corps express doubt that LG Peter Kinder stays in the race. One says he thinks Kinder is just working on a replacement because he won’t cede the nomination to Sen. Brad Lager. One rumored landing spot for Kinder: Koch-brother organization Revere America.
Tomorrow night Rep. Tishaura Jones fundraises for her birthday - $40 for 40 years. Paul LeVota’s birthday/fundraiser is set for March 22.
St. Charles seats are winnable for Dems, but they’re lacking candidates. No one has filed yet against Rep. Anne Zerr in House 65. And after Sen. Tom Dempsey is termed in 2016, the fear is that there’s no farm team for Dems there to have a viable candidate – despite the competitive nature of that part of St. Charles.
Early Site Permit rolled through the House Utilities Committee Thursday with a 17-2 vote. Rep. Jason Holsman voted present. Will ESP remain decoupled from the renewable debate? Will the southeast senators Rob Mayer and Jason Crowell let it through the Senate?
No ethics bill in House this session. Leadership doesn’t want the debate – all the politically troublesome amendments on lobbyist gifts, campaign finance limit etc – in an election year.
Dave Spence’s communication director sends out an email asking for feedback: “We are reaching out to a select few media outlets ensure that you received our email and video, and seek your response and possible coverage ideas. Additionally, have you seen anything else like it in the Missouri market? Your thoughts on our product are very important to us.” The reaction from one Republican: “This. Happened. Amateur hour. Makes Kinder look sophisticated.”
Economy Picking Up
Good news for Dems.
From WSJ: “U.S. job creation remained solid in February and was stronger in previous months than initially thought, marking one of the economy's best stretches of the nearly three-year-old recovery. Jobs outside of agriculture grew by 227,000 last month. Private companies again fueled the growth, adding 233,000 jobs in February. That more than offset 6,000 job cuts by government. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, remained at 8.3%, as both hiring and the number of job seekers increased. Meanwhile, employers added 284,000 jobs in January--roughly 40,000 higher than an initial estimate--and job creation was also revised higher for December.”
New Candidate Filings
A couple of incumbents, slow to file, finally did yesterday. Rep. Chris Molendorp in House 56 and Rep. Chris Carter in House 76.
Rep. Bill Lant got a primary in House 159 as Freddie Jennings filed to run as a Republican.
Greg Stratman filed to run as a Democrat in House 62. It’s a 60-40 GOP district where Rep. Tom Loehner is termed.
Lobbyists’ Principals Changes
From the Pelopidas website:
Andrew B Blunt added Ameren Missouri.
Aaron G. March added City of Belton; and deleted LADCO Development, Blue Springs Rentals Inc, Eastland Center Associates LLC, State Line Shops LLC, State Line Developers LLC, Congregation Beth Shalom, and Cormac Company.
Steven R Carroll deleted Clarkston Consultants LLC.
Doyle Childers, Franc Flotron, Richard McIntosh, Dan Shuette, and Earl Pabst deleted Pennington Seed Inc.
William A Gamble, Cynthia Gamble, Jeff Brooks, Jorgen Schlemeier and Sarah Topp deleted Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services and Marwood Group Advisory LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
Spence for Governor - $50,000 from William Holekamp.
Committee to Elect Josh Jones - $10,000 from Josh Jones.
MO Democratic State Committee - $5,300 from Jay Nixon for Missouri.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Laura Winter.
Tomorrow Rep. Tishaura Jones (the big 4-0), former Rep. Luke Scavuzzo (56), Matt Jesse, Eddy Justice (39), and Shawn Bell (26).