Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Diehl for Floor Leader
While others have been dialing for dollars, Rep. John Diehl has been calling for commitments. His floor leader bid appears to be pretty well nailed down now. As of this morning, he has the support of 64 of his colleagues who will be returning next term. And he hasn’t reached them all by phone yet. This jives with one House Republican’s off-hand text the other day calling Diehl the “consensus pick” for floor leader.
Diehl has also been involved in recruiting candidates, an inside track to winning their endorsements next fall after the elections.
St. Louis American to Russ: Don’t!
Lost in the Christmas hiatus was the a series of essays in the St. Louis American’s Political Eye column last week taking aim at white progressives who threaten to run for (and win) seats currently held by African Americans. The American is a black weekly.
The column (Read it Here) mentions Rep. Stacy Newman’s potential 2014 race against Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal, Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford’s possible primary against Sen. Robin Wright Jones, and Martin Casas entry into House 79, currently represented by Rep. Tishaura Jones. It then closes by telling Rep. Russ Carnahan not to run against Rep. Lacy Clay.
Pull Quote: “…the ticking nuclear time bomb of a Clay-Carnahan political death match. All the EYE has to say about that, for now, is: Russ, don’t run. Not against Lacy – and the venerable, mighty lion of black politics, Clay Sr. Just, don’t. That is, if Missouri Democrats want black voters to vote in large numbers for anyone other than Barack Obama in 2012.”
Checks: Lager Lands Large $$$
Look what Sen. Brad Lager found under his tree this holiday weekend (see the $5K+ Contributions below)… $100K from Jeanne Patterson and $250K from David Humphreys.
You will recall that it was Humphreys who publicly asked for his money back from Peter Kinder (though apparently never did receive any Americanas). That act escalated Kinder’s woes from personally embarrassing to politically devastating. Now Humphreys returns to scene to hand 250 Large to Lager who is still in the race against Kinder for lieutenant governor.
For Lager it’s a nice display of fundraising muscle. But ultimately it’s more show than substance. At the end of the October quarter, Kinder had $1.5 million on-hand; Lager had $.07 million on-hand. He’s not going to catch Kinder anytime soon, or get near Kinder’s name ID. This remains Kinder’s race as long as he wants it.
Checks: Nixon Chugs Along
See more $5K+ checks for Governor Jay Nixon again today. There haven’t been a lot of the whoppers like Lager’s above, but he’s been steady this month with 19 checks greater than $5K, totally over $300K.
If he gets a final days’ spurt here, there’s no reason he won’t enter 2012 with $5 million in the bank.
Checks: Miller Looks Strong
Running in the open House 124 district (Camden and Miller Counties) Rocky Miller is showing impressive fundraising for a first-time candidate. He’s put up four large checks totaling $21K. Miller, an engineer, faces Carolyn Loraine, former presiding commissioner of Camden County, in a primary. It’s a safe Republican district.
Bits from House Races
House 43
Rep. Jay Houghton announced he will seek House 43. It appears he and Rep. John Cauthorn were unable to work out their situation of being drawn together.
Houghton: “I'm upset that a panel of Missouri judges would make the unfortunate decision to group two Audrain County Representatives in the same district. The people of this district deserve continued conservative representation. Despite the court's attempts to turn two current state representatives and friends against each other I am committed to running a positive campaign. I will be just as committed to the 43rd District as I am to the 10th District.”
House 44
As I wrote last week, former state senator Ken Jacob is running for House 44. He filed his campaign committee.
House 48
Stephanie Fuemmeler is stepping in to run for the Republicans in House 48. Rep. Randy Asbury currently resides there, but is moving to House 6. (House 48 is a toss-up district; House 6 is Republican-leaning). From the press release: “ Remarkably, Fuemmeler has connections to nearly every corner of the super-sized representative district. She owns ‘Market Street Floral,’ a shop with storefronts in both Glasgow and Fayette. Meanwhile, Fuemmeler co-owns Audsley Monument with locations in Howard, Saline, Cooper and Boone Counties.
House 154
So far two Republicans – Kathleen Hensley and Shawn Rhoads – have filed to run for House 154 where Rep. Ward Franz is running for state senate. That’s good news for Franz, as a contested primary will drive turn-out in his base for his own senate primary.
Missouri Connection to McCready Case
Those whose guilty pleasures include celebrity gossip have noticed a familiar name in media reports of the Mindy McCready child custody case – Terri Durdaller, former spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety in the Blunt Administration. Durdaller currently flacks for Florida's Department of Children and Families after a stint at a Florida PR firm. Her days speaking on behalf of DPS’ Homeland Security Dept. come in handy in the McCready case, in which the country star took her son across state lines into Arkansas - and was found by authorities hiding in a closet.
Lobbyists’ Principal Changes
From the Pelopidas website:
Rodney Boyd and Brian Grace added Civic Progress Action Committee.
Zachary Brunnert, David McCracken, and Earl Pabst added Missouri Doctors Mutual Insurance Company.
$5K+ Contributions
Citizens to Elect Rocky Miller - $5,001 from Ace Advancement.
Jay Nixon for Missouri - $10,000 from Industry Advancement Fund Heavy Constructors.
Citizens to Elect Rocky Miller - $5,001 from Prewitts Highway 54 Enterprises.
Missourians for Koster - $10,000 from RAI Services Company.
Citizens for Brad Lager - $100,000 from Jeanne Patterson.
Citizens for Brad Lager - $250,000 from David Humphreys.
Missourians for Mayer - $10,000 from Noranda Aluminum Inc.
Jay Nixon for Missouri - $10,000 from Jon Rand.
Jay Nixon for Missouri - $25,000 from Larry Neff.
Jay Nixon for Missouri - $25,000 from The Accurso Law Firm.
Jay Nixon for Missouri - $25,000 from NEA Fund for Children and Public Education.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Rep. Jay Barnes (32).