Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Brad Lager’s Big Day
Hold on. The LG’s race is turning. Sen. Brad Lager recorded two checks yesterday. One from David Humphreys for $250,000. And another from Rex Sinquefield for $385,000. Math: $635,000 in a single day.
Incumbent Peter Kinder by the way recorded $10,000 from Fred Weber the other day…
What It Means
First, look for more. This week. Stan Herzog, momma Ethelmae Humphreys or sister Sarah Atkins are all possible. The point here is that The Heavies have decided that if Lager is going to win, he needs them shoveling full boat. And they’ve decided that he needs to win.
Lager needs to win because The Heavies have a long-term ideological agenda for Missouri, and it can only be accomplished with the third piece of the capitol puzzle, the governor’s mansion.
Right to work, school vouchers, dismantling prevailing wages. These cannot be passed and signed into law with a labor friendly Democratic governor.
The stepping stones to the governor’s mansion are controlled by Democrats right now except lieutenant governor and auditor. (Are they going to pin their hopes on Tom Schweich?) And The Heavies have decided that after last year’s summer of troubles Kinder will never be governor.
They look at the Democratic side and see Attorney General Chris Koster and State Treasurer Clint Zweifel. They see Susan Montee coming on the Democratic side of LG. They see three well-vetted, and capable gubernatorial candidates who are all tight with labor.
And
It’s worth saying that Kinder gets treated like this because politics is a wicked game. Decades as a good conservative, and now he’s a problem for The Heavies to dispose because he stops in for a glass of wine one afternoon.
Missouri Club for Growth Senate Endorsements
The Missouri Club for Growth PAC, funded last month with a $500,000 contribution from Rex Sinquefield, announced its Senate primary endorsements:
Senate 1 - Jim Lembke
Senate 3 - Gary Romine
Senate 21 - Mike McGhee
Senate 25 - Doug Libla
Senate 27 - Ellen Brandom
Senate 29 - David Sater
Senate 31 - Ed Emery
Senate 33 - Ward Franz
Of Note
Lembke is likely to get labor endorsements as well. Talk about odd bedfellows. And Sen. David Pearce is the only incumbent snubbed here.
Steen To MATA
Stacy Steen is exiting her role as finance director for the House Democratic Campaign Committee, and will be heading to the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys in a similar capacity. That’ll fill the hole left by Amanda Good who’s now state director for the Humane Society.
The Steen departure appears to be part of the transition from Mike Talboy’s leadership of the minority caucus to Rep. Jake Hummel’s.
Bits
The peerless John Combest links this morning to the New York Times article on the Mamtek debacle. Read it here.
St. Louis feel a little vindicated this morning as Politico’s Playbook reports with some snags in the Charlotte Democratic Convention planning?: “In the second major change to the Democratic National Convention schedule, organizers announced ... they are moving the much-touted Labor Day festival from Charlotte Motor Speedway to uptown Charlotte. In January, officials said they were shortening the convention to three days, and would forgo the traditional Monday opening for a festival at the Speedway to reach a wider audience.... Hosting the CarolinaFest event along the Tryon Street corridor instead of 20 miles outside uptown makes for easier logistics…”
And “--Bloomberg's Hans Nichols says convention planners, including the host committee, are grappling "with a roughly $27 million fundraising deficit.... With a party ban on direct contributions from corporations, the host committee has raised less than $10 million, well short of its $36 million goal.”
KWMU’s Adam Allington reports that “speaking with reporters in St. Louis, Governor Nixon sounded more like a Republican…” as he dissed President Barack Obama’s healthcare legislation. Read it here.
From the border skirmishes of the old Utilities Wars coming this dispatch: “Noranda’s owner (Leon Black) lives in a nice neighborhood; his neighbor’s house has set the record for the largest asking price for a home - it's $65 million and just a few miles from Black’s estate.” See it here.
$5K+ Contributions
Citizens for Brad Lager - $250,000 from David Humphreys.
Citizens for Brad Lager - $385,000 from Rex Sinqufield.
Taxpayers in Support of Public Education - $30,000 from National Education Association.
Citizens for Talbert - $43,500 from William Talbert.
Friends of Bill Stouffer - $8,200 from DDI Media.
Slay for Mayor - $25,000 from Sam Fox.
Committee for Economic Liberty - $50,000 from Ameristar.
MO Democratic State Committee - $10,000 from KCS Rail.
MO Democratic State Committee - $20,000 from AmerenMO.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Reps. Steve Cookson (54) and Kurt Bahr (33).