July 27, 2018 - Missouri First Formed
Counter CLEAN Forming
Yesterday a new group, Missouri First, announced their formation to oppose the CLEAN Missouri ballot issue in November. CLEAN Missouri is a collection of ethics reforms which many Republicans allege is just a Trojan horse for Democrats to reengineer the redistricting process in their favor.
From the press release: Missourians First has assembled a powerhouse team, with former United States Senator Jim Talent serving as Chairman… Joining Senator Talent in an advisory capacity are legislative leaders from both chambers of the General Assembly. Senate Pro Tem Ron Richard together with Senators Bob Onder and Caleb Rowden are joined by Representatives Elijah Haahr, Shamed Dogan, and Dean Plocher; the legislators have all been leaders in instituting ethical government policies in Missouri. Missouri mega-fundraiser Karen Mohan Day will be raising money for Missourians First, and Franklin County attorney Rachel Reagan-Purschke will serve as Treasurer. Veteran communicator Rich Chrismer will handle media relations, and political operative Scott Dieckhaus will serve as the Campaign Manager.
With Karen Mohan Day heading up the fundraising effort, the campaign will likely tap into some Missouri heavies who usually play at the federal level. And that means they’ll be less reliant on the stock mega-funders (Humphreys, Herzog, Sinquefield) that might muddy their message.
Look for the campaign to also add some Democratic names to their list of supporters to give their effort a bi-partisan sheen.
WSJ: Humphreys Not FBI Target
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece about the third-party US Senate race attacks on Josh Hawley which make David Humphreys a villain. (See the ad here). But there’s an interest nugget in the piece… “Back in March, Chuck Schumer’s Senate Majority PAC began plowing millions into attacks on the businessman, who donated to Mr. Hawley’s campaign for attorney general. The pattern is the same: An ad makes a malicious accusation against Mr. Humphreys, then sidles over to tar Mr. Hawley with guilt by association. Just how invested are they in this strategy? Since airing their first spot, 70% of Democratic ads—amounting to $4.7 million—have been focused on Mr. Humphreys…. [W]hereas Mr. Hawley has a scant record to attack, Mr. Humphreys is a long and active participant in Missouri civic life. He’s been a major backer of judicial reform, so the trial bar loathes him. He pushed hard for the state’s recently enacted right-to-work law, so unions loathe him. He sits on the boards of the free-market Cato and Acton institutes, so liberals in general loathe him… The specific attacks here are as thin as they are familiar… Mr. Humphreys’s attorney recently got a letter from U.S. Attorney Timothy Garrison, stating that his office had followed protocol and referred the issue to the FBI, which determined that ‘there was no basis for further inquiry.’ Given the use of ‘allegations against Mr. Humphreys for public implication he has violated federal law’ Mr. Garrison continued, ‘this letter is to inform you that Mr. Humphreys was not, and is not now, considered a target by this United States Attorney’s Office.’”
State Senate Primary Talk
Senate 18 – A late charge has started for Rep. Nate Walker. It seems he hoarded his limited resources for the final sprint and now much more visible. Meanwhile there’s a lot of cross-traffic among the 3rd party independent expenditures. One rumor has CL PAC entering the fray on behalf of front-runner Cindy O’Laughlin. CL PAC had been thought to be involved more in the Senate 34 contest.
Senate 32 – Negative attacks on Rep. Bill White has started, and the supporters of Rob O’Brian are hoping that it can cut into White big lead and change the dynamic down the stretch.
eMailbag on $$$
Lobbyist: In the middle of the first election cycle since Amendment 2, does anyone believe there is less money sloshing around or things are more transparent?
Curtis Tweets About His Indy Run
Rep. Courtney Curtis, frozen out of the Senate 14 Democratic primary by the state party on account of his unpaid Missouri Ethics Commission fines, tweeted yesterday about his rumored Independent bid… I've learned a lot about humility this year. @No1councilwoman has been teaching me about it for nearly 4 years now. I thought I'd get to the ballot, and win because I fight for my community. That's not enough. You can fight, but your paperwork has to be right… Here on out I'll ask for what I need to continue fighting for my community. My paperwork was right because I hate doing the paperwork, and waited to the last minute to do it. It was mostly late, and I have papers to prove that some things ethics said aren't true. I'm not perfect!.. I have til Monday to get the signatures needed, and from that day forward I'll continue to give my community everything I have. I guess I'm feeling a certain way because people don't understand whats going on in D.C. & I don't either. We need progress… If elected to the Missouri State Senate I will fight for Missouri's farmers and entrepreneurs as agricultural hemp and CBD industries emerge. All Missourians will benefit from hemp prosperity and our law enforcement resources will be more sensibly delegated. It only makes sense!
ROTO (Reminder of the Obvious)
Senate 14 is a safe Dem district. It’ll be nearly impossible for an Independent to beat the Democratic nominee (regardless of who wins the primary) in November.
CMC in National News
Senator Claire McCaskill’s in the national papers…
New York Times (see it here) reports that “a heavily funded Democratic group will spend tens of millions of dollars to mobilize voters in the Republican-leaning states where control of the Senate is likely to be decided this November, stepping in to fill a void left by years of decay in Democratic infrastructure at the state and local level. Senate Majority PAC, the principal “super PAC” supporting Democratic efforts to capture the chamber, intends to steer at least $20 million into the voter-mobilization campaign ahead of the midterm elections, officials with the group confirmed… The initiative by Senate Majority PAC — which will run through an affiliated nonprofit group, Majority Forward — will span more than a dozen states where Senate seats are at stake. But it is to focus on four states above all: Missouri and Indiana, where endangered Democrats are seeking re-election, and Arizona and Tennessee, where strong Democratic challengers are running for open seats currently held by Republicans…”
And this wowser (from Washington Post): “U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, one of the most vulnerable Democrats running for reelection this year, was targeted by Russian government hackers who sought but failed to compromise her Senate computer network. The hackers, who belong to Russia’s military spy agency GRU, targeted two other candidates running in the midterms, according to a Microsoft executive, Tom Burt, who spoke at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last week. He did not identify the candidates. None were compromised, he said…”
Follow-Up on Uniting MO PAC Coordination
Your bit on coordination was clever but a little misplaced. MEC opinion expressly permits a candidate to solicit/coordinate contributions for a PAC. Uniting Missouri PAC will disclose who’s contributing. A New Missouri did not. Parson’s commitment to transparency of who’s giving what is legal and commendable. Hancock simply misspoke. Dark money is political shorthand for concealed contributions, not expenditures. Per Missouri law, Uniting Missouri PAC will also disclose the latter but that’s not the relevant issue.
Your Chance to Dress Like Tuttle/Bardgett
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Friday, July 27 from 10 AM - 6 PM
Saturday, July 28 from 10 AM - 2 PM
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17057 N Outer 40 Road
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Motherputter Founders
Help Wanted
U.S. Veteran Affairs seeks Public Affairs Specialist. “Provides leadership and direction for the Public Affairs program at the Kansas City VA Medical Center while displaying tact, diplomacy, initiative, and solid professional judgment. The goal of the position is to increase internal and external awareness of VA programs, services, special events and projects, technologies, personnel, and research accomplishments. Establishes and maintains proactive contacts with media outlets, legislative offices, veteran service organizations, and health care affiliates. Actively pitches and places stories with media outlets. Advises senior level management on development of media campaigns and communication plans and strategies…” See it here.
New Committees
Arnie Dienoff formed a candidate committee (Dienoff For Honest County Election Authority) to run for St. Charles Director of Elections as a Republican.
$5K+ Contributions
SaferMo.Com - $50,000 from Heavy Constructors Association.
CL PAC - $50,000 from David Steward.
Missouri’s Future - $10,000 from Taxpayer in Support of Public Education.
BHA PAC - $10,000 from Brent Hemphill & Associates Inc.
Friends of JW Strack - $9,000 from Jo Strack.
Missouri Federation for Children PAC - $30,000 from Missouri Senate Conservatives Fund.
Team Justin - $30,000 from Missouri Senate Conservatives Fund.
Citizens for Steve Stenger - $10,000 from A-Y-K-E, LLC.
The Committee To Elect Steve Butz - $22,700 from Stephen Butz.
Lobbyist Registrations
Thomas Robbins and Steven Tilley added Verus Analytics LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Congressman Lacy Clay, Shanon Hawk, Crystal Brinkley, and Jim Avery.
Saturday: Dale Ludwig.
Sunday: Vicki Englund.