MOScout Daily Update: Kelly in 2019? - Monetti in 2020? - Pace in 2022? and more....

Top Rumor: Silvey PSC Chair

Word is that Ryan Silvey is being tapped by Governor Mike Parson to take over as chairman of the Public Service Commission.  The current chair is Daniel Hall, a Democratic appointee.  Silvey is one of three Republicans on the commission. 

Bill Kenney has the longest tenure of the Republicans, and might have been expected to take the gavel, but his term expires in January.  Silvey has the least PSC experience having just arrived on the commission this year.  However he might have had the inside track – from a 2nd floor comfort standpoint – as his former chief of staff, Aaron Willard, is now Parson’s chief of staff.

Rumorville: Monetti in for 2020

One tipster says that Tony Monetti is going to announce that he’s running for governor in 2020.  Monetti ran for U.S. Senate.  He landed Sarah Palin’s endorsement, but his fundraising and campaign never caught fire. Monetti lost to Josh Hawley (9.7% to 58.6%), taking second place in that eleven-way primary. 

What It Means

Monetti – in my estimation – is the sort of primary challenge that Parson can ignore, and should, ignore as gadfly material.

Driving the Day: Prop D’s Branson Kickoff

Press release: The Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau and SaferMO.com co-host the Branson campaign kickoff for Proposition D for Safer Roads & Streets at 5:30 p.m… Speakers will include Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe; Jeff Seifried, President/CEO, of the Branson Chamber & CVB; and Terry Briggs and Scott Charton of SaferMO.com, the statewide coalition supporting Proposition D.

Kelly for Mayor?

Scott Charton tweets this fun zinger… ‏"It is accurate to say I'm thinking about a run for mayor” of Columbia, Missourah: @repckelly to CoMo’s ABC affiliate this weekend. Chris Kelly is a former #moleg representative, former judge, former Boone County clerk; wise, able and honest public servant. Election is in April.

The current mayor is lobbyist Brian Treece.

Smith: Greitens Sniffing Around 2020

Former Sen. Jeff Smith tweets “Former Gov. Greitens has called at least one donor to test the waters re: a 2020 gubernatorial primary.”

What It Means

The dude is delusional.

And

He’s still sitting on $1.1 million in his campaign account.  Anyone who thought that’d be headed to HRCC or MO GOP appears to have been equally delusional.

Kavanaugh Turmoil Good for CMC?

Washington Post reports that Christine Blasey Ford, who is alleging a sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, “has decided that if her story is going to be told, she wants to be the one to tell it.  Speaking publicly for the first time, Ford said that one summer in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh and a friend — both ‘stumbling drunk,’ Ford alleges — corralled her into a bedroom during a gathering of teenagers at a house in Montgomery County…”

One savvy Republican tells me that this is a very good development for Claire McCaskill.  It gives her an “out with her vote.”  But also it’s a tricky situation for Josh Hawley to navigate without alienating suburban women already skittish of the GOP after the Greitens’ scandals and Trumpy White House.

Sinquefield Gives $250K to MO Club for Growth

In the large contributions, Rex Sinquefield sent $250,000 to Missouri Club for Growth.  That’s his preferred vehicle to support state legislative candidates who believe in his free market philosophy.  Former speaker Tim Jones is the topper on MOClub who’ll be strategizing where the $$$ are spent.

And One More Rumor…

One MOScouter confides… “my sources say Trump is coming to Springfield on the 21st to JQH Arena…”

eMailbag on CLEAN

[Judge Daniel] Green will be reversed. A local Republican judge doing the bidding of the Republicans? How utterly surprising.  That's why we have a court of appeals….

eMailbag on Lembke

[Jim Lembke’s] public support of Clean Missouri, for Republicans, is an indication that he isn’t just Sen. Schaaf’s chief, but cut from the same cloth. No freshman will hire him…

New Committees

Jaye Owens formed a candidate committee (Owens For Springfield Mo) to run for Springfield City Council.

Sharon Pace formed a candidate committee (Committee To Elect Sharon L Pace) to run for statewide office in 2022 as a Democrat.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Club for Growth Political Action Committee - $250,000 from Rex Sinquefield.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Governor Mike Parson, Bill Webster, Margaret Kelly, Travis Smith, Tom McDonald and Ryan Burke.