MOScout Daily Upate: Parson's Oct #s - Quarters from MO Opp PAC, Razer, Gregory - $125M Overtime Suit and more...

Parson’s Big #

Post-Dispatch reports that Governor Mike Parson will report some huge numbers next week, showing that his fundraising is going full throttle.  See it here.  “Parson, who likely will face off against Democratic state Auditor Nicole Galloway, raised $316,000 during the most recent fundraising quarter ending Sept. 30. Uniting Missouri, a PAC formed to back him, raised another $1.5 million during the same time period.”

Post reports that between his candidate committee and allied PAC, Team Parson will show $5.7 million cash on-hand.

What It Means

·         Team Galloway is going to find it very hard to keep up with these numbers.

·         They have insisted that the national money will come in – assuming the race isn’t a blow away.  And after the first few million, the marginal return of campaign dollars drops off.

·         However, Galloway has to worry that these numbers will scare off national money.

And

·         I believe this race will be swallowed by an election cycle that is largely a national referendum on Donald Trump.

·         And it’s 100% impossible to see where the impeachment and possible constitutional crisis lead us to in that regard.

MO Opportunity PAC

Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s IE PAC, MO Opportunity PAC, filed its October quarter.  It raised $432,988.  That was powered by a $250K check from Rex Sinquefield.  The report showed $1.1 million cash on-hand.  However, the PAC also holds short-term CDs of over $700K.  That brings its cash and cash equivalents to early $2M.

Schmitt has not filed his candidate committee report yet.

What It Means

·         Like the governor’s race, Democrats will find themselves out-gunned in the AG’s race.  This will likely be the case across the board in the Democratic statewide ticket.

Razer Reports

In Senate 7, Rep. Greg Razer filed his October quarter.  He raised $28,065; spent $10,605; and has $63,751 on-hand.

What It Means

·         These aren’t the sort of numbers that are slamming the door shut and preventing other folks from jumping in.

·         But Razer has been consistently raising money. He’ll have a head start if he does have an opponent.

·         For example, former Rep. Michael Brown has started a Facebook page saying he’s running for this seat, but there’s still no MEC candidate committee for Brown.

Gregory Ups Fundraising

Rep. David Gregory boosted his fundraising last quarter.  October filings showed he raised a combined $66,000.  That includes his candidate committee (nearly $29,000) and the pro-Gregory PAC, Show Me Growth PAC (almost $37,000).

Show Me Growth benefited from a $25K contribution from David Steward’s CL PAC, which has been focused on legislators who have championed conservative principles in the legislature.

Readers Jump Into Trent-Rex Event

·         “Curtis Trent has never even been on the Finance Committee, which is for those of us who give over $50k to HRCC. He’s got $37k cash on hand. Guess his supporters are worried about this aspect of his leadership campaign?”

·         “Regarding the Curtis/Sinquefield fundy, good on Curtis for fundraising for the caucus, but it can’t be ignored that [Dean] Plocher was bringing in six figures for the caucus way before he was in a leadership race.”

And

Another says that the “[Rex-Trent] event has less to do with education reform and more to do with the merger bill that Plocher championed.”

MO Loses Appeal of $125M Overtime Case

In a case that’s been winding its way through the courts, the state of Missouri lost its latest appeal.  The court affirmed that it owes Department of Correction workers $125 million (interest has accrued on the original sum) for unpaid overtime. 

·         Jeff City budgeteers have been eying this storm for a while. 

·         Post Dispatch reports it’ll likely be appealed again…

And

SuperLawyer Chuck Hatfield tweets the link to the decision.

Bits

·         Mizzou won’t embrace MMJ.  Columbia Tribune reports: Missouri may legally tolerate medical marijuana but the University of Missouri, which bans smoking on its campuses, won’t allow it, and neither will Columbia College or Columbia Public Schools.  Spokespeople for all three institutions cited federal law, which continues to prohibit marijuana use, possession and cultivation, for their policies. There is no plan to change any policies or make any accommodations for student patients who use medical marijuana, they said.

·         Missouri Ethics Commission now has a FAQ page where you can find the answers to questions like “If campaign signs are being stolen, who should I report this to?”  See it here.

·         Text I received yesterday: “Did someone hack Gregg Keller's [Twitter] account or is he just a loon?”

New Committees

Rickey Perry formed a candidate committee (Patriots For Perry) to run for House 90 as a Republican.  The current incumbent, Democratic Rep. Deb Lavender, is running for state senate.

Rachel Suchecki formed a candidate committee (Citizens To Elect Rachel Suchecki) to run for House 51 as a Republican.  The current incumbent, Republican Rep. Dean Dohrman, is term limited.

$5K+ Contributions

MO Opportunity PAC - $15,000 from Xcaliber International LTD., LLC.

Conservative Leaders of Missouri - $25,000 from Mark Gardner.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Cody Smith, Lewis Reed, Caroline Pelot Battles, Erin Elliott, and Claire Cook-Callen.