MOScout Daily Update: Schupp in CD-2? - Seeking MO Fellows - DGA Memo and more...

Schupp in CD-2?

There’s talk that Sen. Jill Schupp is getting serious about jumping into the CD-2 race.

Democrats have been frustrated by their inability to land on a candidate to take on incumbent Congresswoman Ann Wagner.  Schupp would solve the puzzle for them.

Wagner’s Advantages

·         Wagner has a massive war-chest.  Her latest filing showed about $2.2 million cash on-hand.

·         And Schupp would be starting from scratch.  Her state committee, with its $250K bank account, can’t be used in a federal race. 

·         Dems haven’t cracked the code of CD-2.  There was great hope for last year’s mid-term, and much hype about the enthusiasm behind their candidate Cort VanOstran.  But he lost (51%-47%), never getting as close as early pundits predicted.

Schupp’s Advantages

·         She may not close the money gap entirely, but she’ll have as much as she needs.  She’s a very strong fundraiser.  And if she can demonstrate a path to victory, there will be national money.

·         During her years in the state legislature she has grown a small army of volunteers.  One MOScouter describes them as “the kind of people who will stand at intersections with signs.”

·         Dems were buoyed by their success in the House 99 special election.  There should be no shortage of energy from Democrats in CD-2 next year.

Seeking MO Fellows

An RFP issued last week seeks “a contractor to provide three fellows to assist State of Missouri departments with strategic data initiative projects to include: 1) data infrastructure, 2) standardizing benefit payment systems, and 3) using data to improve statewide program performance and strategy, as set forth herein.”   See the RFP here.

From the RFP: The State of Missouri’s current administration is looking to transform and realign the state’s organizational structures and the pragmatic ways the state recognizes, empowers, and leads our public servants. The specific expertise, skills, and experience the state is seeking may not be available from the state’s current workforce or senior leadership to address such matters. In addition, the state has no clear statewide framework to engage external executives to aid in the state’s transformation into a leading organization…

The state has created a framework to place external executives into temporary state government service as fellows to achieve this end. These executives will lead initiatives, and address the state’s strategic priorities for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Department of Social Services, and the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.  The Department of Mental Health, while not receiving the direct services of a fellow, will be involved in the Project Description review process and candidate interviews and selection and will benefit from the overall project… Total annual costs for the scoping of work, recruitment, placement and compensation for each of the three (3) fellows for each of the three (3) projects must not exceed $150,000.00 (total costs for all three (3) fellows/projects must not exceed $450,000.00)… The State of Missouri anticipates a duration of a twelve-month period for each of the three (3) projects…

DGA Memo

According to a Democratic Governors Association memo Auditor Nicole Galloway is currently running 9 point behind incumbent Governor Mike Parson, but the race is “wide open.” See it here.

Dems Talking Points from the Memo

·         Democrat Nicole Galloway starts the race down just 9 points to an incumbent Republican, with Parson earning 45% of the vote to Galloway’s 36%. This has Parson well below the 50% threshold an incumbent wants heading into an election year.

·         Impressively, she begins the race with a 6 point lead against Parson among Independents, 40% to 34%, and grows her lead after positive biographical statements to a 15 point advantage.

·         She is currently ahead among African-American voters by 50, with 26% of them not sure yet who they will support. African-American voters support a generic Democrat against Trump by 80 points, meaning she can make significant gains with this voting bloc as the race progresses.

·         Undecided voters present another opportunity for Galloway. They are disproportionally Democrats, disapprove of Trump 57% to 28%, and after hearing initial bios of both candidates are 4.5 times more likely to support Galloway than Parson.

·         Galloway also seems to have real potential to grow among Missouri women when they learn more about her – she initially starts down 6 points and then leads by 2 after solely hearing her biography.

Olson to Boeing

Andrew Olson has left the Senate majority staff.  Word is that he got a job handling government contracts with Boeing.   “Honestly he was being underutilized here for years. Good guy but he was smart to move on…”

NYT on Dem Prez Candidates and Charters

The New York Times has an article today about the leading Democratic presidential candidates backing away from support for charter schools.  See it here.

For more than two decades, Democrats have largely backed public charter schools as part of a compromise to deliver black and Latino families a way out of failing district schools. Charters were embraced as an alternative to the taxpayer-funded vouchers for private-school tuition supported by Republicans, who were using the issue to woo minority voters. But this year, in a major shift, the leading Democratic candidates are backing away from charter schools, and siding with the teachers’ unions that oppose their expansion. And that has left some black and Latino families feeling betrayed…

Charter schools, which educate over three million students, are publicly funded and privately managed — and often are not unionized. Nationally, the schools perform about the same as traditional neighborhood schools. But charter schools that serve mostly low-income children of color in large cities tend to excel academically. And bipartisan support in Washington has allowed charters to proliferate, with their waiting lists swelling into the hundreds of thousands. ​

Since Bill Clinton’s presidency, the charter school movement has had Democratic backing. It was central to President Barack Obama’s education legacy. But this campaign season, charter schools present a challenging issue for the four Democratic front-runners for the nomination, all of whom are white, in a nominating contest that will be heavily influenced by black voters...

Each are chasing both the powerful endorsements of national teachers’ unions and the support of black Democrats who tend to be more supportive of charter schools than their white counterparts, according to polling….

Gubby Appts

Governor Mike Parson announced three appointments…

·         Robert Barrett was appointed as the Commissioner of Finance for the Department of Commerce and Insurance.

·         Sharon Kissinger was appointed to the Public School Retirement System Board of Trustees.

·         David Ott was appointed to the MO HealthNet Oversight Committee.

Panel Announced

The Sixteenth Circuit Judicial Commission has met and selected a panel of three nominees for the associate circuit judge vacancy in Division 26 of the Jackson County Circuit Court.  The nominees are: Arimeta R. DuPree, R. Travis Willingham, and Jerri J. Zhang.

eMailbag: On Vaping and AV Tech, Every Life Counts

[We shouldn’t be] so cavalier about even 26 lost lives - that number of deaths tossed up as if it’s so inconsequential. Sans regulation, many corporations have shown that they will kill us in the name of saving/making money. Haven’t government oversight and regulation grown out of a need to keep the populace from being poisoned by pollution or harmed by defective products?

How many dead are enough?

Help Wanted

BioSTL seeks Executive Director for STEMSTL “to oversee the administration, programs, and strategic plan of STEMSTL, St. Louis’ regional STEM Ecosystem.  The STEMSTL Executive Director will have overall strategic and operational responsibilities for STEMSTL staff members, programs, expansion of Ecosystem, workgroups, and execution of its vision and mission. Resource development will be a critical part of the role to drive execution of STEMSTL projects and ensure the sustainability of the Ecosystem….  Compensation package will include salary and benefits, including health coverage and retirement savings.  A base salary of $100,000+ is anticipated, commensurate with experience. Please send a detailed letter of interest and resume, by 5:00 pm central time on Friday, December 6th, to Derek Collins at dcollins@stlouisco.com with “STEMSTL Executive Director” in the subject line...”  See the ad here.

New Committees

Dean VanSchoiack formed a candidate committee (Citizens for Dean VanSchoiack) to run for House 9 as a Republican.  The current incumbent, Republican Rep. Shiela Solon, is termed.

Lobbyists Registrations

Steven Tilley added PayIt, LLC.

Timothy Flynn and Robert Kneip added Hayfin Capital Management LLC.

Nikolas Nartowicz deleted Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

$5K+ Contributions

MO Opportunity PAC - $15,000 from Prime Inc.

Missouri Democratic State Committee - $25,000 from Schupp for Senate.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Jane Dueker.