MOScout Daily Update: Abortion Summer - Kelley Profiled - Rowland's Check - Gross' LGTBQ Plan and more....
Abortion Quagmire
Governor Mike Parson’s quick and quiet bill-signing of HB 126 appeared to be designed to give his base a win, while limiting the amount of political oxygen it took from his administration’s focus on workforce development and infrastructure. Instead the issue has become a lightning rod, sucking up all the attention of the past five weeks. And it will likely stay in the center ring for the rest of the summer.
· Planned Parenthood’s license renewal complaint won’t be heard until August 1, and then appeals are possible.
· Referendum petitions on HB 126 are also tied up in litigation, with oral arguments scheduled for July 8.
· One way or another we’re probably looking at some version of an abortion rights question being on the ballot in 2020 – whether it’s a straight referendum or something crafted to allow of exemptions for rape or something broader.
· At present there doesn’t seem to be an easy way for Parson to exit the abortion debate or to reclaim the spotlight for his economic agenda.
Kelley Profiled
Post-Dispatch published a profile of Mike Kelley over the weekend. See it here.
Two days after Steve Stenger pleaded guilty to federal pay-to-play charges, Democratic consultant Michael Kelley was on television, sounding as though he barely knew the former St. Louis County executive… Left unsaid was the fact that Stenger’s campaign had paid Kelley’s Show Me Victories — the political communications arm of the Kelley Group — $550,000 during his two successful election campaigns…
For the last five years, Kelley and [Ed] Rhode have been involved in a number of high-profile campaigns. Not only did they work to elect Stenger, they also ran Lyda Krewson’s mayoral campaign and met regularly with her during the first year of her administration.
In addition to the Stenger and Krewson campaigns, Kelley’s Show Me Victories has worked on nearly every major local ballot proposition in the last few years — both the city and county public safety sales tax increases, the St. Louis County zoo sales tax and the failed 2017 effort to dedicate a city use tax to a proposed Major League Soccer stadium. Smaller ones funded by libertarian-leaning political donor Rex Sinquefield — such as the 2017 efforts to eliminate the St. Louis recorder of deeds office and change the date of municipal elections — also resulted in payments to Show Me Victories of about $287,000.
This year, Kelley and Rhode were heavily involved in the Better Together effort, with Kelley among the speakers at the merger initiative’s January kickoff. Show Me Victories was paid $15,000 by the campaign arm of Better Together, Unite STL. Rhode also received $15,000 from the group…
Rowland Gives $100K to Campaign Account
Rep. Rory Rowland put $100K into his campaign account. He hasn’t drawn an opponent the last couple of cycles, so that makes the infusion of cash kind of interesting. His district intersects with a couple Senate districts. However the folks I asked quickly over the weekend said that they hadn’t heard of any plans from Rowland. We’ll see….
Readers on Parson Galloway Poll
· Don’t think MO will be +9R with Trump on the ballot. And with Parson’s record on abortion, suburban women are going to kill both! Wouldn’t want to be Ann Wagner... And maybe you should be polling Nicole vs Kehoe or Ashcroft. Lot of chatter out there from aspiring Repubs that says Parson will want to run ,but that his health will not likely allow it.
· That is likely [Galloway’s] high water mark – Dems have had all the attention on the debates nationally, and the abortion bill has voters as mad as they will likely get on that issue – although, I am not certain this issue is as much as a litmus test for the middle as the fringes, which are never switching parties anyway.
Gross’ LGBTQ Protection Plan
Elad Gross, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, unveiled his plan to protect the rights of those in the gay community. See it here.
· [W]e will implement the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act (MONA) in the office… If our legislature won’t do it, the Attorney General can enact it as policy. We won’t discriminate in that office.
· We will enforce the Missouri Human Rights Act the way our federal and state Supreme Courts have said we ought to: The law protects people, regardless of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity….
· We will use Missouri’s consumer protection laws to help end discrimination in our state and keep Missourians safe from exploitation, including from dangerous so-called conversion therapy scams.
· We will work with community partners, law enforcement, and prosecutors to ensure that victims and survivors of discrimination and hate crimes can access the justice they deserve.
· We will work with the legislature to advocate for reforms that protect the civil rights of all Missourians.
· We will create and fully staff a Civil Rights Division at the Attorney General’s Office….
Lobbyists Registrations
Steven Carroll deleted HSLF of MO.
Colin Weaver deleted Secure Democracy.
$5K+Contributions
Missouri Senior PAC - $8,000 from Torch Electronics.
Missouri Senior PAC - $6,250 from Torch Electronics.
Missouri C PAC - $8,000 from Torch Electronics LLC.
Missouri C PAC - $6,250 from Torch Electronics LLC.
Missouri Growth PAC - $8,000 from Torch Electronics LLC.
Missouri AG PAC - $8,000 from Torch Electronics LLC.
Missouri AG PAC - $6,250 from Torch Electronics LLC.
MO Majority PAC LLC - $8,000 from Torch Electronics LLC.
Friends Of Rory Rowland - $100,000 from Rory Rowland.
Uniting Missouri PAC - $50,000 from Ketchmark & McCreight PC.
Freedom's Promise PAC - $10,000 from CL PAC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Maida Coleman, John Bowman, Charlie Norr, and Connie Johnson.
MOScout News
Short week for me. I’m taking off July 4 (Thursday) and 5 (Friday) of this week. And no Weekender edition either.