MOScout Daily Update: Galloway Raised $3M Last Quarter - CLEAN Gets Another $1M - Parson Returns from Isolation - Polling Oddity and more....
Galloway Announces HUGE Quarter
In an email blast over the weekend, Auditor Nicole Galloway wrote: [M]y team has been tabulating the full total for our quarterly report that isn't due till the 15th, and now, I wanted to share the new total with you: $3,000,000…
That’s an incredible number - especially with contribution limits. One can only assume that national donors powered the quarter as it would seem like it’s hard to find that many new donors in Missouri this late in the race.
· This money stretched farther than the PAC money because candidates get lower rates on TV ads.
· This removes any doubt that Galloway will have enough money to get her message out and make her case to Missourians.
Another $1M for CLEAN
CLEAN, working to defeat Amendment 3 (CLEANER) and preserve the previous redistricting plan, continues to land big checks from national organizations.
In today’s list…
$500K from the National Education Association.
$500K from dark money non-profit Strategic Victory Fund.
Parson Quarantine Ends
Governor Mike Parson will return to his public duties this week. After quarantining in the mansion, his COVID illness is no longer in the phase where he could spread the virus.
His first event will be a ribbing cutting at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph on Tuesday.
Parson and Vets Outbreak
Friday Governor Mike Parson ordered “an external review of all seven Missouri Veterans Homes and their COVID-19 operations.”
Data presented yesterday in a briefing with the Governor raised concerns regarding how well Missouri Veterans Homes are uniformly and systematically operating to prevent and, if necessary, contain COVID-19 outbreaks among their staff and residents… Governor Parson has instructed Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) Chairman Timothy Noonan to conduct a rapid, independent, external review of all seven Missouri Veterans Homes to assess their performance to date and identify what steps, if any, should be taken to improve their management of COVID-19.
This comes after an outbreak at a facility that Parson himself visited before his own COVID diagnosis. See the Post-Dispatch article here.
Polling Oddity
In Missouri gubernatorial polling there’s been a strange anomaly. Nicole Galloway has been running behind Joe Biden.
In the most recent example, last weekend’s Remington poll had her trailing Mike Parson by 7 while Biden was losing to Trump by 5.
Recent history….
In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost by 18 points while Chris Koster only lost by 5.
In 2012, Barack Obama lost by 9, while Jay Nixon won by 12.
In 2008, Obama lost by .1%, and Nixon won by 19.
In 2004, John Kerry lost by 7, and Claire McCaskill lost by 3.
In 2000, Al Gore lost by 3, Bob Holden won by 1
The usual explanation behind this phenomenon is that the national Democratic Party is viewed as more liberal than the Missouri Democratic Party. State Democratic candidates do a better job representing Missouri values and therefore win more Missouri votes.
I asked some Dems why Galloway isn’t benefiting from this.
· Their thinking: Compared to other Dems who have run for governor her political career is quite short. Therefore, she isn’t a known commodity the way someone like Jay Nixon was to voters. Nixon – and others like Koster and McCaskill – had longer tenures in state politics, had more relationships and had an easier time grabbing crossover voters as a result.
But – this gap may close by Election Day. We’ll see….
Leaving Kids Virtually Behind
Missourinet reports that “Members of a Missouri House subcommittee voiced concerns Thursday about some teachers who are having a hard time connecting with a number of their students learning remotely this year. The Subcommittee on Appropriations – Education shared their message to a group of Missouri K-12 education officials submitting their state budget requests.
Representative Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, said a teacher in her district has not heard a peep from about 30% of her students since school started five weeks ago. The teacher has emailed. She has called. She has tried to leave messages. So far, crickets….
Rep. Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, said he thinks some teachers are feeling “additional pressure” to “chase after kids” in a way they did not have to before COVID-19 emerged.
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Deputy Commissioner Kari Monsees said the department has focused on preparing teachers and leaders to deliver education during the pandemic…
Monsees said some schools are mobilizing staff to knock on doors to reach parents and their kids….
Shields said teachers are doing tasks they did not sign up to do, like juggling to educate a group of kids in a traditional classroom and a group of students doing distance learning – adding to an already sizeable workload. She urged the department to dig deeper….”
Goode Passes
Former Rep. Wayne Goode passed away this weekend. See the Post-Dispatch article here.
P. Wayne Goode grew up and attended public schools in Normandy. He went on to represent north St. Louis County for 42 years as a Democrat in the Missouri House (1963 to 1984) and Senate (1984 to 2005)…
Goode graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1960 and won his first election to state office three years later. One of his first pieces of legislation allowed the University of Missouri to acquire the old Bellerive golf course in Normandy to establish UMSL.
After his retirement from the Legislature, Goode served on the University of Missouri’s Board of Curators from 2009 to 2014…
A public memorial celebration is planned for 2021.
Lobbyists Registrations
Gamble & Schlemeier added Missouri Clean Energy District.
Tom Dempsey added Ehawk Inc., and K12.
Tashayla “Tashayla Person” Donohoe added Civic Council of Greater Kansas City.
Tim O’Connell deleted Vi-Jon Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
CLEAN Missouri - $500,000 from National Education Association (Washington DC).
CLEAN Missouri - $500,000 from Strategic Victory Fund (Raleigh NC).
Purple PAC - $33,250 from Safer Families for Missouri.
Keep Government Accountable - $25,000 from Greg Wendt.
Page PAC - $10,000 from Laborers International Union of North American Local No. 42 PAC Fund.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Joe Keavney and Nick Marshall.