MOScout Daily Update: Mitten For Doll - Anti-Eigel Dark Money? - Watching Hospitalization #s - Wieland Offers Travel Advisory and more....
First in MOScout: Mitten Endorses Doll
Rep. Gina Mitten is endorsing Jo Doll in House 83. Mitten is term limited. Doll and Tyler Merkel are running to replace her.
Merkel is an attorney whose April quarter showed $10K on-hand. Doll is a school board member in the district. She formed her committee after the April deadline. Neither have filed their July reports yet. See their campaign websites here: Doll. Merkel.
Big Dark Money Against Eigel?
Here’s a mailer against Sen. Bill Eigel. It gives a glimpse of the potential lines of attack against the incumbent senator.
But what’s most important is the ‘paid for’ disclaimer. It’s from “Voters for Good Government.” They received $390,000 from Americans for Limited Government over the weekend. Is it all headed at Eigel? We’ll see.
Americans for Limited Government is a non-profit in Virginia (see the website here), and that means we’ll probably never know who the actual donors are.
Also, Voters for Good Government has had complaints filed against it with the Missouri Ethics Commission in the past. See a Post-Dispatch article from 2013 here.
The Missouri Ethics Commission has sanctioned the Jefferson County Central Republican Committee — as well as its treasurer Leslie Hanson, its chairwoman Janet Engelbach and her husband George "Bob" Engelbach, a county council member — and the Voters for Good Government committee and its treasurer, William "Buddy" Hardin IV, a St. Charles County-based Republican activist, for illegal campaigning before the August 2012 election.
A complaint alleged that the Jefferson County political-action committee, through the direction of the Engelbachs and Hanson, spent $3,400 of the committee's money on campaign mailers to "support certain candidates" and concealed the expenditure with the help of Voters for Good Government, through Hardin's direction…
MO Senate Conservative Fund Loads Up
Missouri Senate Conservatives Fund received $150,000 from American Federation of Children, that’s a DC-based pro-school choice organization. Like Americans for Limited Government (above), it’s a non-profit and won’t have to disclose its donors.
Back in 2018, AFC gave money to Missouri Senate Conservatives Fund, which then supported Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer.
The treasurer of MSCF is James Thomas. He has ties to Jeff Roe, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see these fund used in support of an Axiom Strategies state senate client.
Reading the Hospitalizations Tape
As I follow the battle against the COVID virus, I watch the state’s daily hospitalization numbers. Find them here. They haven’t declined over the past month, but they haven’t climbed out of control either. In short, it appears we’re doing enough to contain the rate of the spread, but we’re not on the back side of the curve yet.
There are two disadvantages of watching hospitalizations.
· First, like watching the daily revenue numbers to keep an eye on the state budget, it’s easy to get whipsawed between optimism and pessimism depending on how any given day’s numbers go.
· Second, it’s driving while looking in the rear-view mirror. It’s a lagging indicator, as people have to get infected, then show symptoms, then have their sickness take a bad turn, then they go to the hospital.
However, I think these disadvantages are outweighed by the fact that they provide an apples-to-apples comparison of how we’re doing as a state. More testing equals more confirmed cases. But regardless of testing and confirmed cases, sick folks end up at the hospital today as they did in March, April, May or June.
But…
Watching these statewide numbers obscures the uneven spikes and valleys throughout the state. St. Louis was initially the largest epicenter of the outbreak, but now it’s hitting other regional hubs, most notably Joplin.
The Washington Post, in an article over the weekend, looks at Joplin. See it here.
It seemed this spring that the pandemic sweeping America had passed Joplin by. The meticulously prepared coronavirus unit at the hospital was all but deserted. The health department dutifully reported each day it had nothing new to report. The novel coronavirus was terrorizing the coasts and larger inland hubs, killing people by the thousands. But in the modest southwest Missouri city where Bonnie and Clyde once hid out from the law, it was more rumor than reality…
After starting June with no active cases in the city, Joplin entered July at the heart of one of the country’s fastest growing coronavirus hot spots. And like many places that skipped the springtime surge only to be walloped this summer, it’s fighting back with a much-diminished arsenal.
Missouri’s stay-at-home order is gone and unlikely to return. Tests are in short supply. The hospital is bumping against capacity as coronavirus cases pile up and doctors work their way through a backlog of non-emergency procedures… But they are also reckoning with a population that long ago grew weary of making sacrifices to confront an enemy that seemed to exist only in theory.
“There’s a little bit of the boy who cried wolf,” said Toby Teeter, president of the Joplin Chamber of Commerce. “This town shut down when there were 18 cases total. Now, there are 100 a day [in the region]. People are almost numb to it.” With many of the new national outbreaks concentrated in relatively rural and conservative areas, many people are also less trusting of medical advice. “Eighty percent of people here are watching one channel and it’s downplaying the epidemic,” Teeter said, referring to Fox News. “So there’s a lot of confusion.”
Wieland Travel Advisory
Sen. Paul Wieland posted on social media a “travel advisory” telling folks to avoid St. Louis City. See it here.
Today I am issuing a Travel Advisory to all of my constituents in Jefferson County…
As long as St louis City refuses to protect the public, and allows this lawlessness to flourish, I am advising my family, friends and the law abiding people I represent to avoid traveling to or through St. Louis City.
In addition to crime, leaders of both St Louis City and County have mandated that everyone must wear mask as they have apparently lost control of the corona virus outbreak. If the situation there is that dire, I would suggest Jeffco citizens refrain from traveling or shopping in those areas. Until an “all clear” is sounded it would be safer for everyone to shop Jefferson County first…
Meanwhile
Jefferson County issued its own advisory over the weekend. See it here. Jefferson County Executive, Dennis Gannon, in conjunction with Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) Director, Kelley Vollmar, strongly encourage county residents to wear cloth face coverings while in public to prevent further spread of COVID-19…
Jefferson County reported 72 positive cases in May and 176 cases in June, an increase of 144%. “We have seen a significant increase in our positive case count over the last few weeks,” states JCHD Director Vollmar. “It is imperative that the public do their part practicing preventative measures, like wearing a face covering in public. Actions taken now have a huge impact in the long run.”
GOP Cries “Defund” Over KC Police Debate
From the KC Star: Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas says the Missouri Republican Party is “spewing lies” by linking the push to restore local control of the city’s police department with efforts in other parts of the country to defund the police.
Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Jean Evans released a statement this week accusing presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway of wanting to defund the police because she supports local control of the Kansas City Police Department…
Lucas called the characterization a “bald-face lie” by “party hacks who aren’t invested in long term conversations about how to make our communities stronger.”
What It Means
Republicans appear to be following President Donald Trump’s lead to make “law and order” a central theme of the cycle. And that means making the Democrats the party of “Defund Police.”
Dem Party Shake-Up
In the classic day-before-a-long-weekend dump, the Missouri Democratic Party announced they were switching Party Chairs….
Effective immediately Vice Chair Clem Smith will assume the role of Acting Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party.
Chair Peters Baker released the following statement: “My commitment to justice and service to our community has been a centerpiece of my career. In light of the recent developments in my position and the office of Jackson County Prosecutor, I am stepping back from the role as Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party. I am assigning all of my duties to Vice-Chair Clem Smith and he will assume the role of Acting Chair. I believe that my friend and colleague, Clem Smith, is the right person to lead our Party at this critical moment. I am grateful for his partnership. The Missouri Democratic Party has long embraced inclusion and diversity, as well as the need to address racial injustices in our state and nation. Clem will rise to the challenges and recognizes the need for leadership at this time of great unrest.”
Hartzler Gets PPP $$$
Also doing the long weekend news dump was Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler. KC Star reports that that she acknowledged that her “family’s businesses received nearly $480,000 from a federal program designed to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic…” See it here.
Smith Does Rushmore
Congressman Jason Smith spent July 4th at President Donald Trump’s Mount Rushmore rally. See it here.
Merideth Kickstarter for Music CD
Rep. Peter Merideth has a kickstarter campaign to record a CD of music. Check it out here.
$5K+ Contributions
DougPac - $25,000 from United Association Political Education Missouri Committee - Federal Committee.
Missouri Senate Conservatives Fund - $150,000 from American Federation of Children.
XCaliber MOPAC - $15,000 from Bruce Taylor.
XCaliber MOPAC - $15,000 from Lee Levinson.
Missourians for Healthcare - $13,356 from Missouri Hospital Association.
American Dream PAC - $25,000 from Ameren Missouri.
Missouri Forward PAC – $6,500 from Missouri Leadership Forum.
Missouri Forward PAC – $7,500 from Spirit of Missouri.
Missouri Forward PAC – $10,000 from Missouri Soybean Association.
Missouri Forward PAC – $20,000 from Missouri Soybean Association.
Missouri Forward PAC – $10,000 from MO Majority PAC.
Uniting Missouri PAC - $15,000 from Joan Langenberg.
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $50,000 from Mighty Missouri PAC.
Franklin County Leadership PAC - $7,500 from Spirit of Missouri.
Franklin County Leadership PAC - $10,000 from MO Majority PAC.
Nexus PAC - $10,000 from Invenergy LLC.
Voters for Good Government - $390,000 from Americans for Limited Government (Fairfax VA).
Patriot PAC - $50,000 from CL PAC.
Humane Society Legislative Fund of Missouri PAC - $20,000 from Chuck Laue.
Professional Fire Fighters of Eastern Missouri 2665 PAC Fund - $7,711 from Professional Firefighters of Eastern Missouri.
Professional Firefighters of North St Louis County PAC - $9,000 from PFEM PAC.
Page PAC - $10,000 from Patrick Murphy.
St. Louis Rising - $74,583 from Pelopidas, LLC.
St. Louis Rising - $73,157 from Pelopidas, LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Susan Montee and Elizabeth Dumm.
Condolences
Lobbyist Pat Strader passed away last weekend after a long illness. Her husband, Dennis, a long-time doorman in the House, survives her at home. Funeral arrangements are being made.