MOScout Daily Update: Parson Touts ECE Priority - House Starts With Speaker's Priority - Graves and Luetky Take PAC Hit? - Klumb Seeks Biden Job - STL Mayor Poll and more...

Parson Presser

Governor Mike Parson’s inaugural address was quick and non-political. But his press conference afterwards yielded some information…

·         Parson planted a flag on early childhood services, marking it as a top priority… “I think everything should be centered around early childhood development.  If you really want to change society, if we want to change education, it’s about making sure every kid has an opportunity to an education.  Regardless of where you live, or where you’re from, what the circumstances you’re living in… If you keep doing things the way you’ve been doing it for decades, you’re going to get the same response. I don’t think anybody here can argue that point. There may be different ways you administer it, but I can tell you from decade after decade that I’ve been around, you get about the same results you have been. If you really want to change it, I think it’s through early childhood development. That’s why you’re going to see some changes in the state in that particular area.  I think there’ll be more about that in the State of the State.”

·         Parson said that there were precautions being put into place to increase the security around the capitol.  This comes after new reports said that the FBI was warning of potential violent disruption to state capitols following last week’s DC riot.

·         And he demurred to opine about Senator Josh Hawley’s role in the attack on Congress, saying, “Look… I’m going to ask you today, if you just, I just want to stay with the inaugural and being governor of the state of Missouri.  It’s a special day for me and my family. It’s special day for our state. Washington DC, we’ll be talking about Washington DC every day from hereafter…”

6K MO COVID Deaths

Missouri’s COVID data dashboard is in the midst of another maintenance update this morning.  Yesterday the state death total was 5,951.  Because of the reporting lag (which I have written about repeatedly), this means that Missouri has already experienced its 6,000th death from COVID.  In fact, it likely occurred last month.  Missouri’s population is roughly 6 million.  That means 1 in 1000 Missourians have now died from COVID.

Driving the Day: MEC Bangs Gavel

The House holds its first committee meeting of the 2021 legislative session.  Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman will chair the Children and Families Committee.  They’ll be hearing bills from Rep. Hannah Kelly dealing with adoption and foster parenting services.  This is a priority for the Speaker Rob Vescovo. 

GOP Donor Fallout: Graves and Luetky Take Hit?

NYTimes reports on the GOP’s corporate donors pulling back after last week’s attack on Congress.  See it here.

·         Hallmark requested the return of campaign contributions that its PAC made to Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Roger Marshall of Kansas, who both voted against certifying the presidential election results. “Hallmark believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind,” the company said in a statement…

·         The pullback in PAC donations will hurt lawmakers unevenly. Sam Graves and Blaine Luetkemeyer, both Republicans from Missouri who objected to certifying Mr. Biden’s election victory, were the House members who were second- and third-most reliant on PAC donations. Their 2020 campaigns were both funded about 80 percent by PAC donations, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. In the Senate, where the reliance on PAC money is generally lower, Senator Hawley received 7 percent of his recent funds from corporate PACs; for Texas Republican Ted Cruz, probably the highest profile objector to the November election result, the figure was 1 percent…

Another Fault Line: Conservative Media

I wrote yesterday about two fault lines in the Republican ecosystem: Trump Republicans versus traditional Republicans, and corporate donors versus Trump Republicans.  Axios reports on a third fault line occurring in the GOP between “entities that want to double down on pro-Trump rhetoric and those that want to stick with the establishment.”  See it here.

STL Mayoral Poll

Show Me Victories released a poll they’ve done of the St. Louis City mayoral race.  See it here. The city will use “approval voting” for the first time this Spring.  It allows voters to choose more than one candidate in the first round.  That throws a curve to pollsters.  To understand its impact on the election, Show Me asked voters for their first-choice candidate, if they were planning to vote for more than one, and then among multiple-vote voters if they would or wouldn’t vote for each candidate.

Show Me Victories conducted a survey of 732 registered voters in the City of St. Louis likely to participate in the March 2, 2021 non-partisan municipal primary election. The interviews took place between January 5-8, 2021. The survey data was collected using an Interactive Voice Response system administered to landline telephones only and SMS-to-web texts administered to cellular phones only. The margin of error for the entire sample is +/-4.0%...

·         Lewis Reed and Tishaura Jones hold a commanding two-to-one lead over their opponents leading up to the March 2021 non-partisan primary. Close to one-third of the electorate (30%) indicate Reed is their number one choice for mayor, while a similar percentage of likely voters (28%) chose Tishaura Jones as their primary choice.

·         Despite electoral changes brought about by the passage of Proposition D, the majority (59%) of likely March 2021 voters say they intend to vote for one candidate for mayor. In contrast, one out of five voters (21%) say they will support multiple mayoral candidates.

·         The overwhelming majority of black and north city voters intend to vote for one rather than multiple candidates for mayor. Specifically, 76% of north city residents and 74% of black voters intend to support only one candidate for mayor. In contrast, 50% of whites, along with 54% of central city, and 49% of south city, voters intend to support only one candidate for mayor.

And

For those who want a quick rundown of St. Louis City’s mayoral and aldermanic candidates, Lewis Rice lobbyists Dave Sweeney and Sonette Magnus have created a cheat sheet.  See it here.

Klumb Seeks Biden Administration Post

Kansas City Business Journal reports on Jason Klumb’s efforts to score an appointment in the Biden Administration.  See it here.

·         As President-elect Joe Biden evaluates candidates to lead a smorgasbord of federal departments, longtime local public servant Jason Klumb hopes to enter consideration for an assignment that would become his greatest yet.  Klumb told the Kansas City Business Journal he's interested in rejoining the General Services Administration, this time as administrator for the entire 12,000-person agency, which manages federal real estate, vehicles, information technology services and presidential transition team resources out of 11 regional offices.

·         "I don't want that ship to sail without my name on it," said Klumb, who for nearly seven years, between 2010 and 2017, was regional administrator of the GSA's Heartland Region, appointed by former President Barack Obama…

·         Conversations over contenders for GSA administrator are poised to amp up in the coming months. In Klumb's case, those could include make-or-break feedback from senior members of Missouri's Congressional delegation, including Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and Sen. Roy Blunt, whose offices did not return requests for comment.

Solon Gets Appt

Playing catch up here from last week…  Governor Mike Parson appointed recently termed-Rep. Sheila Solon to be the Acting Director of the Division of Professional Registration.

Other Gubby Appts

Parson made these other appointments as well.

·         Samuel Adams was appointed to the State Board of Mediation.

·         Dr. Meghan Arnold and Dr. Edward Cline were appointed to the Missouri State Board of Podiatric Medicine.

·         Jeremy Benson was appointed as the Cass County Auditor.

·         Danny Chadakhtzian and Stephen Parshall were appointed to the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

·         Jamie Goodwin was appointed as the Lewis County Circuit Clerk.

·         Bobbi Lear was appointed as the Polk County Clerk.

·         Jennifer Middleton was appointed as the Lafayette County Clerk.

·         Gail Perryman was appointed as the Henry County Recorder of Deeds.

·         Pam Robertson was appointed as the Lawrence County Recorder of Deeds.

·         Carrie Ward was appointed as the Lincoln County Auditor.

New Committees

Gateway to Progress PAC was formed.  Its treasurer is Kathryn Drennen.  The PAC manager is Jordan Overstreet.

Defend the Future PAC was formed.  Its treasurer is Noah Krehbiel.  It is in support of David Woody.  See its paperwork here.

Lobbyists Registrations

Gamble & Schlemeier deleted BF Ascher & Co, Inc.

$5K+ Contributions

Electrical Workers Voluntary Political Education & Legislative Funds - Missouri - $22,747 from IBEW Local One.

Together KC - $25,000 from Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Nate Tate, Scott Largent, and Jim Ross.