MOScout Weekender: COVID Comes to Senate - STL County Poll - Hallways Says Biden Good for MOGOP - WWTW and more...

COVID Fears Ripple Across Senate

Sen. Andrew Koenig acknowledged yesterday that he’s tested positive for COVID.  This comes after a week of hearings in the Senate in which Koenig was often engaged in heated exchanges.

Koenig tweeted that “Fortunately, I am experiencing mild symptoms. Out of an abundance of caution, I will be quarantining at home for the next 10 days.”

The tweet was getting ratioed, as commenters noted that it’s not “abundance of caution” to isolate AFTER testing positive. 

The news elicited anger from MOScouters.

·         As one lobbyist texted me: “out of an abundance of caution” DUDE you are infected. Omg.

·         Another lobbyist:  I have two people in my family that are high risk… I can’t do my job all because of selfish people unwilling to wear a mask…

Hopefully there are no secondary infections.  But fear of possible spread generated talk that the Senate might take a week off to avoid a spat of illnesses.  After a conference call with caucus members, Floor Leader Caleb Rowden announced yesterday afternoon that the Senate would keep its work schedule for next week…

Remington/MOScout Poll: STL County

Survey conducted January 20 through January 21, 2021. 1,044 likely 2022 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2022 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-3%.   See the full results here.

Q1: Do you think St. Louis County is headed in the right direction or is it going off on the wrong track?

Right direction: 42%

Wrong track: 36%

Not sure: 22%

Q2: Do you approve or disapprove of Sam Page’s job performance as St. Louis County Executive?

Approve: 44%

Disapprove: 34%

Not sure: 22%

Q3: Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the St. Louis County Council?

Approve: 21%

Disapprove: 47%

Not sure: 31%

Q4: Possible candidates in the 2022 General Election for St. Louis County Executive are the Republican Shamed Dogan and the Democrat Sam Page. If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?

Shamed Dogan: 32%

Sam Page: 49%

Undecided: 19%

MOScout’s Hallway Index: Biden Impact

“What's the impact on Biden's presidency on Missouri's 2022 elections?”  27 replies…

RESULTS

1.  Favors Republicans… 55.6%

2.  Favors Democrats… 3.7%

3.  Net no impact… 40.7%

Sample of Comments

·         Most mid-terms favor the party not in power. But this is COVID and who knows -TBD

·         MO is mo red every election cycle. Downballot MO races will benefit from enthusiastic base turn out to put Rs back in majority in congress.

·         If someone says this favors Democrats they probably shouldn’t be on the hallway list anymore.

·         Typically, I’d say the Dem president will help Republicans in mid term elections but with Republicans flying so high with Trump, there’s going to be a let down.

·         I’d say favors Republicans, but practically speaking how much more is there to gain.

·         The obvious choice is to favor Republicans but it might be underestimating what Biden is able to get accomplished given the appearance of unity that is currently going on in Washington it could help Dems. Probably won’t happen based on history of midterms, but not completely impossible.

·         It depends on how far left Biden goes. The further left the more Republicans will gain.

·         If you thought Missouri was a red state before...

Who Won the Week?

Cindy O’Laughlin – Starts off the session with a banger of a hearing.  It was impressive the number of times she told witnesses she’d visited their school.  And now her big education reform bill is out early and on the Senate calendar. 

Mike Parson – With his state of the state speech coming up this week, it feels like the worst is behind the state.  Strong revenue numbers, a good December jobs report and a focus on vaccine distribution.  His second term looks to be less challenging than the last year.

Dem House staffers – Five staffers aim to hold their bosses accountable, asking them to live up to the ideals they espouse in a stinging op/ed in Missouri Independent.

Popcorn makers – All the talk of Greitens making a 2022 comeback has the political watchers so excited you’d think the start of a House of Cards season.

Find a downloadable version here.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Ken Jacob, Kyle Aubuchon, Jordan Overstreet, Steve Walker, and John Burcham.

Sunday: Travis Brown, Crystal Williams, Jim Hansen, and Bill Skaggs.