MOScout Daily Update: Dems' Midwest Decline - Burlie Gets Cruz Nod - Hawley Staff Changes - $$ for JeffCo Parks Tax and more...
NYTimes: Dems’ Midwest Decline
NYTimes reports on the big trends behind Democrats’ troubles in the Midwest. Read it here.
· The share of the Democratic presidential vote in the Midwest declined most precipitously between 2012 and 2020 in counties that experienced the steepest losses in manufacturing and union jobs and saw declines in health care, according to a new report to be released this month.
· “We cannot elect Democrats up and down the ballot, let alone protect our governing majorities, if we don’t address those losses,” wrote Richard J. Martin, an Iowa-based market researcher and Democratic campaign veteran, in the report titled “Factory Towns.”
· For all the arresting data, vivid graphs and deepening red maps presented, Mr. Martin offers little guidance on how to reverse the trends….
· Surveying ten states — the Great Lakes region as well as Missouri and Iowa — Mr. Martin laid out a set of stark figures. Comparing Barack Obama’s re-election to President Biden’s election last year, he notes that Democrats gained about 1.55 million votes in the big cities and suburbs of the region surveyed. In the same period, they lost about 557,000 votes in heavily rural counties. But in midsize and small counties, Democrats lost over 2.63 million votes between the two elections…
· Taken together, the changes illustrate the degree to which Mr. Obama relied upon the votes of working-class white voters to propel his re-election — and how much Mr. Biden leaned on suburbanites to offset his losses in working-class communities that had once been a pillar of the Democratic coalition.
· It’s uncertain, as he puts it, “if moderate suburban Republicans will continue to vote for Democrats when Trump is not on the ballot.”
JeffCo Parks Tax
In the large contributions (below), there are a couple of big checks going into “Friends for Jefferson County Parks.” This is the campaign committee supporting an April ballot sales tax in Jefferson County for parks and recreation.
Hawley Staff Changes
Press release: Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced Eric Teetsel will serve as Chief of Staff. Teetsel replaces Kyle Plotkin who is departing for the private sector where he will serve as a political advisor to Senator Hawley. Plotkin managed Senator Hawley’s 2018 campaign and has been Chief of Staff since the Senator was sworn in….
Senator Hawley also announced the promotion of Kelli Ford to Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, Christopher Weihs to Legislative Director, and Philip Letsou to Communications Director….
Cruz Endorses Burlison
Press release: Missouri Senator Eric Burlison today announced that United States Senator Ted Cruz has endorsed him to represent Missouri's 7th District in Congress. “There is no conservative in Washington more dedicated to fighting Joe Biden's liberal agenda than Senator Ted Cruz, and I am proud to have his support," said Burlison. "As a Missouri legislator, I have held the line for conservative values in the same way Ted Cruz does in the Senate. I have done my duty on the state level, but since Democrats have taken over the House, they are clearly not afraid to go after our freedoms. We need solid conservatives in Congress to shoot down their socialist agenda, and I have a proven record of doing just that."
Gray Machines Set for Destruction
Missouri Independent reports on the latest skirmish over the so-called gray gaming machines. Read it here.
· Five video gaming machines declared to be illegal gambling devices in the only successful felony prosecution of a game vendor in Missouri will be destroyed Thursday in Platte City — and the public is invited to watch.
· The games, previously owned by Integrity Vending LLC, were seized in October 2018 by the Parkville Police Department at two convenience stores. Integrity Vending was convicted of promoting gambling in September 2020, paid a fine of $7,500 and pulled its other games from other locations in the state.
· Under a Missouri law dating to 1951, any device used for illegal gambling is forfeited to the state and “which has no legitimate use shall be ordered publicly destroyed.”
· Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd announced Monday that the destruction would take place at 1 p.m. Thursday at the department’s location on Highway 273. Zahnd could not be reached Monday for information on how the destruction would be accomplished…
Brown to Center for Hearing & Speech
Cathy Brown will become the Executive Director for The Center for Hearing & Speech.
Brown comes to the Center from Easterseals Midwest where she served as the Vice President of Public Policy and the Vice President of Employment and Community Services. Brown previously held leadership roles at Paraquad and Delta Center for Independent Living. She also served as an Adjunct Instructor as the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. Brown earned a B.S. in Psychology from Truman State University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Missouri - Columbia. Brown has served on numerous Boards and committees and has been deeply involved in advocating for disability services and rights.
Help Wanted
Missouri Charter Public School Association (MCPSA) seeks Director of Advocacy. “Primary responsibilities include: Gather, organize, and analyze state policies that affect charter schools and write periodic policy analyses related to the Association’s state advocacy goals; Participate actively in setting the Association’s direction and focus in the area of education policy; Assist with implementation of the Association’s charter school policy agenda; Prepare methods of communicating the Association’s charter school policy agenda; Draft testimony and position papers on charter school policy issues; Organize and engage members, partner organizations, and policy makers in charter school policy efforts; Create and manage systems to track information about key issues and policymakers… Compensation: $70K – $80K…”
Lobbyists Registrations
Cara Alexander, Rodney Gray, and Susan Henderson Moore deleted Sheriff's Retirement System.
$5K+ Contributions
Friends for Jefferson County Parks - $10,000 from McBride & Son Properties LLC.
Friends for Jefferson County Parks - $15,000 from BUILD St. Louis PAC Inc.
Missouri First - $30,000 from Republic Services.
Citizens for Gerling - $5,001 from Geoff Gerling.
MO Society of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee - $10,000 from Western Anesthesiology Associates, Inc.
Physician Led Anesthesia Care PAC - $15,000 from Western Anesthesiology Associates, Inc.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Yancy Williams.