MOScout Daily Udpate: More on VA Election - Education Freedom Pledge - MMJ's Subpoen-A-Rama - GOPer$$$ for Dogan - MO COVID Vax Nears 50% and more...
Education Gets Upgraded
The Virginian gubernatorial race has heightened the issue of education as a potential vote driver among Missouri politicos.
On the Republican side, a few electeds immediately signed on the “Education Freedom Pledge.” See it here.
“I pledge to support policies that promote parental rights in education and educational freedom. This includes the right of parents to voice their opinions at school board meetings and to take their children's taxpayer-funded education dollars to the education providers of their choosing - whether it be a public, private, charter, or home school.”
This could be a big issue within the Republican legislative caucuses. As noted previously, some rural Republican representatives tend to stick with their superintendents in resisting the school choice agenda. That’s made corralling the votes for various measures hard in the House.
It could also be an issue in some Republican primaries. Where the pledge could play…
· Jefferson County senate seat: Reps. Mary Elizabeth Coleman and Rob Vescovo have signed on.
· St. Charles senate seat: Rep. Nick Schroer has signed on.
· CD-4? - Floor Leader Calen Rowden has signed on.
· Gubby 2024: SOS Jay Ashcroft has signed on.
Meanwhile Dems do a bit of soul searching….
Rep. Peter Merideth on Facebook:
· From where I sit, Virginia’s election results yesterday suggest what we’ve all been sensing - conservatives are winning the public messaging game on the issue of school vouchers…
· The message of “empowering parents” with the ability to choose any school they want for their kids is extremely compelling on an individual level, especially for families unhappy with any variety of things about their current schools. Americans have long been persuaded that “free market” approaches create competition that improves quality while granting greater “freedom” to each individual parent to pursue what they believe is best for their kids….
· [W]e also have to be honest about the many failures of our current education system. While many of the problems undoubtedly result from perpetual underfunding (especially underpaying teachers), or disparities from inequitable funding from property taxes, we must also acknowledge some other harder failures. School boards that aren’t always competent or responsive to their communities or willing to create the options families need, failures to address individual learning needs of many kids, bloated administrative bureaucracies that are difficult for families and teachers to navigate, blanket testing standards that often led to less qualitative teaching…
More on GOP’s VA Win
· The Dispatch quotes Jeff Roe explaining the Youngkin strategy… The blueprint will be replicated. “This is going to inform candidates and campaigns how to sort of walk the line of not having to embrace the style, the tactics of Donald Trump, while at the same time, not trying to intentionally distance yourself from Trump’s voters,” Kochel said. On Tuesday night, Youngkin’s chief strategist Jeff Roe essentially said that’s exactly what they set out to do: “We weren’t defined by Obama, we weren’t defined by Trump, we were defined by Glenn.”
· NYTimes reports: While Democrats’ strength in cities and some large suburbs saved them from even deeper losses, their electoral coalition showed signs of fraying as voters vented their unhappiness with the party in power. Responding to Tuesday’s results like an alarm bell in the night, Democrats on the ballot next year said that unless Mr. Biden and other party leaders addressed voters’ close-to-home frustrations, they were certain to lose their congressional majorities.
· MO House Dems had eyed the redistricting possibilities and assumed even a status quo map would net them a handful of seats. That’s because population shifts to the suburbs should bring them more winnable districts. But perhaps the Dems’ recent strength in the suburbs was built on a rejection of Trump’s obnoxious behavior. Did Virginia signal that the suburbs will swing back when the election is not about Trump?
· With the odds of the Republicans retaking Congress up significantly on the win, does that eliminate talk of a Jason Smith for Senate late entry as he’d rather stay where he is and keep moving up?
Subpoen-A-Rama Hits MMJ
Post-Dispatch reports on subpoenas being issued to the Department of Health and Senior Services with regard to the medical marijuana industry. See it here.
“Pursuant to an official criminal investigation being conducted by the federal grand jury for the Western District of Missouri, your office has received a subpoena requiring the production of certain records,” said Michael S. Oliver, assistant U.S. Attorney, in a Sept. 9, 2020, letter to the DHSS.
What It Means
Jefferson City is awash with rumors and it feels like every month there’s a new whisper about someone about to get the hook. But these are not the usual stuff of rumors – G-men asking questions, “heard there was a grand jury,” etc. These are the very real tremors before a potential earthquake.
GOP Rallying For Dogan
Rep. Shamed Dogan has some big Republican names on his latest fundraiser scheduled for Dec 7 and the St. Louis Club.
On the host committee: Suzy and Beau Brauer, Mary and David Steward II, Anne and Doug Albrecht, Phoebe and Spencer Burke, Katy Forand, Georgann and John Hancock, Alicia McDonnell, Rachel and Jack Oliver, and Nancy and John Prentis III.
PLATINUM: $5,300 per couple
GOLD: $2,650 per couple/person
SILVER: $1,000 per couple/person
BRONZE: $500 per couple/person
Minimum suggested contribution: $250 per person
Nearing the 50% Mark
According to the state’s dashboard, 49.6% of Missourians are fully vaccinated. That number is barely budging by the way. Demand for the vaccine among the unvaccinated has flatlined, and booster shots now are most common jab given.
But with the recent approval for COVID vaccinations to available for children, Missouri will soon leap over the half-way mark.
Civic Council Leader Departs
KC Business Journal reports that “the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City's president, Marc Hill, will leave the organization on Nov. 26… The Civic Council will conduct a nationwide search to find its new president, it said in a release. Hill led the Civic Council for about four years and will begin consulting for a national organization he worked with previously.”
$5K+ Contributions
Lincoln PAC (pro-Hough) - $10,000 from Systems Services.
Legal Missouri 2022 - $10,000 from Teal Industries LLC.
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $10,000 from HCA Missouri Good Government Fund.
Lobbyists Registrations
Jessica Pabst added NOMI Health.
Jeff Hasting added Union Electric Co. DBA Amerenue, Ameren Services, Ameren Corp.
Randy Scherr and Brian Bernskoetter added Cole County Commission.
Catalyst added Quality Schools Coalition, Revenue Based Finance Coalition (RBFC), and Fanatics.
Jeffrey Brooks deleted Missouri Motion Media Association.
James Durham and Jennifer Durham deleted Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Missouri Land Title, and Hunt Midwest Real Estate.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Amy Gunn, Tony Messenger, and Patrick Hamacher.