MOScout Daily Update: Pre-Filing Day - Greitens Goes Anti-SAPA - Kunce Runs Ad on Fox - KC Eyes NFL Draft - Meet Paladin PAC and more...

Pre-filing begins today for next month’s legislative session…

Greitens Torches SAPA

Jack Suntrup reports that Eric Greitens is positioning himself as anti-SAPA (Second Amendment Protection Act).  See it here.

“What they’ve done in this bill is that they’ve actually defunded police,” Greitens said. He said police officers had been pulled from federal crime task forces that work to remove criminals from the street. “It’s important to have leaders who, like, understand what’s happening on the front lines,” Greitens said.

·         Republicans running in primaries have rarely spoken any words that could be interpreted as anti-2A.

·         One politico’s assessment: I suspect some law enforcement officials in southeast Missouri convinced Greitens to weigh in, but I think it was a mistake. Ask Kathy Swan what it feels like to be on the receiving end of Missouri Firearms Coalition executive director Aaron Dorr. Aaron can fire up grassroots 2nd Amendment supporters.

And

Indeed, the Missouri Firearms Coalition quickly was up on Facebook attacking Greitens. See it here.

What Game is Kunce Playing?

Lucas Kunce, Democrat running for US Senate released a TV ad yesterday, saying that the media buy (a modest five-figure amount) was running on Fox.  Not a lot of Democratic primary voters watching Fox.

See the ad here.  It hits the Republicans candidates for being weak on China.

What’s going on here?

·         First, Kunce is totally looking past Scott Sifton and his Democratic primary here.  That may not hold as next summer approaches.  But right now he has a commanding money lead over Sifton and can afford to spend some cash to generate new buzz.

·         By engaging his Republican rivals – he managed to draw Vicky Hartzler into a twitter spat – he looks even more like the presumptive Dem nominee.

·         Team Kunce might argue this is part of the necessary realignment for Dems to be competitive against Republicans in Missouri. This profile in the conservative Washington Times makes that case: that Kunce is mapping out a Democratic populism message.

KC Eyes NFL, FIFA

Tipster: Kansas City Leaders have been quietly telling stakeholders that they will not pursue the Republican National Convention, and instead will focus their attention and resources toward the 2023 NFL Draft and 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Driving the Day: Legal 2022

Media advisory for today 1PM: The Legal Missouri 2022 coalition to give voters an opportunity to legalize marijuana for adult use will provide an update on the escalation of signature-gathering efforts and other campaign news. Supporters from several endorsing organizations will also attend. 

Confirmed speakers include campaign manager John Payne; Sarah Owsley, director of policy and advocacy, Empower Missouri; and community activist Justice Gatson, founder of the Reale Justice Network. 

Smith on Pre-Session Blues

Former Sen. Jeff Smith writing in Missouri Independent gives voice to the general pessimism ahead of next month’s start to the legislative session.  Read it here.

More state senators than in any cycle in modern history are running for higher office or seriously considering doing so… A bumper crop of House members have already announced candidacies for higher office as well… It’s not hard to imagine how all of the ripple effects could form a tsunami… Does Sen. Moon block Sen. [Eric] Burlison’s bills, or vice versa? Does Sen. [Dave] Schatz try to weaponize issues against his U.S. Senate campaign opponents, such as, say, a symbolic effort to overturn unpopular federal mandates (i.e., Real ID) that he might claim U.S. Reps. Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler failed to reverse?..

10K More Deer Shot This Year

Springfield News Leaders reports: Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation showed that 187,967 deer were harvested between Nov. 13-23… In 2020, hunters checked 177,769 deer during the November portion of firearms deer season.

Post TGiving COVID Bump?

The state’s dashboard shows over 1,300 Missourians hospitalized with COVID now and over 300 in the ICU.  It could be a blip, we’ll see, but the numbers had been below 1,000 hospitalized and in the 200 range as the delta wave was receding.

Meet Paladin PAC

Recently formed Paladin PAC appears to be the twin of Mo Coalition for Video Lottery PAC which was formed the week before.  They share addresses and treasurers and donors.

Both are tied to lobbyist Andy Arnold who is working the video lottery issue on behalf of his client J & J Ventures.

eMailbag: Who’s Conservative?

Harvard intellectual historian H. Stuart Hughes said “Conservatism is the negation of ideology.” Keeping the districts at 6-2 is a conservative idea. Going to 7-1 looks ideological and that is not conservatism. The criticism of Rick Brattin is misplaced.

New Committee

Holly Cronk formed a candidate committee (Committee to Elect Holly Kay Cronk for State Representative) to run for House 1 as a Republican. Rep. Allen Andrews is termed.

Jessica Shepherd formed a candidate committee (Shepherd for Missouri) to run for House 114 as a Democrat.  This is the Becky Ruth district.

Lobbyists Registrations

Nexus Group added Qualtrics, LLC.

David Sweeney deleted Value St. Louis Properties, LP.

$5K+ Contributions

Paladin PAC - $26,500 from J&J Ventures Gaming of MO, LLC.

Friends for Jefferson County Parks - $7,000 from Laborers International Union of North America Laborers Local No. 110.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Charlie Dooley, Mark McCloskey, Stacy Steen, Ryan Stauffer, Elizabeth Zerr, Frank Plescia, and Joe Knodell.