MOScout Daily Update: Greitens Flip Flops on SAPA - Thoughts on Latest Poll - MHTC Sues OA - IE PAC for Rowland and more...
Greitens Flip Flops on SAPA
Like touching a hot stove, Eric Greitens quickly backed off his criticism of the Second Amendment Protection Act when he felt the heat.
Here’s his original critique in an interview with Austin Peterson (via Post-Dispatch’s Jack Suntrup) and here’s his Twitter posts yesterday.
· Despite the reversal, the damage has been done. His opponents can quote him demeaning SAPA supporters as RINOs.
Thoughts on MOScout/Remington Poll
The latest US Senate race poll last weekend showed Greitens retaining his lead in the race narrowly over Eric Schmitt 27% to 24%, essentially no change from last month’s poll.
· The inclusion of Sen. Dave Schatz this month has no impact. His meager showing (3%) demonstrated how far he has to go to build some statewide name ID. One politico closely watching the race thinks that it takes much more time and money to build a statewide brand than Team Schatz is anticipating.
· I wonder if Mark McCloskey will reconsider filing if he remains in the basement when February comes around. Some folks think his 4% has come at the expense of Greitens. Adding four points in a tight, splintered, multi-candidate race could be a deciding factor.
Q1: The candidates in the 2022 Republican Primary for US Senate are Eric Greitens, Vicky Hartzler, Billy Long, Mark McCloskey, Dave Schatz and Eric Schmitt. If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?
Eric Greitens: 27%
Eric Schmitt: 24%Vicky Hartzler: 16%
Billy Long: 7%
Mark McCloskey: 4%
Dave Schatz: 3%
Undecided: 19%
Trying to Pay Folks More
News Tribune reports that “the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission is asking a Cole County judge to rule on whether it can use the State Road Fund to give employees a raise.”
· On Thursday, MHTC filed a lawsuit against Ken Zellers, acting commissioner of the Office of Administration, over his refusal to commit funds from the State Road Fund to implement the Missouri Department of Transportation's new market pay plan. The state agency is asking for declaratory judgment on whether it has authority to use almost $60 million from the State Road Fund to increase employee pay.
Rural MO Millionaire Video Player Profile
Washington Post has a fascinating, fascinating profile of a millionaire Twitch streamer in New London, Missouri. (It’s the county seat of Ralls County. Its population is 1,005). See it here.
· At 26, Tyler is a millionaire and one of the Internet’s most popular streamers. For 50 hours a week, he broadcasts himself playing video games from his cramped living room… He earns more than $200,000 a month in Twitch ads and viewer subscriptions. Sponsorships with Nike and Doritos, contracts with giant esports teams, fan donations and merchandise sales have earned him millions more…
· But the punishing need to stay relevant in a supersaturated market is also fueling severe burnout. After five years of building an unapologetically aggressive persona for an audience of mostly young men, Tyler is exhausted by the expectations of an unforgiving crowd. Tyler, whose father is Black, has endured years of personal insults and sometimes explicitly racist abuse. And as his online world has grown, his real one has shrunk dramatically. Tyler has millions of fans but no friends…
· In the summer before his last year of college, he sat in his mom’s duplex and told her he’d be dropping out to stream. He would have been the family’s first to graduate. She told him it was okay, he said, “but you could see the tears.”
· Tyler estimates he’s made more than $5 million over the past few years, but he has no credit card, financial adviser or clear sense of how to spend it. His rare splurge this year was on a $170,000 Acura NSX sports car, which he keeps in a big tool shed. Tyler helps fund his stepdad’s roadside fireworks stand and pays his mom $70,000 a year to bring him dinner every evening…
Mathewson Estate Sale
Estate sale upcoming Dec. 11 including Sedalia home of late and longest-serving Senate President Pro Tem James Mathewson. The Auctioneer’s Note: “Senator Mathewson was well known in Sedalia and all over the State of Missouri! In addition to the machinery & equipment, we have many nice pieces of furniture and collectible items to sell (as well as many household items too numerous to list). We are sure to uncover several surprises as well! We will sell the Real Estate around noon. This will be a fun auction you won’t want to miss; and as Jim would say... “God Love Ya”!”
Help Wanted
Nidec Motor Corporation seeks Manager of Government Relations. “The Manager of Government Relations will interact with local, state, and federal legislative bodies and government agencies to represent and protect the organization’s business plans and interests. May oversee and manage a liaison program between the organization and legislative entities.”
eMailbag: In Praise of Rudi
Regarding Rudi Keller’s lead position in Saturday’s “Who Won The Week,” with his Missouri Independent reporting, Missouri Scout wrote: “Have you ever seen a reporter get under a governor’s skin like this? He just keeps breaking stories and giving Parson fits. It’s becoming almost a spectator sport now, waiting for Parson’s next outburst.”
Keller was an established journalism bulldog in the Missouri Capitol 30 years ago when Mike Parson was still a Polk County sheriff’s deputy. There are plenty of living witnesses to Keller giving governors, lawmakers and agency chiefs fits on a bipartisan basis. When Democrats held legislative majorities in the 1990s, Keller aggressively held them accountable. There are some memorable examples:
· When Democrat Al Nilges was House budget chairman, Keller camped outside his office’s closed door as Nilges carefully allowed just five House-Senate conferees in at a time, so the presence of a majority (six members) wouldn’t trigger the Sunshine Law. Keller saw a sixth conferee go through the door, so Keller followed the lawmaker in and quoted the open meetings law. The meeting broke up, but when the conferees reassembled, five at a time, someone posted a hand-lettered sign that read “RUDI,” with the international ban symbol overlaid in red.
· When another conference committee huddled around a table in the Senate’s Pershing Gallery, Rudi leaned in to get a look at documents. That irked powerful Democratic House Speaker Bob Griffin. Bewobblingly fortified by the grain and the grape, Griffin turned about and belly-bumped Keller. A one-time boxer, Griffin was quickly diverted to de-escalation by a Democratic ally, then-Rep. Chris Kelly. Keller just kept reporting.
· When Democrat Roger Wilson was representing Boone County in the Senate, he told Keller: “Rudi, you know how to get into a sore place with a wire brush.”
· When Wilson ran for lieutenant governor in 1992 (the same year Parson was elected as a local sheriff), Keller published a story about him missing Senate floor votes. Many of the missed votes were because Wilson was chairing the Appropriations Committee chairman and his vote had no impact on the outcome. Senator John Scott of St. Louis rose in fellow Democrat Wilson’s defense, declaring on the floor: “It was unfair to you it was wrote that way.”
· Just ask Democrat Jay Nixon about Keller’s repeated scoops exposing the state’s involvement and liability in the Mamtek sugar-processing plant debacle during Nixon’s gubernatorial watch. Keller’s reporting helped send a swindler to prison.
Gubby Appts
Governor Parson appointed…
· Judge Jennifer Growcock to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District.
· Becky Ruth as the Director of the Office of Child Advocate.
· Robert Connell, and Todd Nixon to the Amber Alert System Oversight Committee.
· Leslie Meyer as the Audrain County Eastern District Commissioner.
· Byron Roach to the State Fair Commission.
· Peggy Seyler as the Texas County Clerk.
· Michelle Wood to the Children's Trust Fund Board.
New Committees
Clean Up Independence was formed. It’s a PAC in support of Rory Rowland’s bid for Mayor of Independence. Its treasurer is Jerry Kacheroski.
Lobbyists Registrations
Kate Casas, Brian Grace and Kelvin Simmons added Kansas City Current.
Regina “Ms Regina” Turner added Scott County Charities.
Tracy Henke added Greater St. Louis Inc.
Shawn Rhoads added Lathrop GPM Consulting LLC.
Bill Shoehigh deleted Naha Health LLC, BreathableBaby LLC, and Ranger Power LLC.
Mike Morris deleted Association of Active and Retired Missouri State Employees, and Transportation Employees Association of Missouri.
John Cozad deleted United for Missouri.
Jeff Danielson deleted American Clean Power Association.
$5K+ Contributions
Legal Missouri 2022 - $30,000 from Triad Bank.
Legal Missouri 2022 - $10,000 from Triad Bank.
Legal Missouri 2022 - $10,000 from BD Health Ventures LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Teresa Coyan, and Joe Bednar.