MOScout Daily Update: Schmitt Lassos Rex, Busch, Brauer - COVID Replay - Griffin Passes - New News Talk and more...
Rex, Busch, Brauer Among Schmitt Supporters
A tipster says that Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s first fundraising report as a U.S. Senate candidate is “not only record-breaking, it will feature a who’s who of Missouri donors.”
Among some of the names…
· Rex Sinquefield
· August Busch III
· Ambassador Stephen Brauer
· Rudy Farber
· Brad Lager
· Steven Trulaske,
· Doug Albrecht
· Jeff Fox
· David O’Reilly
What It Means
· Demonstrates the base of folks who believe that Schmitt is the strongest candidate in the potential field, and/or best positioned to beat Eric Greitens.
· Shows that key funders are choosing their candidates and those waiting to decide if they’re running will find themselves working from a shrinking pool of donors.
COVID Replay
The Parson Administration’s response to this latest surge in COVID appears to be a similar to their first go-round. They’re mostly just going to wait it out.
· Vaccinations are flatlined. 39.4% of Missourians are vaccinated.
· Hospitalizations have resurgent. We’re over 1,000 Missourians currently hospitalized with COVID as of today.
· Local officials in southwest Missouri are starting to resort to mask mandates again! “The Springfield district announced Tuesday that masking will once again be required for all students and employees. Citing a surge of COVID-19 infection in the region, the district reinstated its masking rule for the second session of Explore, which starts Wednesday and ends July 30.”
· The governor remains incapable of stating simply that everyone should get vaccinated. It’s the obvious public policy response. Encourage vaccination without equivocation. Instead we get this: “But the reality is people are going to have to have the responsibility to know this is still there, we’re still gonna have to deal with it. And you’re gonna have to take responsibility, to take the vaccine, if you so choose to. But you know, I think it’s important to understand that there’s risk involved.”
· And, still working on finding a replacement for Randall Williams.
Rowden to Decide “Shortly” on CD-4
Senate Floor Leader Caleb Rowden issued a statement in response to Rep. Sara Walsh’s CD-4 kick-off, saying he’d decided shortly if he was running.
· The best guessers all see Rowden running.
· It will make the redistricting special session interesting. The legislature must redraw all the congressional lines – including CD-4.
Griffin Passes
Missouri Independent reports that former Speaker Bob Griffin has died. See it here.
· Griffin was the longest-serving speaker in the state’s history. During his tenure as speaker from 1981 to 1996, the General Assembly passed bills to add significant new funding for public schools; a bond issue that built new buildings for higher education and new prisons for the Department of Corrections; and promoted many women to committee chairmanships that had previously been the exclusive domain of male lawmakers.
· The only serious challenge to Griffin’s tenure as speaker came when House Majority Leader Tony Ribaudo tried to unseat him in 1989. After defeating Ribaudo, Griffin assigned him to work in a windowless office.
· The federal investigation that forced Griffin’s resignation looked at his relationship with lobbyist Cathryn Simmons and whether the payments she made to Griffin were bribes or payments for legal services. Griffin was indicted in October 1996 and pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of bribery and one count of mail fraud.
· Griffin was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison, but the sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton during Clinton’s final days in office in January 2001. Since his release from prison, Griffin lived quietly and took little part in politics.
Smith Fundy
One MOScouter says that House Budget Chair Cody Smith’s event drew a strong crowd. Among the spotted…
· Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe with Second Lady Claudia Kehoe
· Speaker Rob Vescovo
· House Majority Leader Dean Plocher
· Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann
· Former Senate President and House Speaker Ron Richard
· Former Speaker Elijah Haahr
· CD-4 candidate Ed Emery
· Reps. Dan Houx, Dirk Deaton, Ben Baker, and Phil Christofanelli
New News Talk
Earlier this week I wrote about a new conservative talk radio station coming to St. Louis. There are actually two efforts to create a new conservative alternative. Both seem to be born out of dissatisfaction with the current big-foot of St. Louis conservative talk radio, 97.1.
· Former Speaker Tim Jones will be joining News Talk STL 101.9 with an afternoon drive slot (3-6PM) he’ll co-anchor with Chris Arps. In addition to Jones, the station will feature Mike Ferguson in the morning, Vic Porcelli, and former Rep. Paul Curtman – who is apparently returning to Missouri from Wisconsin. 101.9’s debut is slated for July 19.
· The other potential station is 99.3. This was mentioned by Sen. Bill Eigel in his Facebook post. It’s launch date appears to be later in July and is being spearheaded by Rick and Tracy Ellis.
2023: Who’s Top Dem?
Imagining that Democrats don’t score upsets in either the US Senate race or the auditor’s race, who will be Missouri’s top Democrat in 2023 after Nicole Galloway has stepped aside? Without any statewide electeds, who steps into the void?
· Congressman Emanuel Cleaver?
· Congresswoman Cori Bush?
· County Executive Sam Page?
· Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo?
· House Minority Leader Crystal Quade?
Hazel Erby Funeral Arrangements
Visitation: Thursday, July 15, from 3 pm-7 pm
Layne Renaissance Chapel
7502 West Florissant Avenue
Jennings, MO 63136
Homegoing Services: Friday, July 16, 11 am
Hazelwood Baptist Church
6161 Howdershell Road
Hazelwood, MO 63042
Masks are MANDATORY
$5K+ Contributions
HBS MO State PAC - $25,000 from Altria Client Services LLC.
The Madison PAC - $10,000 from Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kansas City.
Invest in St. Louis Community College - $10,000 from Jerome Schlichter.
Lobbyists Registrations
Josh Youngblood added Missouri Association of Municipal Utilities.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Richard Martin, Jeff Aboussie, Marsha Haefner, and Nick Robinson.