MOScout Weekender: Parson Says No Redistricting Special - Poll: Missourians Pessimistic - Hallway ??? on Floor Leader Race - WWTW and more...

Parson Says No Redistricting Special

AP reports that “Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday said he won’t call lawmakers back to work this year to redraw the state’s congressional districts, setting up a compressed timeline for candidates running for the U.S. House in 2022.  Parson told reporters gathered at the Missouri State Fair that he doesn’t plan on calling a special legislative session this year. Some lawmakers involved in the redistricting process had expected he would do so…

That means state lawmakers won't be able to debate and vote on new boundaries for Missouri's eight U.S. House districts until they return to the Capitol in January for their annual session.

Candidates can begin filing for office on Feb. 22. But potential candidates often prefer to know the new district lines well in advance, so they have time to decide whether to run and to begin organizing their campaigns.”

What It Means

Aside from clouding the vision of would-be congressional candidates, this is simply a gift to Dems.   This helps the super-minority in two important ways…

·         It will burn a week or two of session.  Dems plays the entire five-month session with one eye on the clock.  This will help turn it into a de facto four-month session.

·         It may exacerbate GOP redistricting rifts.  If anyone feels shafted by the map (and leadership responsible for pushing it through) the wound will be immediately fresh. Dems love GOP divisions.

Tilley Buys Hanger

Post-Dispatch reports that lobbyist Steven Tilley offered the winning bid ($5.5 million) for an airplane hanger being sold off by Bayer.

·         The original asking price for the facility was more than $12 million, according to auction officials. The auction opened by seeking bids for $10 million or higher before dipping toward lower price ranges that eventually produced the winning bid…

·         Tilley declined to comment after the auction, saying only that the move is a business deal for his company, Strategic Holdings, based in Perryville — a new entity formed barely a week ago, according to filings with the state…

Remington/MOScout Poll: Coronavirus Hasn’t Changed Much - Yet

Survey conducted August 18 to August 19, 2021. 803 likely 2022 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2022 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-3.3% with a 95% level of confidence. Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding. Survey conducted by Remington Research Group on behalf of Missouri Scout. See the full results here.

Q1: Do you approve or disapprove of Mike Parson’s job performance as Governor?

Approve: 53%

Disapprove: 31%

Not sure: 16%

Q2: Do you approve or disapprove of Joe Biden’s job performance as President?

Approve: 37%

Disapprove: 57%

Not sure: 6%

Q3: When you think about the future, do you think that the next generation of Americans will likely have a better quality of life than you, or a worse quality of life?

A better quality of life: 22%

A worse quality of life: 66%

Not sure: 12%

Q4: Some schools are mandating that students wear masks.  How do you feel about this?

I think schools should mandate mask wearing: 36%

I do not think schools should mandate mask wearing: 47%

I think each school district should be able to decide: 12%

Not sure: 6%

Q5: Some employers are adopting a policy that their employees must be vaccinated. How do you feel about this?

I think employers should be allowed to require their employees be vaccinated: 50%

I do not think employers should be allowed to require their employees be vaccinated: 41%

Not sure: 9%

MOScout’s Hallway Index: House Floor Race

Lobbyists have no clear crystal ball in the House Floor Leader race.  I asked, “Who will be the next House Majority Floor Leader?”  25 replies…

RESULTS

1. Mike Haffner… 36%

2. Hannah Kelly… 28%

3. Jonathan Patterson… 32%

4. Someone else… 4%

Sample of Comments

·         Time for a woman.

·         Haffner puts together some semblance of the Plocher coalition and based on his more conservative political leanings, picks up some of the Trent crowd as well.

·         It should be Patterson. But he’s not today’s brand of GOP. Haffner has too many enemies.

·         As long as he doesn’t run for Congress it’s [Haffner’s] to lose.

·         Haffner congressional talk diminishes the perception of his commitment to the floor leader race, Patterson needs to ramp up the effort and I have not heard Hannah's name mentioned much.

·         My heart says Patterson but my head says Haffner.

·         Haffner is indefatigable

·         [Kelly’s] the safe choice

Who Won the Week?

Dem Legislators – Talk that the governor won’t call a special session for redistricting can only help the Dems as they navigate another session as the superminority.

Republican consultants – Roy Blunt’s retirement transformed this year from a snoozer to a fish-jumping-in-the-boat kind of year.  Candidates, candidates, everywhere… Just this week: Kalenda Bruce announces CD-4, Jay Wasson tells folks he’s in CD-7, J Eggleston puts $100K into his state senate committee and Aaron Griesheimer declares for Senate 26.  Whew.

Rural MO – The governor announces $400 million to help bring high-speed internet to Missourians that the market has ignored.

Steven Tilley – Business must be good to be diversifying into the airplane-hanger business.

Find a downloadable version here.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Democratic State Committee - $15,000 from Eric Schmidt.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $15,000 from United HealthCare Services Inc.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $6,000 from NextEra Energy Resources LLC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Sammy Panettiere, Katie Gamble, David Hageman, Shane Schoeller and Jim Cooper.

Sunday: Annie Rice.