MOScout Daily Update: Bunten Moves Up - STL Circuit Atty Disarray - Frisella for Bruce - McCreery Cookie and more...

It’s a small update this morning… Let’s start with a few fundraising bits.  Next week is the close of this fundraising quarter.  We’re less than a year from the 2022 primary, so these numbers matter; there’s only three more quarters before Election Day.  And with the lines in flux folks are trying to bank money now so they’ll be well positioned when the maps finally are settled.

McCreery Fundy

Rep. Tracy McCreery held her big big kick-off fundraiser last night at the home of Sen. Jill Schupp.  As Jennie Bonwich tweeted: You know it’s for real when there’s a cookie!

Frisella for Bruce

Tipster: Andy Frisella hosted Kalena Bruce (candidate in CD-4) on his Real AF podcast to talk about young leaders getting engaged in politics. He has been featured in Inc., Entrepreneur & Forbes Magazine.  From 2015-2019 he hosted The MFCEO Project, the #1 business and success podcast in the world. He and his wife Emily maxed out to Bruce after her appearance on the podcast…

Bunten Moves Up

Brian Bunten been elevated to Regional Vice President for UnitedHealth Group External Affairs, managing the team of in-house lobbyists in the Central U.S.  That means, Bunten will no longer represent UHG in Missouri on a day-to-day basis.

UHG continues to be represented by Lathrop GPM (Doug Nelson, Heath Clarkston, and Kurt Schaefer) and that will not change.

Decimated and Drowning

Post-Dispatch reports on the seemingly sinking St. Louis City Circuit Attorney’s office. It appears to be reaching an emergency situation.  Read it here.

·         Nine months into Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner's second term, a decimated team of prosecutors is desperately understaffed and, some say, drowning in dysfunction. Gardner now employs just over 30 attorneys with 150 years of combined tenure in the office. Five years ago, more than 60 prosecutors had worked for the circuit attorney for a cumulative 500 years.

·         She spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside contracts, often with law firms that defend her from political and legal embroilment. Her prosecutors have missed hearings, showed up unprepared and quit. Police are angry that Gardner isn't taking more cases. Defense attorneys are frustrated with delays. And some victims feel forgotten.

·         Gardner declined to be interviewed for this story. Spokeswoman Allison Hawk said the office is handling its caseload and hustling to recruit experienced prosecutors. Still, she conceded difficulties… Hawk, a former corporate communications executive for the St. Louis Rams football team, on retainer with Gardner's office….

·         But it's about to get a lot harder. As pandemic restrictions ease, cases hung up for the past year in the court system will start to move through the docket.  "We know that the onslaught is coming," Hawk said. "So we are working actively to identify additional attorneys to handle those cases."

·         Former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce doesn't recall the number of attorneys in her office ever dipping below 50. She wouldn't comment publicly on Gardner, but said, for her, being short-staffed meant being down one or two attorneys. "I would lose sleep being down one attorney," Joyce said. "It would be a big deal."

DWE

Mike Flynn shows some multitasking skills by giving his endorsement of Eric Greitens while driving…. See it here.

Lobbyists Registrations

Kristian Starner added Graduation Alliance, Inc; and deleted Cerner Corporation.          

Maureen McDonnell added Associated General Contractors of Missouri.

Timothy O'Connell added Packaging Matters LLC.

$5K+ Contributions

AGC of MO PAC - $7,000 from Branco Enterprises, Inc.

AGC of MO PAC - $7,750 from Fabick CAT.

AGC of MO PAC - $11,600 from Tramar Contracting, Inc.

AGC of MO PAC - $11,500 from Twehous Excavating Co., Inc.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Harry Otto, Terry Witte, and Kevin Wilson.

Saturday: Jeff Roe, Katie Reichard Eiken, Gordon Reel, Bryan Spencer, and Mark Schwartz.

Sunday: Sen. Lauren Arthur, Rep. Justin Hill, Michael Reid, Penny Hubbard, and Walt Bivins.

MOScout Schedule

No weekend editions.  See y’all on Monday!