MOScout Daily Update: Hawley Endorsement - Senate Committee Moves Redistricting Foward - The Hawley Memo - Gardner Loses Sunshine Ruling - Derges Loses Legal Fight and more...
Hawley Endorsement?
Kyle Plotkin teased the possibility of a Josh Hawley endorsement in the Missouri Senate race. Plotkin was Hawley’s campaign manager and then his chief of staff. He now works at OnMessage Public Strategies.
Plotkin tweeted out slides from a recent Hawley poll. One showed that 54% of Republican voters would be more likely to vote for a Hawley-endorsed candidate.
It’s an intriguing suggestion. While all eyes have been on a Trump endorsement, Hawley could be a significant factor – in the absence of being bigfooted by Trump.
I asked a couple Republicans what they thought of this possibility. Both thought Hawley would likely sit out the primary except in scenarios to spoil an Eric Greitens’ victory.
· I think it is possible, especially if his endorsement could prevent Eric Greitens from winning the GOP nomination.
· [An endorsement is] more likely if/when it becomes Greitens heads up against another candidate.
And
One political observer wryly noted that Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler is using OnMessage for her political team, perhaps giving her an inside track to a Hawley endorsement…
MOScout Exclusive: Hawley Memo
Bits and pieces of the staff memo put together for Senator Josh Hawley’s visit to Jefferson City has been floating around social media for a few days courtesy of AFLCIO’s Stephen Webber. Here’s a pieced together version. It’s a pretty succinct overview of Missouri politics with an emphasis on the initiative petitions in the pipeline.
Few nuggets…
· GOP infighting tops the description of the political environment in Jeff City.
· The memo refers to January 6 as “Jan 6 hysteria.” (Lefties tend to call it “insurrection” and many media use more neutral “riot.”)
· The list of likely questions/comments Hawley should be prepared for is pretty funny… “Will you attend my fundraiser?” “Please don’t ask Biden to resign because Kamala will be president.”
Senate Tees Up Redistricting Debate
The Senate’s Select Committee on Redistricting heard testimony on the congressional map and then did a fast vote to pass it out of committee.
No one testified in favor of the map; several Republican grassroots leaders – including Missouri Right to Life – testified that they opposed the map because they wanted a “7-1” map.
The testimony did not persuade the majority of the committee to engage in a reworking of the map. Instead, they passed it out, saying that the debate would continue on the Senate floor.
It will.
In fact, given the recent angry debates on the Senate floor, the redistricting map is expected to be one more can of gasoline poured on the division between the Conservative Caucus and the Republican Regulars.
Why It Matters
Redistricting is an urgent issue for the legislature. Candidate filing starts in a month. While other issues (supplemental budget, virtual schools, sports betting, initiative petition reform) are moving and getting hearings, the longer it takes to put congressional redistricting to bed, the less time there is for other issues.
eMailbag on Indictments and Warrants
One reader with legal experience tells me not to be so titillated by the reports of sealed indictments and grand juries… 10 new cases (some multi-defendant) is not an abnormal week in the Western District. And all new indictments are filed sealed unless the defendants are already in custody… Also, new grand juries are empaneled whenever old ones finish their service time. That’s just a normal thing that happens.
Gardner Can’t Shield Communication
Missouri Independent reports on an Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals ruling that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner “violated the Missouri Sunshine Law by refusing to turn over documents to John Solomon, a Washington, D.C. reporter who is a Fox News contributor and former staff member of The Hill… Under the ruling, Gardner’s office must provide Solomon with a list of the documents potentially subject to disclosure and provide the documents themselves to [St. Louis Circuit Judge Christopher] McGraugh to determine what is and is not a public record.”
Why It Matters
Eric Greitens asserts that he was the Trump-like victim liberal forces conspiring to take him down.
If there isn’t evidence of some coordination between Greitens’ political opponents and Gardner, there will certainly be something that can be spun that way.
This is a positive for Greitens.
Nixon to Great Rivers Greenway
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page recommended the appointment of former governor Jay Nixon to Metropolitan Park and Recreation District Board of Directors (Great Rivers Greenway) to fill the required vacant position of resident of St. Louis County for a term of three years.
And
Nixon was the recent recipient of the Missouri Lawyers’ 2022 “Legal Champions” award for “his brief-writing skills, his love of the outdoors and his knowledge as the state’s former governor to work on behalf of two important land conservation cases.”
Derges Loses Legal Round
Post-Dispatch reports that embattled Rep. Patricia Derges lost her latest legal battle…
A federal judge has turned down a request to dismiss Medicaid fraud charges filed last year against a Republican state lawmaker from southwest Missouri.
In a decision issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Wimes agreed with a December ruling by a federal magistrate that Rep. Patricia Derges’ request for a dismissal was “illogical and frivolous,” as well as “disjointed.”
Derges’ attorney, Albert Watkins of Clayton, had sought a dismissal alleging a witness in the case, U.S. Attorney Shannon Kempf, had directed a Medicaid fraud unit.
In recommending the court reject Watkins’ claim, U.S. Magistrate David Rush said Watkins’ motion was “unclear and unsupported, given the inclusion of irrelevant facts and hyperbole, as well as the lack of clarity and sufficient legal analysis.”
Lobbyists Registrations
Nancy Giddens and Shannon Cooper added Association of American Publishers.
Samantha Anne Green added Samantha Anne Green.
Gamble and Schlemeier deleted County Employees Retirement Fund.
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri Realtors PAC Inc - $10,000 from Missouri REALTORS.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Ken Franklin.