MOScout Daily Update: Meet Jess Piper - More Chinn Talk - Schmitt's Kanye Tweet - Readers React and more....
Meet Jess Piper
A Republican marveled to me yesterday that Democrat Jess Piper, running in House 1 (northwest Missouri, Rep. Andrew Allen termed) had huge ads in the local newspaper. Her 30-Day After report showed $102K cash on-hand. “Who is this person?”
Skimming through her reports there’s a ton of small donors. They’re from all over Missouri, and all over the country.
She is, quite simply, a “Twitter shero.” She has more than 37,000 Twitter followers as she uses that medium to slam Missouri Republicans and fire up Democrats. It’s paid off – literally. ActBlue – which handles most Democrats online giving – is her largest expense as she has to pay for the hundreds of contributions she’s received.
She’s a grassroots fundraising machine perfectly tuned for the digital age.
But…
The money being sent to Piper isn’t a great investment for Dems. House 1 is a deep red district. It’s not on the HDCC’s target list; there’s really no chance that Democrats can flip the district. Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in this district by 50 points.
Dems could clearly use the money more effectively in other races.
More Chinn Talk
One MOScouter talks up Chris Chinn’s political acumen, buttressing yesterday blurb that she could be in the running for treasurer, assuming Scott Fitzpatrick wins auditor.
· A lot of people outside Ag don’t know Chinn but she is a hell of a communicator and very likeable
· Back in 2016, we all assumed she would run for state senate someday but Eric Greitens made her Director of Agriculture because he understood her communications ability
· The other assumption was that she could easily walk into the Farm Bureau presidency but again Ag Director took her off that board obviously.
Schmitt’s Kanye Tweet
Front page of the KCStar this morning is an article about Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s twitter account cheering Kayne West after he tweeted that he was going to go “Defcon 3” on Jews. I assume West has mental health issues, and Schmitt long-ago out-sourced his twitter account to some overzealous Axiom staffer. But I could be wrong on both accounts.
Schmitt released a statement. He seems to have adopted the Trumpian tactic of only referring to his opponent by a schoolyard nickname. The humility and kindness of “the Eric we knew” has vanished from his public persona. At the very least, it’s surprising that a guy who seems to be coasting to victory wouldn’t try to act a little more senatorial.
Regarding my tweet on Ye and Kid Rock: I like their music. Typically, they’re against the privileged elites like my opponent The Heiress. But I don’t condone everything they say, unlike The Heiress Valentine who has been silent on Cori Bush’s anti-semitism and embraced her support for her campaign. I wasn’t aware of the recent comments and was commenting on Kayne’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson where he called out left wing hypocrisy. The Heiress Valentine is desperate for any distraction she can create from her being a shill for the Schumer-Biden agenda to raise our taxes, supercharge inflation and allow unfettered illegal immigration.
eMailbag: Readers React!
Rural Voter Mentality
58% of the vote in rural areas… doesn’t mean that those rural areas will vote for the Farm Bureau candidate, especially not in today’s environment. Rural voters are inherently conservative and unlike a state senate race, they’ll vote for ideology over geography… They don’t care where U.S. senator is from, as long as they’ll fight for their values… and the ag groups would be wise to let parties figure out who their candidates should be in those bigger races, instead of alienating the winners they didn’t support.
Difference between Hartzler and Eigel
Hartzler was sunk by millions expended on behalf of a popular AG who was in the news constantly sticking up for Missourians on hot button issues. Eigel made his mark sticking up for Grain Belt Express, which is wildly unpopular in Rural Missouri. Big difference.
Eigel’s Tough Road
People routinely overrate state legislators’ abilities to win big statewide races. Who is the last state senator to win a race for Governor? Eigel is not going to be a spoiler, let alone a threat to any candidate in the race. He won’t even win St. Charles County. He will only get into double digits in his home county and will get overwhelmed by Ashcroft and Kehoe.
On Schmitt’s Shenanigans
Regarding Hatfield’s comments on AG “shenanigans” It’s not like his preferred party hasn’t used their offices to do the same thing……give me a break. Pot calling kettle black…
Lobbyists Registrations
David Sweeney added Discovery Pier Land Holdings LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
Jack PAC (pro-Coatar) - $10,000 from Ceasars Enterprise Services LLC (Las Vegas, NV).
Jackson County 4 Kids - $10,000 from University Health Truman Medical Center.
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $5,050 from Committee to Elect John Black.
Legal Missouri 2022 - $100,000 from Grassroots OpCo LLC.
Legal Missouri 2022 - $50,000 from Green Precision Analytics Inc.
Legal Missouri 2022 - $25,000 from Nirvana Bliss II LLC.
Legal Missouri 2022 - $10,000 from Shangri-La Jefferson City LLC.
General Motors Company PAC Missouri - Federal Committee - $20,000 from General Motors Company Political Action Committee.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Hardy Billington, Larry Pleus, John Mayfield, and Linda Black Thomure.
MOScout Schedule
No weekend editions this weekend.