MOScout Daily Update: Big Takeaways from Last Night - New House Member Profiles - What's Next and more...

The Big Picture

The toplines from last night…

·       Missouri still thoroughly red – Eric Schmitt and Scott Fitzpatrick cruised to victory, both by double digits.  It was a pretty good night for Dems in the legislative races, but there was no real weakness overall from Republicans.  It’s hard to see Dems winning a statewide seat in 2024.

·       Dems hold Schupp seat – The showdown in Senate 24 was sort of anticlimactic.  Tracy McCreery won with a relatively comfortable 9 point.  Together with Sam Page beating back Mark Mantovani’s challenge in the county executive race, St. Louis County looks even bluer this morning.

·       Dems pick up 3 (CORRECTED) in House – Plenty of close races last night.  Two incumbents fell (Mark Ellebracht, and Craig Fishel), and Dems grabbed four open seats (old Roeber district, old Basye district, and old Walsh district), while defending a number of close races.  That’s good night for Dems, though GOP retains supermajority in House.

·       Marijuana passes – It wasn’t a blow-out, but recreational marijuana (Amendment 3), for all its detractors, was passed by the voters.

New House Members – Quick Profiles

This is nothing fancy, but I put together a listing of the new House members, with quick profiles on them – picture, occupation etc.

Find it here.

Contact information is in there, but it’s from public sources, and I haven’t tested the phone numbers or emails, so I can’t give a guarantee they’re all good.

Smaller Stories…

·       Dems nearly picked off the old Dogan seat.  Republican Philip Oehlerking held off his Democratic opponent by a slim 179 votes margin.  That’ll be on Dems radar in the future.

·       Other close races! Rep. Adam Schwadron won re-election by 109 votes!  Ellebracht lost by 47 votes! Fishel lost by 202 votes! There’ll be recounts, but its rare that a recount changes the outcome.

·       Megan Green became the first woman to be elected as President of the Board of Aldermen in the City of St. Louis.  Her win was cheered by Mayor Tishaura Jones.

·       One MOScouter offers this on the Dems expanding their Springfield beachhead… “Eric Burlison ran up the margins in the rural areas, he will be the first Republican congressman to allow three Democrats into the city of Springfield. Hopefully he remembers to run a GOTV inside the city limits in 2024.”

·       The Jess Piper story ended as expected.  Republican Jeff Farnan carried the day with 75% of the vote.  Despite her prolific internet presence and grassroots fundraising, it just doesn’t translate into votes in rural Missourah.

·       Minority Leader John Rizzo’s $200K contribution to Majority Forward was returned yesterday, a feign perhaps to make Republicans sweat? Luckily McCreery didn’t need any extra help to make it across the finishline.

All Bow

Bob Jacobi correctly predicted the entire slate of MOScout’s Pick’em Contest!  I’m sure most of you know Bob, but for those who don’t, he’s the executive director of the Labor Management Council of Greater Kansas City.

Next!

·       Today the House Republican Caucus meets to vote on their new leadership.  I’ve written about floor leader race during the past week, but now we’ll see soon who prevails.

·       Governor Mike Parson will have two more statewide offices to fill.  The jockeying has been going on for months by now.  We’ll see if things jiggle there and maybe some new names emerge?

·       Will Missouri have a reproductive freedom ballot initiative in 2024?  Hill reports from last night’s elections: “Voters in California, Vermont and Michigan on Tuesday approved ballot measures enshrining abortion rights into their state constitutions, while those in traditional red states Montana and Kentucky rejected measures that would have restricted access to reproductive care.”

Lobbyists Registrations

Noel Torpey deleted Public School Retirement System of Missouri.

$5K+ Contributions

Construction & General Laborers Local 955 PAC Account - $10,640 from MOVE ACTION.

Missouri Leadership Forum - $15,000 from The Larson Group.

Truth in Campaigns (pro-Rizzo) - $200,000 from Majority Forward PAC.

House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $10,000 from Friends of Lane Roberts.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Kathy Swan.