MOScout Daily Update: Luetky's $1.1M War Chest - Hruza Spent $900K+ - Abortion IP Coming In 2024 - Thomas for MOGOP Chair? and more...

Quick Friday morning update… Tomorrow the Weekender returns with a new MOScout/Remington poll, the Hallway Index and “Who Won the Week.”  Starting this morning with a few nuggets from 30 Day After campaign finance reports filed yesterday…

Luetkemeyer’s $1.2 War Chest

As we watch a possible brewing AG primary, here are the cash on-hand numbers from Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer’s 30 Day After reports…

·       Luetkemeyer for Missouri (candidate committee): $921,794.

·       Tony PAC: $300,364

Hruza Spent $928K

In his 30 Day After filing, George Hruza forgave the loans he made to his campaign committee. The total: $928,000.

·       Hruza lost to Tracy McCreery last month in the hotly contested Senate 24 to replace Sen. Jill Schupp.

1 Big Thing: Abortion Spotlight 2024?

Kansas City Star has an article looking at possibility that pro-choice groups will file an initiative petition to reinstate reproductive rights.  It would put abortion back in the 2024 electoral landscape.  The consensus is that the issue is a winner for Dems in the swing suburban districts which are most competitive in Missouri. 

But it really depends how the proposal is written.  The article notes that a more moderate position on the issue might garner broader political support.  However, pro-choice interest groups presumably want full reproductive rights.

·       From the article: If abortion rights groups were seeking a proposal that had more political appeal, they may settle on a “16 week provision.” [Rep. Peter] Merideth, the St. Louis Democrat, said he expects some activist groups to propose a measure that would fully protect all reproductive rights. He said others will want to simply return Missouri to where it was before the abortion ban, which he described a “pretty restrictive.”

And they’ll have to game out potential countermoves from pro-life groups. 

·       Again, form the article: Sam Lee… said abortion opponents could file a measure — either through the legislature or through the initiative petition process — to compete against any upcoming abortion rights campaign.

Driving the Day: MHDC Meeting

Today the Missouri Housing Development Commission meets (10AM).

·       On the agenda (see it here)… millions of dollars in state incentives for affordable housing.

Rumorville: Thomas for MOGOP Chair?

·       Tipster says: The "rumor" is that Governor Mike Parson is going to endorse Pat Thomas for Chairman of the GOP State Committee. The Governor likes having the position rotate between a man and woman. This follows with him supporting Kay Hofflander then Nick Myers as Chairman. Elections will likely take place in January.

Data Security

Data security seems to be rising as a topic of interest…

·       Pro Tem Caleb Rowden has pre-filed a single bill.  (It’s normal that Senate leadership doesn’t have a wide-ranging legislative package as their focus is on serving the body as whole.) Rowden’s bill (SB 7, see it here) would create a Chief Data Officer for the state.  Among the responsibilities assigned would be data security.

·       State Auditor Nicole recently issued a report looking at weaknesses in local government’s data security – sharing passwords, disabling access, uninstalled anti-virus software etc.  See the report here.

eMailbag

·       On Bashing “East Coast Money:” I’m not a fan of either Scharf or Greitens, but to whomever was taking about their “east coast money” - that’s not a dog whistle, that’s a bullhorn. 

·       On Ashcroft’s Lead: Thinking name ID and polling matter so much this far out from a gubby election is funny. Did anyone know who Greitens even was at this point in the 2016 cycle? Pretty sure he’d have polled even lower than Kehoe.

·       On ARPA $$$: I bet the city of Hayti Heights and the elected officials along with Parson will tout the ARPA money as their own and a win when they voted over 72% for Trump and not a single Republican voted in favor of the bill....

Lobbyists Registrations

Stephen Billy and Susan Liebel added Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.         

Gamble & Schlemeier added Kooth USA LLC.

Steve Carroll added CAI Missouri Legislative Action Committee.              

Michael Grote added Zippo Manufacturing Company.

Steven Tilley, Thomas Robbins, Brittany Hyatt Robbins, and Christopher Schoeman added Green Precision Analytics.

Aaron Baker and Hannah Sutton Beers added Penn National Gaming, and Townes Telecommunications Inc; and deleted Burns & McDonnell Engineering.

Brian Bernskoetter deleted Carol Jones, O'Reilly Auto Parts, and Family Advocacy-Missouri, Inc.

$5K+ Contributions

B PAC - $7,500 from Alliance for Progress LLC.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Jeff Smith, Heidi Geisbuhler Sutherland, Terry Wilson, and Blake Lawrence.