MOScout Daily Update: Black IN Senate 12 - Christofanelli IN Senate 23 - Richey IN Senate 21? - Waiting on Quade in Senate 30 and more...

Fitz’ End of Quarter BOOM

State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick has a huge event planned to close out the quarter at the end of the month.  See the invite here.  It’s at the home of GOP donor Gary Grewe, and features both Governor Mike Parson and Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe.

Some heavy hitting Republican donors on the host committee: Tim and Cindy Drury, Susie Eckelkamp, L.B. Eckelkamp, Kenny Engelsmann, Greg Hoberock, Rick Holton, Jeannie and Rex Sinquefield, Dave Spence and Ray Wagner.

More on New State Senate Map

Here are some more thoughts / feedback on implications of the new Senate map…

Senate 12 (Hegeman termed): Rep. Rusty Black, as expected, announced yesterday he’d run in this district, creating a 3-way primary to succeed Sen. Dan Hegeman. Black is considered the favorite.

Senate 21 (Hoskins termed in 2024): In addition to Rep. Kurtis Gregory, Rep. Doug Richey is also a possible candidate for this seat in 2024.  Both has IE PACs which they could use to raise enough money for a state senate run.

Senate 16 (Brown re-election):  I’m told that Scott Reidel is “still planning on running against” Sen. Justin Brown. Reidel was drawn into Senate 6 in the new map.   Rep. Suzie Pollock has also filed to run against Brown, creating a 3-way primary there.

Senate 23 (Eigel termed in 2024): Rep. Phil Christofanelli is definitely running in 2024 to succeed Sen. Bill Eigel.  He’s focused on raising money to freeze out any primary opponents.

Senate 30 (Hough re-election): Springfield News-Leader gets an indefinite quote from Minority Leader Crystal Quade about her plans for 2022.  She hasn’t filed for her House seat yet.  Word was that she was waiting to see what the Senate map looked like to decide if she should take on Republican incumbent Lincoln Hough.  My assumption at this point is that she’ll run for House again.  The map didn’t change Senate 30 significantly.  And she would have a very good shot at winning it in 2026 – when Hough is termed, and the area has had another cycle to turn a bit bluer. And by the way, we’re still waiting for Hough to file…

IE PACs

I’ve updated the IE PACs list again.  Find it here.

These are the PACs what candidate use to raise money above the limits imposed on candidate committees.  But they can’t direct how the money they raise is spent.  The expenditures must be made independent of the candidates.

In this update….

·         Added The Wonderdog PAC – supporting Rep. Kurtis Gregory.

·         Added Great Northwest PAC – supporting Rep. Rusty Black.

·         Updated Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin’s PAC; it’s now NEMO Leadership PAC.

·         And removed terminated PACs: Western Missouri Leadership Fund (Jack Bondon), and Keep Government Accountable (Nicole Galloway).

Use Tax STL County

There’s a $25K check in the large contributions (below) to Local Jobs for STL.  That’s the campaign committee in St. Louis County to pass a use tax allowed under the Wayfair ruling, and enabling legislation.  It’s on the April ballot.

It was endorsed yesterday by Greater St. Louis, Inc: “Proposition C will level the playing field for Missouri small businesses, which have been forced to compete with out-of-state online retailers that don’t have to pay local sales tax. That has put our mom-and-pop shops at an inherent disadvantage that Proposition C will rectify,” said Greater St. Louis, Inc. CEO Jason Hall. 

See the campaign website here.

eMailbag On Rex Checks

The smaller checks require a thoughtful approach and that is what you get when you’re working with his new team versus the old team.

New Committees

St Louis City Republican PAC was formed.  Its treasurer is Curtis Farber.

New Candidate Filings

Lois Pontius field to run in House 2 (Northwest Missouri) as a Democrat. This is the Railsback seat, a safe Republican seat.

Robert Crump filed to run for House 82 (St. Louis City) as a Republican. This is a safe Democrat seat. Crump ran against incumbent Donna Baringer in 2020, losing by 50 points.

$5K+ Contributions

Local Jobs for STL - $25,000 from Civic Progress Action Committee.

Roorda For Senate - $25,000 from Jeff Roorda - Revocable Trust.

Lobbyists Registrations

Sam Beffa and John Arthur Young added TAS, LLC.

John Arthur Young added Rolwes Development, LLC; and deleted QuikTrip Corporation

James Harris deleted AIM Laboratories, and Westwoods Ancillary Global Resources.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Bill Owen, Melissa Randol, Michelle Sherod, Jon Dolan, and Tom Villa.

MOScout Schedule

I’m doing a short week for Spring Break.  After tomorrow’s update (Thursday), I’m taking a long weekend.  Friday, Saturday, Sunday off before we return for the second half of session.