MOScout Daily Update: Trafalgar Poll on MOSen Race - Congressional Redistricting Talk - Tate Starts PAC - Clay County Audit and more...
Trafalgar Poll on MO Sen
Trafalgar Polling released a MO US Senate race poll. See it here.
It’s shows similar stratification that the MOScout/Remington polls have shown with Eric Greitens in the lead, followed by Eric Schmitt and then Vicky Hartzler. Billy Long, Mark McCloskey and Dave Schatz are all in single digits.
But Trafalgar has Greitens’ above 30% with Schmitt 7 points behind him (23%), and Hartzler 7 behind that (16%).
Trafalgar is popular with Trump Republicans having correctly predicted Trump’s 2016 presidential win in Michigan (and incorrectly predicting Trump would win in 2020 as well).
What It Means
· This poll the claim from Team Schmitt that he’s the best candidate to beat Greitens in the primary.
· Text from one observer: Panic should be setting in for the establishment.
Still No Action on Congressional Map
The Senate worked on a few bills yesterday, but didn’t go to the congressional redistricting map. Word around the building was that the latest compromise map…
· Puts 70% (or so) of St. Charles into one congressional district increasing their clout.
· It gives Sen. Steve Roberts, said to be eyeing a primary against Congresswoman Cori Bush, the accommodations he was seeking in CD-1.
· Places Sen. Mike Moon in CD-4, instead of CD-7. He hasn’t filed yet, by the way.
But Sen. Bob Onder yesterday spoke about getting 12-hours of sleep ahead of what was expected to be a congressional map rollout, indicating he’s still prepping for a filibuster. We’ll see…
Calendar
After today’s session, there’s one week until the legislative Spring Break. Then eight weeks when they come back. And one of those weeks is “budget week.”
House Perfects Correctional Center Nurseries
Missouri Independent reports on the House perfecting “a bill that would allow newborns to remain with their incarcerated mothers for the first year-and-a-half of the baby’s life. The bill would permit the Missouri Department of Corrections to establish nurseries within the state’s correctional facilities, allowing children born to incarcerated women to stay with their mothers behind bars for up to 18 months. The legislation has garnered bipartisan support and it requires another vote in the House before it can be sent to the Senate for consideration.”
· Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins shared an emotional appeal for the legislation on the floor yesterday. See it here.
· The bill joins the growing pipeline of House bills which will await the Senate in the second half of session. It’s bipartisan backing should help it though, since it presumably won’t take as much floor time to pass as more controversial bills.
Tate Starts IE PAC
The recently formed Missouri Conservative Alliance is a PAC to support Rep. Nate Tate. Tate is in a 3-way Republican primary in Senate 26 (Franklin County, Sen. Dave Schatz termed).
This PAC will allow Tate to raise money beyond the candidate contribution limit. However, he can’t direct the expenditure of the PAC. Most statewide candidates and state senate candidates have established PACs for this purpose.
· I will publish an update list of all IE PACs this weekend.
Clay County Audit
The Auditor’s office released a 162-page audit of Clay County which showed widespread flouting of the normal governmental practices while the Commission was run by former County Commissioners Gene Owen and Luann Ridgeway. See the audit here.
· The county did not comply with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines…
· The county did not maintain documentation…
· The county did not fully comply with the Sunshine Law…
· The county could not provide minutes…
· Employee pay rates were not always authorized in the county pay plan…
· The county pay plan was not complete…
· The county does not ensure supervisors prepare employee performance appraisals in accordance with county policy…
· The county paid invoiced amounts that did not agree with amounts listed in the related term and supply contracts…
· The county did not solicit proposals for some professional services as required by county code…
And list goes on and on and on.
New Candidate Filings
Karen I. Spalding filed to run in House 19 (Kansas City) as a Republican. This is a safe Democratic seat (Burnett).
James Lowman filed to run in House 29 (Independence) as a Republican. This creates a Republican primary for an open seat in a safe Republican district.
Linda J. Luera-Sanchez filed to run in House 65 (St. Charles) as a Republican. This creates a Republican primary for an open seat in a safe Republican district.
Jake Koehr filed to run in House 81 (St. Louis City) as a Republican. This is a safe Democratic seat (Butz).
$5K+ Contributions
Merck & Co., Inc. Employees Missouri PAC Federal Committee - $10,000 from Merck & Co., Inc. Employees Missouri PAC Federal Committee.
theLOUpac - $15,000 from Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.
Lobbyists Registrations
Heath Clarkston, Doug Nelson, and Kurt Schaefer added Panorama Education.
Shanon Hawk deleted Maverick Consulting Group, Missourians For Local Asset Governance, and Ashley Energy LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Heath Clarkston, Maria Walden, Jason Groce, and John Hancock.