MOScout Daily Update: Hartzler Poll Says She's Up - The Koenig Way - Legal MO Adds $480K - The Elijah Haahr Show and more...

Team Hartzler Says They’re Up

Politico reports that “a new internal poll conducted by Hartzler’s campaign April 4-6 and obtained by POLITICO shows Hartzler up 7 percentage points, to 23 percent, since they last polled in January, and Greitens down 8 points, now at 22 percent… OnMessage conducted telephone interviews on 600 likely Republican voters. The poll’s margin of error is 4 percent.

Hartzler’s survey found Schmitt in third place with 16 percent of the vote, unchanged since the campaign’s last poll.”

This comes as the latest allegations against Eric Greitens have brought another round of rebukes from Republicans.

Senate 10

We’re re-polling Senate 10 after we goofed this weekend and used incorrect district lines.  My apologies.

Also, in Senate 10 news, Mike Carter withdrew and refiled last week on the final day of filing, giving himself the last spot on the ballot.

Many folks believe that if you can’t have the first spot in a crowded ballot it helps to have the bottom, rather than get lost in the middle.

Five Weeks Left

On Facebook, conservative agitator Jim Lembke writes, “We have 5 weeks left in the legislative session. To this point, we have not addressed the most important issues on the minds of the people. Why have we not had a bill reach the senate floor on election integrity? What about a bill banning CRT? Where is the bill prohibiting vaccine and mask mandates? What about a bill repealing the gas tax? We have republican super majorities, why are we not doing republican things???”

This could be a refrain we’ll hear on the Senate floor from Conservative Caucus members when anything they dislike is given floor time for debate.

·         It’s possible we’ll see Voter ID/election integrity make an appearance in the Senate this week.  But with the charity softball tournament Wednesday, that takes one of the possible long work nights off the table….

Koenig, Bill Whisperer

Aligned, in their capitol report, writes of the bipartisan praise Sen. Andrew Koenig has earned as he “cultivates consensus”

Senator Andrew Koenig drew praise from his Democratic colleagues on Wednesday evening for his willingness to address the thorny sections of the charter funding bill. By adding some accountability measures to a Senate floor substitute, Koenig secured the votes needed to perfect HB 1552 (Richey)… Senator Lauren Arthur, who represents parts of Kansas City, thanked Senator Koenig for his patience through the negotiation process… As the only graduate of Kansas City Public Schools serving in the upper chamber, Senator Barbara Washington echoed Arthur's remarks adding, "I have to say, thank you for working with us. I appreciate some of the accountability (language) you were able to put in there." She joked that Koenig has become the "bill whisperer" for his ability to bring his colleagues together on contentious issues.

·         “The Koenig Way” is a constant, continuous push for conservative legislation year after year, but with a willingness to take small bites and incremental gains each time.  Some think compromise is for RINOs.  But over the course of his legislative tenure Koenig has made remarkable progress in key areas of his interest: fewer abortions, lower taxes, more choice in education. 

Legal Missouri 2022

Legal Missouri 2022, the campaign vehicle to pass marijuana legislation by initiative petition, recorded about $480K in fresh contributions over the weekend.  (See large contributions below).  This brings their fundraising haul to over $2M this year.  Their main source of funding has been the incumbent medical marijuana providers.

An op/ed penned by former Missouri Supreme Court Justice Mike Wolff and former Rep. Chris Kelly argues that the legislation proposed by Rep. Ron Hicks is favorable to the initiative petition.  See it here.

They prefer the framework of the Hicks legislation to bring greater competition.  But also, make the point that constitutional fixes are much harder to make.

It is inconceivable that any legislation, whether statutory or constitutional, will correctly address every issue regarding a subject as complex as the legalization and licensing of marijuana… If the state were to enact legalization through a constitutional amendment, it would be far more difficult to correct errors or to update the law because it would require a voter-approved constitutional amendment for every change.

The incumbent marijuana providers, meanwhile, argue it’s basic fairness that the folks who have already jumped through the hoops and invested money to gain licenses should have some regulatory advantage.

·         ROTO (Reminder of the Obvious): It’s much much easier to kill legislation than pass it.  That makes odds very long that legalization by statute will pass this session.

The Elijah Haahr Show

Starting this afternoon former Speaker Elijah Haahr hits the radio waves in Springfield. 

Former Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr will host a two-hour program on Zimmer Midwest Communications talk KWTO Springfield (560). “The Elijah Haahr Show” will air weekdays from 4-6pm, effective April 11. “Elijah brings a passion for radio and a connection with listeners,” OM Tom Ladd said in a release. “His show will be informative, but it will also be a lot of fun.” 

Messenger on Ethics Commission

Post-Dispatch’s Tony Messenger writes on the Missouri Ethics Commission’s lack of a quorum.  See it here.  He reports that Governor Mike Parson has “a plan” to appoint two more commissioners within the next two weeks to make the commission a functioning body again.

eMailbag: On Impotent Ethics Commission

So you’re saying they’ve defunded the ethics police? ;)

New Candidate Filing

Melissa Greenstein filed to run in House 101 (Chesterfield) as a Democrat.  This is the Derek Greier district.  It now has both a Republican and Democratic primary.  See Greenstein’s twitter here.

New Committees

Citizens for Common Sense PAC was formed. Its treasurer is Amber Watson.

$5K+ Contributions

Legal Missouri 2022 – $100,000 from Flora Farms LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $100,000 from GL Partners LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $100,000 from Good Day Farm Missouri LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $50,000 from QPS Missouri Holdings LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $50,000 from Poplar Bluff Investments LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $25,000 from Nirvana Bliss II LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $22,750 from Green Four Ventures LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $20,000 from Missouri Health & Wellness LLC.

Legal Missouri 2022 – $10,000 from EDKH LLC.

Onder For Missouri - $10,000 from Mark Kovac (Dallas TX)

Lobbyists Registrations

Mike Grote added Penn Lincoln Strategies LLC.

Jane Dueker deleted Noah's Arc Foundation of Missouri, and Robertson Fire Protection District.           

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Heidi Kolkmeyer, Cara Alexander, Meghan McCann, Matt Sain, Steve Roberts Sr., and Dave Leipholtz.