MOScout Daily Update: MRL's Senate Picks - RightPath $$$ - Valentine Gets Firefighters - Workforce Woes Continue and more...

MRL Senate Endorsements

The Missouri Right to Life State PAC formally announced its endorsements for primary elections for state auditor and state senate.

Both Rep. David Gregory and Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick received their endorsement for auditor.

And – as has been rumored for weeks – MRL endorsed several challengers to pro-life state senators.  Their reason for not backing incumbents centers on disappointment that they voted for a so-called “clean FRA tax.”  There was an effort to attach anti-abortion language to the renewal of the Federal Reimbursement Allowance tax that is critical to Medicaid funding. Fearful that the language could jeopardize the funding, the majority of Republican senators instead passed the bill without the language.

Challengers to Sens. Mike Bernskoetter, Mike Cierpiot, Lincoln Hough, and Bill White were endorsed.  There was no endorsement in Senate 16 (Sen. Justin Brown running for re-election against Rep. Suzie Pollock) and Senate 28 (Sen. Sandy Crawford running for re-election).

One observer noted that Rep. Nick Schroer received MRL’s endorsement in Senate 2 – despite his vote in the House for a clean FRA.

Open seat endorsements went to Bryan Spencer in Senate 10 (Riddle termed), Delus Johnson in Senate 12 (Hegeman termed), Curtis Trent in Senate 20 (Burlison for Congress), and Mary Elizabeth Coleman in Senate 22 (Wieland termed).  And Ben Brown and Bob Joned shared a “duel [sic] endorsement” in Senate 26 (Schatz termed).

The conventional wisdom holds that Missouri Right to Life’s imprimatur is critical in Republican primaries.  But of course, there are some caveats.

·       It’s less important when running against an incumbent with established pro-life credentials.  It’s hard to redefine someone as pro-abortion when they’ve been voting pro-life their whole career.

·       The candidate must have the resources to exploit the endorsement through voter contact (ads, mailers etc).

This means that the MRL non-endorsement is unlikely to seriously harm the incumbents, but will be more impactful in the open seats.

RightPath Starts Spending War Chest

The RightPath PAC has started spending some of its massive war chest.

Two days ago Uniting Missouri PAC, the governor’s PAC, reported receiving $20K from RightPath.  And yesterday, Lincoln PAC, supporting Sen. Lincoln Hough, reported a $50K contribution from RightPath.

According to April campaign finance filings, RightPath PAC – funded largely by wealthy individuals associated with Washington University – had nearly $2.5 million cash on-hand, more than any other PAC in the state.

In other words, there’s a lot more money to flow.  The primary is now about six weeks away.  It’s unclear if RightPath will be largely funding the candidates’ independent expenditure PACs, or if they will making their own independent expenditures, sending mail or buying ads.

Dems Perfect Storm Brewing?

From ABC News… Penelope Quigg is a lifelong Republican voter. But the chair of the Republican Party in Cole County, Missouri, said she won't vote for Eric Greitens, her state's former governor, if he wins the party's nomination this summer for an open Senate seat...  “Everything about him I question,” said Quigg, one of four county GOP chairs who told ABC News that they would not vote for Greitens in the general election -- even if it means risking a Democratic victory in a state former President Donald Trump carried by more than 15% in 2020. Quigg isn't alone: Interviews with nearly a dozen current and former Republican Party leaders in Missouri, where voting in the Senate primary began this week, revealed a broad distaste for Greitens and a hesitation by many in the establishment to support him were he to win the nod on Aug. 2.

And

On the Dem side, Trudy Busch Valentine released her platform to boost the middle class.  Read it here.  And Valentine landed the endorsement of the Missouri State Council of Firefighters.

Team Kunce meanwhile touts a Washington Post profile (read it here): “All they care about,” he told me, referring to Greitens and McCloskey, “is looking tough, looking strong. For me, masculinity is taking care of people — your family, your community — and making sure that you actually stand for something.”

Workforce Woes

Daily American Republic reports… “The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce brainstormed ways to boost a shrinking workforce with help from Ronald Cox, director for Industrial Extension at Iowa State University.  Cox contributed via Zoom to the Friday meeting. He finds the biggest pressures on businesses right now are lower workforce participation due to pandemic job loss, the mass retirement of baby boomers, a general population plateau and the exodus from rural areas to cities. The quickest solutions to these problems are to embrace immigration, draw people to move domestically and help potential employees overcome the obstacles keeping them from work, he believes.”

·       Missouri’s May jobs report: Missouri non-farm payroll employment decreased by 3,100 jobs from April 2022 to May 2022, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by three-tenths of a percentage point.

·       Simultaneous decreases in employment and the unemployment rate can only happen when folks are leaving the workforce.

·       Economic growth is difficult to achieve with fewer folks working.

Goodman Elected Chief Judge

Press Release: Judge Jack A. L. Goodman of Monett has been elected by the judges of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, as the court’s chief judge beginning June 19, 2022. His term as chief judge, expected to last through June 2024, follows that of Judge Gary W. Lynch, who is retiring from the court.

eMailbag on MO Senate Race

Eric Greitens is a detestable human being and he will be the next senator from Missouri. Your readers should start wrapping their minds around that. Danforth has no bearing on the modern Republican Party and the other GOPers in the field aren’t getting it done. Democrats will not win in Missouri this cycle no matter who they field.

New Committees

The Committee to Support Prop S was formed.  It’s a campaign committee in support of a $155 million bond issue for St. Louis City Public Schools.

Shield PAC LLC was formed. It’s treasurer is John Burcham.

Lobbyists Registrations

Sydney Kathleen Schupp added Missouri Farm Bureau.

$5K+ Contributions

Friends of SJSD - $20,000 from Mosiac Health System.

Lincoln PAC (pro-Hough) - $50,000 from RIGHTPATH.

American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $17,500 from D Kim Lingle.

JB PAC (pro-Justin Brown) - $10,000 from MO Coalition for Video Lottery PAC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Kevin Engler, Nick King, Rachel Hassani, and Reece Ellis.