MOScout Daily Update: Lessons for JP from 2022 - Martin to White House - Lucas’ Non-Profit and more…
Lessons from 2022
Although Rep. Justin Sparks’ insurgent challenge to Speaker-designate Jon Patterson hasn’t gained traction among his Republican colleagues and has very little chance it will catch fire before the January vote, JP and crew would be unwise to dismiss the danger posed by it.
I continue to believe that this is not about the January election of who will be Speaker. And I don’t think it’s even about whether the Freedom Caucus can succeed in pushing the House agenda farther right this session.
It looks to me like this is about the 2026 elections. Specifically, state senate Republican primaries where the Freedom Caucus will take on “establishment” Republicans. And – very probably – a more concerted effort by the Freedomers to recruit future House FC members through primary challenges in 2026.
My guess is that the Sparks challenge will be the first of many “scorecard events” used to define Republican House members as “true conservatives” or “RINOs.” And that this scorecard will be used in 2026.
This was the playbook in 2022 in the state senate primaries. And while the then-Conservative Caucus was less successful than 2024, their method proved potent.
Jill Carter unseated incumbent Sen. Bill White; Sen. Justin Brown survived by a whisker 50.9% to 49.1% against Rep. Suzie Pollock; Sens. Lincoln Hough, Mike Bernskoetter and Mike Cierpoit all had their hands full fending off challengers from the right.
· The critical mistake that the establishment Republicans made in that cycle was that they dismissed the Conservative Caucus as twitter trolls, and never mounted their own counter-narrative.
The impulse is to not escalate the differences, but instead let the far-right rant rather than engage. However left unchallenged, their narrative becomes the prevailing truth among rank-and-file Republicans.
If JP understands this, his allies will not sit back while Sparks pushes the RINO label. They will aggressively push back on social media. It’s not that 2026 cycle “starts now,” it’s already started.
Lucas’ Non-Profit
I’m playing catch-up on this piece from the Missouri Independent reporting on Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas’ use of a non-profit to keep contributions out-of-sight.
It cost $23,518 for Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, a top aide and two police officers on his security detail to attend the Super Bowl in Phoenix last year. The day after the game, the cost was covered by a $24,000 check from the Heavy Constructors Association, a politically-connected trade group. Neither the price of the trip nor the donation were ever made public. That’s because the mayor and his now-former chief of staff, Morgan Said, ran the spending and donation through the Mayors Corps of Progress for a Greater Kansas City Inc., a nonprofit established 50 years ago to help attract economic development to the city that is not required to disclose its financials.
· One Jeff City denizen: IF it is legal to use a non-profit to circumvent the gift rule, there will be 197 (every legislator) non-profits in the moleg…
And
Brad Lemon, the President of Kansas City Missouri Fraternal Order of Police, weighs in on social media…
Martin to White House
Donald Trump announced Ed Martin will become the next OMB (Office of Management and Budget) chief of staff.
“Ed previously served as Chief of Staff to Governor Ed Blunt. Together with Phyllis Schlafly, they co-wrote ‘The Conservative Case for Trump’…”
· It was, of course, Matt Blunt who served Missouri as governor. And Martin’s 15-month tenure there was not without controversy.
Collins Sib Registers
John Collins-Muhammad, the brother of Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins, registered as a lobbyist. So far, he hasn’t registered any clients.
· Collins-Muhammad is a former St. Louis City alderman who plea guilty to bribery in 2022.
eMailbag on Everyone’s Friends With Kehoe
I had some thoughts about the piece you wrote regarding Kehoe’s large circle. While I will concede that Mike has a lot of allies and people that feel close to him, I do not see this hard line in the sand where he will be forced to tell some or many of them “no”. One of the things that Kehoe has always done very is seeing both sides of an issue, debating ideas, and ultimately threading the needle in a way that gets the best outcome for MISSOURI… Mike is going to find a way to bring people together and create solutions – not by saying no – but through a balanced approach to policymaking. Not a “yes”. Not a “no”. A solution…
$5K+ Contributions
Sparks PAC (pro-Sparks) - $5,001 from Believe in Life and Liberty PAC (pro-Eigel).
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom - $41,760 from Abortion Action Missouri Foundation.
Lobbyist Registrations
John Collins-Muhammad added John Collins-Muhammad.
Daris Dawn Davis added clients of The Thelemaque Group.
Bill Gamble, Katie Gamble, Jack Gamble, Sarah Schlemeier, and Nikki Strong added Travelers Marketing LLC.
Eapen Thampy added Slaphappy Hemp, and KC Kush.
Alex Tuttle added Ozarks Healthcare, and Missouri Partnership Network LLC.
Phillip Scaglia added L-S Construction Services LLC; and deleted Group Real Estate Development, LLC.
Jerry Hobbs added Cole Kids Community Child Development Center.
Amanda Zoch added Secure Democracy USA and its Affiliates.
Bradley Pryor added Sheri Steffens.
Mark Habbas, Carol Kemna, and Chris Roepe deleted TRIAD Bank of Missouri Inc.
Dan Harbeke deleted Google LLC and Its Affiliates.
Gordon Raymond Hefner deleted SMACNA St. Louis.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Dean Van Schoiack.
Health Update
Thank you for the kind words yesterday. Another 12 hours of sleep yesterday and I woke up feeling normal. Normal is a great feeling.