MOScout Daily Update: Speaker Fires Choinka - Bell Outraises Bush - Senate Map Before SCOMO - Smith Runs Against Freedom Caucus? and more…

Speaker Fires Legislative Director

Speaker Dean Plocher fired his legislative director, Erica Choinka.  The move was met with confusion from folks in the building.  Choinka is well liked and well respected.

·       She’s been in leadership roles where it’s almost impossible to keep everyone happy but she’s a pro at managing chaos and stopping problems before they are untenable. Dean’s loss and likely a very short time before it’s someone else’s massive gain.

·       Hardworking staff are worried whose head will roll next. This is a mess.

·       This reeks of someone in full panic mode.

Missouri Independent notes that Plocher is still under an ethics investigation.  The staff shake-ups mid-session of Plocher’s final year aren’t confidence inspiring.

What It Means

A real concern is that Speaker-designate Jon Patterson is being handed an office in disarray, with little institutional knowledge, handicapping his ability to take advantage of the critical first year of a speakership.

Driving the Day: State Senate Map Orals

The Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Clara Faatz, et al. v. John Ashcroft, a case challenging the validity of the state senate redistricting map.

WHY IT MATTERS: This case has the potential to upend a few primary match-ups just weeks before filing opens.

·       Listen to the arguments here at 9AM.

Freedomers Fundraise Off Filibuster

One lobbyist: To everyone asking why they filibustered all night just to arrive at the same deal they were offered weeks ago, it’s so that they could fundraise off of it and campaign against the swamp. They are going to put this record on repeat all session. 

Senate 33 Watch: Smith Runs Against Freedom Caucus?

Rep. Travis Smith, running in Senate 33 (Eslinger not running for re-election) tells the Howell County News that “he’s running for the Senate seat because of the divisiveness he sees in that chamber.”  Read it here.

·       “What concerns me about the Senate is the way your representatives are pointing fingers now. There’s a group of Republications that will kill progress because it’s ‘my way or no way.’ That’s not the way to do business,” Smith said.

And… the article has Smith touting endorsements from the Cattlemen, NRA and Farm Bureau.  Those were presumably past endorsements.  One lobbyist asks if Smith isn’t “ready for prime time” to be claiming endorsements that “don’t exist yet.”

·       Buckle-up this primary looks to be a hot one.

Bush Outraised By Bell

According to year end reports filed, St. louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell outraised Congresswoman Cori Bush and now has more cash on-hand than the incumbent.

·       Bush raised $486,514; spent $294,599; and finished with $215,571 cash on-hand (and $4,830 in debt).

·       Bell raised $490,121; spent $169,353; $408,779 cash on-hand.

Third-party PACs will likely play a major role in this campaign as well. Bush will benefit from the Squad Victory Fund, while AIPAC (which Gregg Keller notes is sitting on $40M cash) will oppose her re-election.

Concurrent Majority’s Like Mississippi Plan?

One MOScouter mentioned that the “concurrent majority” method being championed for initiative petition reform is similar to how Mississippi used to elect their statewide officials.  It was jettisoned a few years ago under threat of a federal lawsuit. 

Read an AP article here.

·       By a wide margin, Mississippi voters have eliminated a remnant of the state’s racist history by repealing a complicated, multistep process for electing statewide officials… They will no longer have to win the most votes in a majority of the 122 state House districts…

·       Mississippi was the only state in the U.S. with this multistep process for electing statewide officials.  The process was written when white politicians across the South were enacting laws to erase Black political power gained during Reconstruction.

Judge Disciplined

KSN reports on a Carthage judge being disciplined.  Read it here.

·       The Commission on Retirement, Removal, and Discipline issued the punishment against Associate Circuit Judge John Nicholas.

·       The reprimand comes after Carthage Police Chief Bill Hawkins and City Manager Greg Dagnan filed a complaint against Nicholas for rude and vulgar treatment after a storm knocked down a utility cable at the judge’s house in May of last year.

·       Nicholas called the City demanding city resources be diverted from “more pressing emergency situations” like downed trees and power lines in city streets, to his residence instead. City leaders and emergency personnel placed Nicholas low on the priority list because the downed cable was not dangerous.

·       However, Nicholas proceeded to call city officials, repeatedly and at one point, complained the City was “spending money to ‘prosecute his friend’,” former Parks and Rec Director, Mark Peterson, instead of using resources on other matters.

·       The Commission concluded that Judge Nicholas was “known as and identified himself as a judge.” It also ruled that he used his “title and office to demand and get preferential treatment.”

Burger Lands $5K Checks

I noted yesterday that the new Missouri Ethics Commission reporting system doesn’t put $5,000 checks into the 48 Hour Report.  Contributions must now be over $5,000, or they won’t show up until the quarterly reports are filed.

The PAC supporting Rep. Jamie Burger, running in Senate 27, has received a few $5,000 checks recently. Bootheel Values PAC received…

·       $5,000 from Buzzi Unicem USA Inc. on 1/26/24.

·       $5,000 donation from Missouri Leadership PAC on 1/29/24.

$5K+ Contributions

The 100 PAC _ $25,000 from BILL PAC.

Missouri Leadership Forum - $15,000 from Gary Grewe.

American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $7,825 from American Health Management Services, LLC (Parsons, TN).

Lobbyist Registrations

John Bardgett, Jacqueline Bardgett, Mark Habbas, and Carol Kemna added Mercy Healthcare System.

John Bardgett, Jacqueline Bardgett, Chris Roepe, and Mark Habbas, added City of Town and Country, City of Ballwin, City of Ladue, and City of Creve Coeur.

Richard Brownlee deleted National Council on Compensation Insurance, and AuBuchon Law Firm LLC.                       

Ward Cook deleted Raptor Recycle and Transfer.

Cesar Fernandez deleted FanDuel Group, Inc.       

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Ashley Harrison Lawson, and Rob Krosley.