MOScout Daily Update: Burks Joins 3-CD - Hit on Hoskins - Hit on Freedom Caucus - Women Shine in GOP Poll and more…

Breaking… Burks Is In

Taylor Burks has formed a federal campaign committee to seek the Republican nomination for the Third Congressional District.

·       Burks has a military background.  He was Boone County Clerk (appointed by Eric Greitens), and ran for Congress (CD-4) in 2022, placing 4th out of 7 in the Republican primary.

·       See his old website (still active) here.

What It Means

·       Politicos at Lincoln Days were abuzz that it’d be a big week for announcements.  In addition to an actual formal statement from Burks, we’re waiting to see if we hear from on Sen. Lincoln Hough (LG), and former Sen. Kurt Schaefer (3-CD).

·       Filing opens one week from tomorrow. So the time is now!

And

Front-running Hough’s expected announcement, activist Mary Hill pens an op/ed in the Heartland News. She dinged him for, among other things, his stance on foreign ownership of farm land: “This disregard for protecting American interests should raise serious concerns among voters.”

1 Big Thing: Year of the GOP Women?

Women did well in the latest MOScout/Remington poll…

LG

·       Holly Thompson Rehder: 20%

·       Tim Baker: 10%

·       Paul Berry: 6%

·       Dean Plocher: 6%

·       David Wasinger: 5%

·       Undecided: 53%

SOS

·       Denny Hoskins: 12%

·       Caleb Rowden: 11%

·       Valentina Gomez: 10%

·       Shane Schoeller: 6%

·       Adam Schwadron: 5%

·       Undecided: 56%

Treasurer

·       Lori Rook: 16%

·       Andrew Koenig: 9%

·       Vivek Malek: 8%

·       Cody Smith: 8%

·       Undecided: 58%

The women candidates aren’t winning the money race so far.  And we’re early in the cycle, so positions will shift.  Still, it’s notable that in these races (so far) Republican voters are faced with three or four men and one woman.  And that’s playing as an advantage for the women.

Eigel on MOScout/Remington Poll

Sen. Bill Eigel responds to the latest MOScout poll showing him in third place, far behind Jay Ashcroft and Mike Kehoe. It was conducted by Roe-owned Remington Research.  “Seeing Jeff Roe put out a second cooked poll about Mike Kehoe ‘gaining’ demonstrates just how frightened the Swamp is of my message.  And the special interests should be scared. The folks that will decide this election don’t buy Jeff Roe’s narrative—not just actual People in Missouri, but guys like Donald J Trump, who I suspect aren’t interested in seeing a Jeff Roe client within a mile of any gubernatorial mansion…”

Here Come the Hits…

This flyer was circulating at Lincoln Days.  It’s Rep. Adam Schwadron taking a swing at Sen. Denny Hoskins in the secretary of state’s race.  One politico guesses at the strategy: Schwadron’s only hope is becoming the conservative alternative to [Sen. Caleb] Rowden. So I expect to see more of this to come…

And over the weekend at least a couple politicos reported getting this text attacking Freedom Caucus members Sens. Hoskins, Bill Eigel, and Rick Brattin.  It was paid for by Defend US, a federal PAC.  Normally, I would wonder if something like this would hurt the atmosphere in the Senate this week.  But you can’t break something that’s broken, so I’m not too concerned about fallout.

State GOP Hires Choinka As Well

Erica Choinka, who was fired for unspecified reasons by Speaker Dean Plocher, has found no shortage of employers. 

She was hired by Sen. Lincoln Hough, to help with Senate Appropriations communications.  And she’s also is also picked up some work with the Republican State Party.  Choinka was at Lincoln Days helping make that event run smoothly.

More on SCOMO and PP

One court watcher notes: SCOMO technically didn’t side with Planned Parenthood on the constitutional claims. In what can only be described as an epic litigation blunder by Solicitor General Josh Divine, the AGO inexplicably didn’t appeal the circuit court's judgment in favor of Planned Parenthood on BOTH constitutional claims (single subject violation and equal protection); they only appealed the single subject claim. This negated the need for SCOMO to reach the merits of that claim; since the equal protection claim wasn’t appealed, it remained intact as an independent basis for entering the circuit court’s judgment. Judge Zel Fischer’s concurring opinion (in which he signals he would conclude the constitution exempts appropriation bills from the single subject requirement) has to sting.

$5K+ Contributions

Uniting Missouri PAC (pro-Parson) - $25,000 from Missouri C PAC.

Lobbyist Registrations

Tyler Blackney added Amazon.com Services LLC.

Jay Reichard and Angie Schulte added Associated Landlords Advocating Responsible Modifications (ALARM), and Spirit of '76 LLC.

Gordon Hefner deleted Missouri Association of Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Alex Eaton, Lynne Schlosser, Rodney Schad, Ron Gladney, and Jay Kanzler.