MOScout Daily Update: Scharf, Hamra Hit $1M Mark - Razer $$$ to Senate Dems - Lewis $200K 3Q Haul? - MO GOP Delegate-gate? and much more…

Scharf, Hamra Add Personal Funds

Five weeks until the primary, folks are writing big checks to their campaigns…

·       Republican Will Scharf, running for AG, added $500,000 into his campaign account.

·       Democrat Mike Hamra put $250,000 his gubernatorial campaign.

This was not the first injection of personal cash for either of them.  In fact, these checks brought both of them to the $1,000,000 threshold.

Reminder: The Difference Between PAC $$ and Candidate $$

This seems a good time to remind readers that candidates get preferential treatment with ad rates, while political action committees do not.

From the FCC: A candidate shall be charged no more per unit than the station charges its most favored commercial advertisers for the same classes and amounts of time for the same periods.

·       That means that PAC dollars don’t go as far as candidate committee dollars.  Depending on the media market and the state of demand in that market, it’s not uncommon for PACs to pay twice the rate of a candidate.

Ouch!  Terrible Ad Placement

Razer Sends $$$ to Sen Dems

Former Sen. Greg Razer, now on the State Tax Commission, sent about half of the remaining cash in his campaign committee to the Senate Dems’ campaign committee, Majority Forward.  In addition to that $50,000 check, the pro-Razer PAC, KC Neighbors for Progress sent $84,787 as well to the Senate Dems. 

·       That’s a total of $134,787 from Team Razer, perhaps setting a new expectation for Senate Democrats as they leave office?

Meanwhile

Supporters of Rep. Patty Lewis like that development as well.  Word is that Lewis’ campaign hit $200,000 for the quarter (candidate and PAC combined) plus solid commitments for the next few weeks.  One ally: “In this environment in a Dem primary it was just about whether a pro-choice woman would have the money to get her message out, and she’s achieved that. With Pat Contraras losing all of Greg’s money to Majority Forward I think that race is over, the only question now is the margin.”

Nickson Beau Charged

Post-Dispatch reports that “a north St. Louis County man charged with six felonies in connection with a drug ring is the fiancée of a Missouri legislator and has received more than $6,000 from her campaign. Antonio Jones, 50, of Richmond Forest Drive, was charged in October with six counts of money laundering involving more than $650,000. The alleged crimes took place between March 8 and May 25, 2021, according to court records. Jones is the fiancée of state Rep. Chantelle Nickson-Clark, D-North St. Louis County, and the two appear to live together.”

·       Nickson-Clark is taking on Sen. Angela Mosley in the Democratic primary in Senate 13.

MO Impact on Biden Debate Debacle?

One MOScouter thinks that the Joe Biden debate debacle gives Republicans in swing House and Senate districts a nice bump.  “Every suburban Republican won the week after Biden’s debate performance. It’s not that more soft Ds and Independents will vote for Trump, it’s that they won't show up at all. Also hearing from Ds who are angry that Dems call Trump a ‘threat to democracy’ but cannot come up with a stronger candidate. We still have a way to go, but a good week for Rs running in swing districts.”

·       Axios reports about a similar fear among Congressional Dems in swing district.  Read it here.  “One swing-district House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described frantic efforts to avoid a visit from the president or even First Lady Jill Biden.”

IOUE Loads PAC

Over the weekend, the Operating Engineers Local 101 loaded up their PAC with a $540,000 deposit.  We’ll see where that money tracks this cycle.  (IUOE Local 101’s lobbyist in Jefferson City is Jeff Aboussie.)

They also established two new PAC with $50K each…

·       Policy Over Politics 101

·       Policy Over Politics 101 Separate Segregated Fund

GOP Delegate-gate

Last month’s “take-over” of the Republican State Convention has now resulted in a true mess.  While initially heralded as a victory for the grassroots over the party establishment, the Republican National Committee has ruled that the delegates were improperly chosen.  They’ve instead returned authority to the MO State Party’s executive committee to choose delegates to the national convention.  Read the ruling here.

·       Contestants allege, and Respondent does not effectively rebut, that there was never a final roll of delegates produced with the names of all the correct delegates and alternate delegates who were credentialed to participate in the State Convention… the report was deficient, and this Committee cannot accept it as proof the State Convention was properly credentialed…

·       Because of the short time remaining before the National Convention, the Committee believes there is no possible way for Missouri to hold a new state convention, and thus the MOGOP executive committee should vote to fill the seats if there is no controlling state party rule or state law.

Byrnes’ Hubs to Main Event

And

Speaking of poker, lobbyist Jeff Smith looks at the current Republican gubernatorial primary through the lens of a Texas Hold’em hand.  Read it here.

eMailbag on Senate 27 Poll

Two readers, two views….

·       Pro-Burger: Burger has a strong geographic advantage as evidenced by the poll numbers after 6 months of Dinkins attacks, heavy digital, mail and two weeks of broadcast without Burger spending money or attacking her. Dinkin’s leveraged her chances blowing through her loans and money on a hail-Mary strategy to win a poll hoping to draw more money to finish her campaign.  Burger’s turn.  He has the geographic base considerable resources and has strong messages both pro-Burger and anti-Dinkins.  Run a poll in 10 days and see who is ahead then.

·       Pro-Dinkins: That poll in SD 27 shows that geography is a factor in elections, but not the biggest factor. There are several outside groups coming in to support Dinkins. Add resources to the phenomenal work ethic of Dinkins, factor in that she's more ideologically aligned with voters in the district, and you get a winner. No one thought Fitzwater could overcome geography and money, either.

Lobbyists Registrations

David Winton, Jessica Petrie, and Chase Campbell added Ball Ventures.

$5K+ Contributions

Citizens for Scharf - $500,000 from William Scharf.

Hamra for Missouri - $250,000 from Michael Hamra.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom (pro-reproductive health IP) - $100,000 from Clever Little Girl Foundation.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom - $50,000 from Our Children Our Future (Pasadena, CA).

Liberty and Justice PAC (pro-Bailey) - $50,000 from Christopher McDaniel.

American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $50,000 from Howard Wood.

American Dream PAC - $10,000 from Penn Enterprise Inc. (Wyomissing, PA).

American Dream PAC - $5,650 from John Sinclair.

Conservative Solutions for Missouri PAC (pro-Mary Elizabeth Coleman) - $10,000 from The Rowdy PAC.

Independence PAC (pro-McMullen) - $10,000 from Great Northwest PAC (pro-Rusty Black).

HOMEFRONT PAC (pro-Webber) - $40,000 from Conservative Justice PAC.

Friends of Billy Crow - $10,000 from Billy Crow.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Cyndi Gamble, Commissioner Maida Coleman, John Bowman, and Connie "LaJoyce" Johnson.