MOScout Daily Update: Trump Endorses Onder - Porter Drops Out - Ashcroft Ad - Scharf Exaggerates ? - RightPath Sits Out Primary? and more…
Trump Endorses Onder
“Yuge” CD-3 news yesterday … former Sen. Bob Onder received Donald Trump’s coveted endorsement in the 3-CD Republican primary.
Missouri Republicans have almost universally worked to embrace Trumpism to buoy their own standing with primary voters. Indeed, a 3-CD MOScout/Remington poll from March showed Trump’s favorability among Republicans at +53%.
Q3: What is your opinion of Donald Trump?
Favorable: 74%
Unfavorable: 21%
No opinion: 5%
But…
It should be noted that Trump’s endorsement hasn’t always carried the day with Republican voters.
Team Schaefer sounded undeterred by the news…
· “Kurt is endorsed by Missourians from CD3, Bob isn’t, which isn’t surprising since he doesn’t live here.”
· And they plan to remind voters of Onder’s previous anti-Trump comments.
Porter Suspends Campaign
I missed this in the long holiday weekend… Matthew Porter, a St. Louis businessman who made a late entry into the lieutenant governor’s race, announced he was returning donations and suspending his campaign.
What It Means
Since Porter never really got going – he had a kick-off event and that was about it – there’s no impact here.
Ashcroft Ad: Tax Hike Mike
Jay Ashcroft released his first TV ad. It’s the hit everyone knew was coming. Even the nickname isn’t a surprise. This is thought to be killer for Mike Kehoe – a tax-raiser in a Republican primary. But is it possible that the early-and-often pro-Kehoe ads in this campaign have given Kehoe some inoculation to the attack? We’ll see.
Tax Hike Mike Kehoe sponsored the increase in the gas tax. No wonder Tax Hike Mike doubled government spending and voted four times to sell our land to China…
Early Filings Watch
The July campaign finance filings are due next Monday, but I took a look yesterday at some early filers…
· RightPath PAC Sits Tight – This committee, funded by Washington University supporters, is one of the largest PACs in Missouri with $1.2 million in the bank. But its recent filing showed that they’re pretty much sitting on their hands this primary season.
· Schoeller’s Money Problem – A lot of folks consider Shane Schoeller, Greene County Clerk, to be the most qualified for the secretary of state’s job. But he’s never been a big fundraiser, and that’s reduced expectations for him in the race. His latest PAC filing shows just $1,000 raised in the last three months with $13,000 on-hand.
· Eigel PAC Pays Lembke Through 100 PAC – The most recent filing of the 100 PAC shows a $25,000 contribution from Bill Eigel’s PAC. That’s the bulk of 100 PAC’s fundraising for the quarter. The 100 PAC, meanwhile, pays Jim Lembke $8,000 a month for “fundraising.” That’s the bulk of their expenses for the quarter.
Guardian: Scharf Overstates Crime-Fighting Resume
From the Guardian: “A lawyer on the legal team that argued in favor of a US supreme court ruling granting Donald Trump broad criminal immunity has inflated his credentials as a violent crime prosecutor in a political beauty contest aimed at wooing the former president’s Maga supporters and becoming Missouri’s attorney general.”
· [Will Scharf’s] campaign website claims that he served “as a federal violent crimes prosecutor in the US attorney’s office for the eastern district of Missouri, leading over 100 federal felony prosecutions and sending violent criminals to prison for hundreds of years”.
· In fact, violent crimes accounted for only about 4% of the cases prosecuted by Scharf, who predominantly focused on prosecutions for felony firearm possessions and violations of supervised release.
Chiefs Watch
Word is that future House Speaker Jon Patterson and future Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin on working to keep the Chiefs (and Royals) in Missouri.
· MOScouter: “JP and Cindy O met with Mark Donovan, President of the Chiefs and Royals majority owner John Sherman and president of business operations Brooks Sherman. Both teams want to stay in Missouri and both legislative leaders believe there is a path to keep them here.”
Lobbyists Registrations
Adam Rapert added CARDS Holdings, Inc.
Richie Crawford deleted Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
Committee for Liberty (pro-Ashcroft) - $100,000 from W Mark Lanier (Houston, TX).
Committee for Liberty - $10,000 from Paul DeBruce.
American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $7,825 from American Health Management Services, LLC (Parson, TN).
Liberty and Justice PAC (pro-Bailey) - $15,000 from Doug Albrecht.
Old Drum Conservative PAC (pro-Hoskins) - $25,000 from Paladin PAC.
Cultivating Freedom PAC (pro-Richey) - $15,000 from Quality Schools Coalition.
Cultivating Freedom PAC - $10,000 from Missouri Health Plan Association PAC.
Cultivating Freedom PAC - $5,200 from Sun Solar LLC.
The Wonderdog PAC (pro-Kurtis Gregory) - $15,000 from Richard Miller (Pittsburg, KS).
True Patriot PAC (pro-Brattin) - $25,000 from Rex Sinquefield.
Eastside Forward PAC (pro-Washington) - $20,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council; MO-KS Area PAC.
The Leadbelt PAC (pro-Henderson) - $50,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council MO-KC PAC.
The Leadbelt PAC - $25,000 from Paladin PAC.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom - $10,000 from Jerome Schlichter.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom - $5,638 from American Civil Liberties Union, Inc. (New York, NY).
MO Republican Attorneys for Civil Justice PAC - $7,000 from O'Brien Law Firm, P.C.
Citizens For Missouri Courts - $50,000 from Holland Law Firm LLC.
Citizens For Missouri Courts -$25,000 from The Simon Law Firm, P.C.
NEMO Leadership PAC (pro-O’Laughlin) - $10,000 from SANDY PAC (pro-Crawford).
Progress PAC - $20,000 from Advanced Environmental Services Inc.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Jeff Brooks, Ron Fitzwater, and Don Ruzicka.