MOScout Daily Update: Polling Kehoe Endorsement in Senate 6 - Burger for Asst Floor? - Mitten Loses Case and more…
Kehoe Endorsement Coming in Senate 6?
A text-based poll making the rounds in Senate 6 yesterday…
· What is your opinion of Mike Kehoe?
1 = Favorable
2 = Unfavorable
3 = No opinion
· What is your opinion of Jake Vogel?
1 = Favorable
2 = Unfavorable
3 = No opinion
· Possible candidates in the 2026 Republican Primary Election for State Senate are Jake Vogel, Rudy Veit, Derrick Spicer and Chuck Gatschenberger. If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?
· Rudy Veit is completing his eighth year as a State Representative representing parts of Cole and Miller Counties. Veit is an active Catholic and full-time attorney. He is a family man with four children and six grandchildren.
· Jake Vogel is a political outsider and is president of his family business, a Coca-Cola distributorship. He served in the U.S. Army Rangers, engaging in more than 350 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vogel is active in his community with his wife and three children.
· If Governor Mike Kehoe endorsed a candidate in the race, would that make you more likely or less likely to support that candidate, or would it make no difference?
· After hearing more about the candidates in the race for State Senate, which candidate would you support if the election were held today?
What’s Interesting
The campaign behind the poll (the guess would be Vogel’s) is polling Kehoe’s image and how his endorsement in the race would be viewed.
Burger for Asst Floor?
One MOScouter floats Sen. Jamie Burger as a possible Assistant Floor Leader…
Burger brings a deep procedural understanding to the table, having previously served as Assistant Floor Leader during his time in the Missouri House. Known for his steady, no-nonsense style, Burger isn’t one to chase headlines, preferring instead to be the guy who quietly gets things done.
He’s also proven to be an effective fundraiser with the ability to bolster the caucus’s efforts statewide. His legislative track record includes passage of a major water bill that’s now drawing interest from other states hoping to replicate Missouri’s model.
With years of experience building and maintaining relationships across the political spectrum, and a willingness to travel the state on behalf of his colleagues, Burger’s supporters say he’d bring both competence and commitment to the floor team.
Why It Matters
While the Senate doesn’t have the strict hierarchical succession that we see in the House, Landing the Assistant Floor Leader spot would position Burger for a bigger role in the future.
Mitten Loses Case
Last week former Rep. Gina Mitten lost her case suing the state over being terminated as an Administrative Law Judge. See the ruling here.
Why It Matters
Mitten is running in Senate 4, and I can already imagine the hit piece her opponents will use. A fuzzy picture of Mitten with the bold type “She couldn’t do her judge job, now she wants to be senator?”
· In the court record: Mitten’s dismissal letter cited… her being in violation of… Performance Standards for Administrative Law Judges… In Mitten’s dismissal letter, signed by the director of the division of workers’ compensation, it was noted that four cases were late by 445 days, 260 days, 180 days, and 145 days, respectively.
Senator Taylor?
I hopped around to a couple different political Halloween parties last night. From a South City dive bar for Rep. Nick Kimble’s re-election kick-off to the wine and cheese event of Rachel D'Souza – who’s running in House 79 where Rep. LaKeySha Bosley is termed.
Most interesting was Rep. Del Taylor’s event – where he was dressed as a Roman senator – leading at least one attendee to speculate he might be thinking about jumping into the Senate 4 race…
· Taylor did tip that a PAC supporting his political ambitions could be forming.
Data Center Spending Not Slowing
Wall Street Journal this morning…. Silicon Valley’s biggest companies are already planning to pour $400 billion into artificial intelligence efforts this year. They all say it’s nowhere near enough.
Meta Platforms says it is still running up against capacity constraints as it tries to train new AI models and power its existing products at the same time. Microsoft says it is seeing so much customer demand for its data-center-driven services that it plans to double its data-center footprint in the next two years. And Amazon.com says it is racing to bring more cloud capacity online as soon as it can.
“We’ve been short [on computing power] now for many quarters. I thought we were going to catch up. We are not. Demand is increasing,” said Amy Hood, Microsoft’s chief financial officer. “When you see these kinds of demand signals and we know we’re behind, we do need to spend.”
Rates by State
New York Times had this nifty map of electric prices across the nation…
Help Wanted
Missouri House of Representatives seeks Budget Analyst, Appropriations Division. The Budget Analyst position is responsible for drafting and reviewing legislative appropriation bills and tracking relevant legislation while serving as the main budget contact for members of the Missouri House of Representatives… Starting salary range is $55,000-$75,000 annually.
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $50,000 from Rex Sinquefield.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $50,000 from MO Law Enforcement For Good Govt PAC.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $25,000 from Centene Management Company LLC.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $25,000 from Ameren Missouri Company.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $20,000 from SNK Real Property Holdings LLC.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $15,000 from Missouri Soybean Association.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $15,000 from Oracle America Inc. (Redwood Shores, CA).
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $15,000 from CN-MO PAC.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Missouri Medical PAC.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Evergy Metro Inc.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Missouri Optometric PAC.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from BNSF Railway Company (Fort Worth, TX).
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Cigna Holding Company (Washington, DC).
American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $10,000 from Get Insured (Mountain View, CA).
Tony PAC (pro-Luetkemeyer) - $15,000 from MoCanntrade PAC.
Tony PAC - $7,500 from Mo Majority PAC.
Tony PAC - $7,500 from Missouri Ag PAC.
The Leadbelt PAC (pro-Henderson) - $10,000 from Rex Sinquefield.
NextGen North PAC (pro-Willett) - $10,000 from Evergy Metro, Inc.
Heart of SGF PAC (pro-Stinett) - $10,000 from Paladin PAC.
Heart of SGF PAC - $7,500 from MOCS Action.
Catalyst PAC - $50,000 from Evergy Metro, Inc.
Paladin PAC - $25,000 from J&J Ventures Missouri, LLC (Effingham, IL).
Growth and Opportunity PAC - $10,000 from Growth and Opportunity PAC.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Ken McClure.
Sunday: Rep. Peggy McGaugh, Joe Bruns and Shane Kinne.
MOScout Schedule
No MOScout this weekend.