MOScout Daily Update: Williams in for STL County Exec - Pouche in Senate 34? - Freedomers Push for IP Special - Congressman Gregory? and more…
Breaking… Williams In for STL County Executive
Sen. Brian Williams is telling folks that he’s decided he’s running for St. Louis County Executive.
His decision was not based on the current indictment looming over incumbent Sam Page. Williams is saying he was planning to run anyway, and he’s running regardless of how that case proceeds.
Williams has a few advantages as the race begins…
· He has a north side base of support anchored in his Senate district.
· There’s a spirited primary underway there to succeed him. That will juice turnout.
· Unlike a lot of challengers running against an incumbent, Williams doesn’t face a huge fundraising disparity. He has more cash on-hand in his candidate committee than Page does. And he’s only slightly behind on PAC cash on-hand.
· Furthermore, Page will presumably face headwinds raising money while under indictment; at the very least, it will be a distraction.
FC Pushes to Add IP Changes to Redistricting Special
With a special session for redistricting looking more and more likely, the Freedom Caucus is pushing to add to the agenda. They’d also like to tackle the controversial topic of changing the initiative petition process.
Sen. Nick Schroer has been “speaking with members of the Trump administration several times a week over the past few weeks,” and he’s hoping to get the Trump administration to support their call to modify the Initiative Petition process.
The case for Republicans to add in IP changes…
· You’re going to be PQ-ing the new map anyway and damaging the productivity of next session already, why not just “rip the band-aid off,” and get everything done at once.
· There’s a move afoot to strip the legislature of its ability to modify the IP process. You need to get ahead of that.
The reason not to…
· There’s hasn’t been consensus among Republicans what change would be best.
· Any major (constitutional) IP changes would need to be approved by the voters. That’s not a gimme because there are entrenched interests in opposition.
· Adding a second agenda item could unnecessarily complicate the top Trump priority of redistricting.
3 in 34? Pouche Amends Committee
Rep. Sean Pouche has amended his campaign committee to seek the Senate 34 seat next year. See the filing here.
Pouche would join Rep. Brenda Shields and Kansas City Councilman Nathan Willett in the Republican primary to succeed Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer in 2026.
· Pouche’s entry would be a boost to Shields. Pouche’s geographic footprint is similar to Willett’s in the Platte County end of the district, while Shields’ base is the Buchanan County to the north.
Congressman Gregory?
This is jumping the gun a bit since the map is still under wraps. But speaking with a lobbyist yesterday, he sees Sen. Kurtis Gregory as the clear front-runner – assuming the redistricting map ends up along the general contours that people are talking about.
Those conversations have the new 5-CD starting in Kansas City and moving westward taking in several of his current senate district’s rural counties and ending with part of Boone County.
It would give Gregory strong name ID in nearly the whole stretch of the district except KC. And with KC being the bluest part of the districts, it won’t have a ton of primary votes.
Appleseed Transition
Missouri Appleseed is changing leadership. After eight years, founding Executive Director Liza Weiss is moving on. Taking Weiss’ spot is Mary Quandt. She’s been Appleseed’s Director of Public Health Policy for two years.
Among the accomplishments notched during Weiss’ tenure…
Lobbyist Registrations
Gamble & Schlemeier deleted Ascend Learning c/o MultiState Associates LLC.
Christian Morgan deleted DraftKings Inc, Sports Betting Alliance/Vantage Legal PLLC, and
FanDuel Group, Inc.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to George Draper III.