MOScout Daily Update: Kehoe for Pollitt - Festus Backlash - New Senate Committees - The Hit on Brattin and more…
Quick Friday update…
Kehoe for Pollitt
Governor Mike Kehoe will be a special guest for a fundraiser for Rep. Brad Pollitt next month. Pollitt is running to replace Sen. Sandy Crawford in Senate 28. He faces Sam Alexander and Chuck Lentz.
Why It Matters: Kehoe is not being shy about getting involved in these Senate primaries. It shows he cares about the makeup of the next Senate.
Festus Backlash Continues
The Post-Dispatch reports on continued pushback against elected officials in Festus for approving a data center.
Opponents of a planned $6 billion data center turned in enough signatures to force a recall election on Mayor Sam Richards and two city councilmen, but fell short on a third councilman, the Jefferson County clerk announced Thursday. County Clerk Jeannie Goff said that petitioners will have 10 more days to gather the 36 additional signatures needed to also trigger a recall vote on the third councilman, David Boyer of the 1st Ward.
What It Means
Most politicians have strong survivor instincts. They see this happening in another localities and it will give them cold feet when a data center is proposed in their jurisdiction.
CD-5: The Hit on Brattin
One potent line of attack we may see from the Taylor Burks campaign in CD-5: missed votes.
Last session, according to Gov Watch’s data, Sen. Rick Brattin missed 90 votes. Usually, a large number of missed votes is attributable to some episode – Sen. Steven Roberts’ deployment for service, for example.
· I’ve seen past campaigns make this an issue in mailers and TV ads saying things like, “Didn’t show up for work.” It can be a killer.
New Senate Committees
Two new Senate committees were announced.
· Select Committee on Abandoned Landfill Remediation shall hear and issue a report on matters related to abandoned landfills and solid waste districts throughout Missouri. Chaired by Sen. Ben Brown.
· The Select Committee on Rural Healthcare shall hear and issue a report on matters related to healthcare challenges and opportunities confronting Missouri's rural communities. Chaired by Sen. Jill Carter.
Moving School Board Elections
Sen. Adam Schnelting’s SB 1002 passed last session. It would move St. Charles’ school board elections from low-turnout April elections to higher-turnout November elections. And it allows candidates to identify their partisan affiliation, that is, put an R or D behind their name.
While some worry the latter provision will make school board elections more partisan and more likely to get swept up in national politics, there seems to be good support for the first part.
A working paper on the issue of moving school board elections found solid public support for moving the elections to regular election days. This support extended even to teachers who were thought to enjoy an electoral benefit from lower turnout. It shows the power of the idea. Find the paper here.
Teachers are not differentially impacted by arguments for or against on-cycle elections and robust support for on-cycle elections among teachers persists even when we directly inform them of the potential threat to the interests of their labor unions.
Lobbyist Registrations
Gamble & Schlemeier deleted Bluebird Network, LLC.
Bradley Pryor deleted Lincoln Crossing Community Improvement District, and HISF LLC.
$5k+ Contributions
Missouri Promise PAC - $1,900,000 from Missouri Promise Inc.
American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $19,350 from Andi Hilburn Vaini.
American Dream PAC - $10,000 from Corwin Motors of Springfield LLC.
Paladin PAC - $30,000 from J&J Ventures Missouri LLC (Effingham, IL).
Political Action Committee for Health - HEALTHPAC - $396,000 from MHA Management Services.
Mike Miller for Collector - $10,000 from mickual miller.
Respect MO Voters Campaign - $11,000 from Respect Missouri Voters Ballot Fund.
Deere & Company Political Action Committee MO-Federal Committee - $18,500 from Deere & Company PAC (AKA John Deere PAC) (Moline, IL).
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Kevin Windham, Chris Dunn, Glenn Klippenstein, and Chuck Banks.