MOScout Daily Update: Another Map Ruling - Trucking Blues - A6 Power Move - House Races Rundown and more…
8th Circuit Hearts New Map
Just when I thought it was over, we have another map twist. The 8th Circuit Court ruled that “because Missouri used the 2025 map in the August 2026 primary election, using the 2022 map in the November 2026 general election violates Article I, Section 2.”
But it ordered a 7-day stay to give the U.S. Supreme Court a chance to weigh in and prevent another whipsaw as election officials prepare for the November elections.
The Court is ordering the district court to administratively stay the permanent injunction for seven days to allow for Supreme Court review. If the Supreme Court has not stayed or otherwise altered the permanent injunction by that time, Secretary Hoskins and all others bound by this judgment must fully implement the 2025 map for the November 2026 general election.
Interestingly, the decision includes a plea: The Court trusts that the Missouri Supreme Court will respect this Court’s decision under the Supremacy Clause.
It’s not clear that it would, having ruled that the new map has never been the law in Missouri.
And the Post-Dispatch reports on this nugget: Meanwhile, Kurt Bahr, the director of elections in St. Charles County, said Monday's new court ruling "means absolutely nothing." “This doesn’t affect what we are doing," said Bahr, a Republican. He says legal counsel has advised election officials that the U.S. Supreme Court’s previous ruling supersedes decisions made by an appeals court.
What It Means
We wait for SCOTUS…
Crawford: Trucking Industry Hurting
MissouriNet reports that “Missouri trucking companies are facing mounting pressure as diesel prices climb, with some long-established carriers shutting down as fuel costs continue to rise.”
· Diesel prices in Missouri are up nearly 60% from a year ago, creating new challenges across the state’s trucking industry. Missouri Trucking Association President and CEO Tom Crawford said the impact is being felt especially hard by smaller operators.
· “It’s unfortunate I’m seeing family-owned mom and pop trucking companies that grew during the 70s and 80s and 90s and getting notices that they’re shutting down their doors or they’re closing their businesses,” Crawford said. “And it hurts when you see that. It’s been a challenging time.”
House Races Rundown…
· House 12 – Democrat Tracey Steele is making the A-F scorecard a campaign issue. In a September 12 video, he promoted a petition seeking to pause its implementation and provide public-comment time, arguing the grades would harm services and worsen teacher shortages.
· House 16 – Rep. Chris Brown’s website touts some labor endorsements. It’s interesting because his Democratic opponent, Dan Kinate, is an IBEW retiree.
· House 17 – Rep. Bill Allen (R), trying to fight off a Democratic challenge in his purple district, has released a 15-second ad. See it here. The ad focuses on education and leans on his endorsement from the NEA.
· House 34 – Republican Sean Smith, trying to flip the seat for Republicans, has challenged the Royals stadium arithmetic. At the September 9 TIF meeting, he called the assertion that Jackson County would lose no tax revenue “materially false,” citing existing tax-paying buildings. The commission advanced the plan over his objections.
· House 96 – Rep. Brad Christ (R) has been issuing press releases at a fast clip: saying he’ll support legislation to regulate Flock; he opposes an Ameren rate increase; and calling for a special session on property taxes. That last one drew a response from his Democratic opponent, Matt Vitale: “Brad Christ didn’t discover property taxes this week. He discovered the election is in 50 days.”
· House 100 – In an email to St. Louis Magazine, Rep. Phil Oehlerking (R) stresses his independence from the Republican Party. “Voters in District 100 know I am an effective leader who works to get things done. I’m not beholden to either party and I have worked on issues that actually matter like reducing the cost of healthcare, lowering property taxes, and making housing affordable…”
· House 105 – Rep. Colin Wellenkamp (R) announced plans to lead legislation protecting water and power resources, requiring transparency and preventing data-center costs from shifting to other customers. Meanwhile, his Democratic opponent, Cat Clayton, is the beneficiary of combined abortion-and-candidate operation. Abortion Action Missouri is organizing “NO on 3 and YES on Cat Clayton” canvasses on September 22 and 24.
· House 106 – Jewel Kelly, the Democrat taking on Rep. Travis Wilson, released an ad attacking the incumbent’s support for Amendments 4 and 5. Watch it here.
Amendment 6’s Political Recalibration
Amendment 6 could be profoundly impactful for Missouri politics. It would prevent lawmakers from directly changing voter-approved laws. Any change would need 80% approval in both chambers and then another public vote.
There’s a case to be made that the Republican supermajority views the initiative petition process as its true “opposition party.” While Republicans’ superior numbers allow them to roll over Democratic legislators with relative ease, they’re often foiled by IPs on specific issues.
A6 would amplify the power of the IP and likely increase its use as a means for policy implementation.
And
In an interview with the Mighty Jason Rosenbaum, Rep. Melanie Stinnett doesn’t come out in favor of Amendment 6, but notes some aspects she appreciates.
“I think that what I’m interested in looking at is giving some more strength to the citizen-led initiative petitions for statutory changes. I’ve been open about this and talked about this in other spaces where I think if we put some sort of timeline on how long that we had to wait as a legislature to touch something that had been put in on the statutory side, then maybe we wouldn’t see so many constitutional amendments.”
Help Wanted
County Commissioners Association of Missouri (CCAM) seeks legislative and governmental affairs services on behalf of the Association. The selected firm will be responsible for monitoring, researching, analyzing, communicating, and advocating on legislative matters affecting Missouri county government and the interests of CCAM members. CCAM is seeking a firm with a demonstrated record of effective legislative and administrative representation before the Missouri General Assembly and state government agencies. A strong working knowledge of Missouri county government, county operations, and the statutory and regulatory framework governing Missouri counties is essential. The selected firm will work closely with the CCAM Board of Directors, CCAM legislative leadership, and the Missouri Association of Counties (MAC) staff to advance priorities established by the CCAM membership.
Lobbyist Registrations
Heath Clarkston, Michael Henderson, and Doug Nelson added Vardr Partners.
$5K+ Contributions
Bootheel Values PAC (pro-Burger) - $10,000 from MCR PAC.
Serve Missouri PAC (pro-McCreery) - $15,000 from PENN Entertainment, Inc (Wyomissing, PA).
Serve Missouri PAC - $10,000 from MCR Pac.
Rural Roots PAC (pro-Diehl) - $15,000 from Rex Sinquefield.
964 PAC (pro-Myers) - $7,500 from PENN Entertainment LLC (Wyomissing, PA).
Vote Yes on Amendment 6 - $23,604 from Construction & General Laborers' Union Local 840.
Vote Yes on Amendment 6 - $60,440 from Laborers' International Union of North America AFL-CIO Local 1104.
Vote Yes on Amendment 6 - $20,303 from Construction & General Laborer Local 955.
Political Action Committee for Health – HEALTHPAC - $11,400 from SWMO Healthcare Committee.
Missouri Voter Project - State PAC - $100,000 from Missouri Wins Investor Network.
Missouri Voter Project - State PAC - $65,000 from ABC General Fund Missouri Federal Committee (Washington, DC).
Better MO PAC - $6,000 from Chad Meyer.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to David Willis, and Bruce Franks Jr.