MOScout Daily Update: HRCC 13 Defense, 1 Offense - VLTs Returning? - Will of the People PAC and more…
HRCC Target List?
Here’s where HRCC is running Google Ads. It gives a quick peek at the current battleground seats.
HD-12 (Mike Jones to Senate): Jerry Hickey vs. Tracey Steele
HD-16: Rep. Chris Brown vs. Dan Kinate
HD-17: Rep. Bill Allen vs. Susan Hoisington
HD-30 (Patterson to Senate): Jeff Martin vs. Kevin Grover
HD-31: Rep. Ron Fowler vs. Justin Geiser
HD-94 (Murphy termed): Maryellen Murphy vs. Cathy Summers
HD-96: Rep. Brad Christ vs. Matt Vitale
HD-100: Rep. Phil Oehlerking vs. Mary Ann Perkins
HD-101: Rep. Ben Keathley vs. Paul Lentz and Libertarian Jeff Coleman
HD-104: Rep. Terri Violet vs. Tara Murray
HD-105: Rep. Colin Wellenkamp vs. Cat Clayton
HD-106: Rep. Travis Wilson vs. Jewel Kelly
HD-132: Russ Gosselin vs. Rep. Jeremy Dean
HD-133 (Stinnett to Senate): Jerry Angelo vs. Katelyn Zach
What It Means
There are 14 races on this list and 13 of them are Republicans playing defense. That sums up the state of play right now.
VLTs ‘Being Fired Up Again’?
KSN reports that “after thousands of devices have been turned off or removed from locations statewide, Hanaway says her office is getting new reports that some of those machines are being fired up again.”
· “That is going to be very bad news for the owners of those machines and the owners of those gas stations,” said Hanaway. “Look, all the warning signs have been set now, people will probably start going to jail.”
Will of the People PAC
Will of the People PAC, a campaign coalition of Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action,
Missouri Workers Power, Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Action, and Missouri Voter Project - State PAC, continues to be active, especially in Senate 8 and Senate 30.
Their September 3 report showed $250,000 in field operations. Its allocation schedule assigns:
· $120,933 to Elizabeth Fogle (Senate 30).
· $64,533 to Kevin Grover (House 30, old Patterson seat).
· $64,533 to Keri Ingle (Senate 8).
They’re also running Facebook ads…
· Senate 8: See the hit on JP here. Pay-More Patterson had a plan: Raise our taxes as fast as he can. Tax our groceries. Our haircuts. Ain’t that a b**ch. Taxes for us but not for the rich.
· Senate 30: See the hit on Stinnett: “State senate candidate Melanie Stinnett knows how to buy a home in this economy. Just take over $300,000 of taxpayer-funded loans. Never pay it back. And buy your dream house.”
House Ads
· House 96 – Rep. Brad Christ’s ad (see it here) goes right at Ameren. It starts with a homeowner complaining, “These are our Ameren bills. They went up 12% last year and they’re asking for 10% more.” Christ addresses the camera, “Ameren was going to keep raising rates, with or without anybody in Jefferson City. So I voted for the law to lower the rate cap on how fast they can grow. Ameren can ask for 10%, but the law decides what they get.” It returns to the homeowner: “I’m glad to say that we have Brad Christ in Jefferson City fighting for all of us.”
· House 100 – Democrat Mary Ann Perkins’ ad (see it here) hits the theme a lot of Dems are targeting… When the powerful feel entitled to rule our lives, no matter what the people say, there's a name for it. Corruption. Take Philip Oehlerking. When voters say yes, Oehlerking says no. Fair maps, no. Sick leave? Nope. Abortion rights? No way. Shoot. He tried to do away with citizen initiatives altogether. You'd probably prefer you didn't even vote at all. Well, Philip, we do have a vote and it's our turn to say no. I'm Mary Ann Perkins running to represent you.
MALO PAC
MALO PAC was recently established. The filing is unclear about its underlying purpose, but my guess would be that it’s a vehicle for the Missouri Association of License Offices to pursue their agenda.
One potential issue ahead next session would be another push for HB 2640 which would have required online vehicle, driver-license and boat renewals to be routed through a customer-selected contract license office.
· With DOR expanding end-to-end online services, MALO would want that routing protected in statute so modernization cannot bypass its members.
Family Arena Naming Rights
On the St. Charles County Council agenda includes engaging a firm to sell naming rights to the Family Arena. According to the contract, such services will run about a half-mill after all is said and done.
· The recent St. Charles County Executive race focused some attention on whether some of the County’s assets were draining resources.
Year of the Influencer?
Politico and the New York Times look at the increasing role of online “influencers” in campaigns.
Politico: This is campaigning in the age of influencers. As political campaigns are waged more and more on the internet — a place where everyone seems driven by an insatiable hunger for attention — a debate is brewing about whether elections can be won or lost online.
New York Times: Functioning more like birdshot than a single bullet, these high-volume social media campaigns represent the new vanguard of modern political influence, saturating the internet with a topic until it is all but unavoidable. That can help game social media network algorithms so that they treat coordinated content as organic, spreading the message even wider. Built from dozens or hundreds of posts from accounts you’ve never heard of, they amount to an echo chamber on a budget.
And
California tries to enforce transparency: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill imposing criminal and civil penalties on content creators who fail to disclose paid political advertisements, a measure aimed at bringing greater transparency to the growing use of influencer marketing in politics.
eMailbag on Hallway House Predictions
People have little confidence in Dems to pull it off (pick up several seats). I think this year is different because it appears the Dems are sticking to the talking points that resonate with voters (inflation - gas, beef and groceries), in lieu of the normal partisan issues.
Help Wanted
House Minority Leader’s Office seeks Legislative Director. The duties of this position include extensive research and analysis of legislative issues as requested by House minority leadership or the minority caucus, preparation of reports on the impact of legislation, and facilitating the drafting of legislation and amendments. The selected candidate must be available to work extremely long hours during the legislative session from January through May.
Lobbyist Registrations
Rachael Stuart Klarich added J&J Ventures Gaming LLC.
Barb York and Karen Strange added Sporting Dog Association of Missouri.
Austin Walker added The Boeing Company.
$5K+ Contributions
Freedom Is Bold PAC (pro-Keathley) - $15,000 from Rex Sinquefield.
Missouri Democratic State Committee - $7,500 from Cat Clayton For Missouri.
Univ of MO Flagship Council PAC - $15,000 from Richard Miller (Pittsburg, KS).
Birthdays
Happy birthdays Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, Rep. Betsy Fogle, Alix Cossette, Tommie Pierson Jr., Michael Brown, Phil Arnzen, Nathan Cooper, and Dana Loesch.