Special Session Reset

The House referred its special session bills, breaking up the Senate’s omnibus SB1 into individual bills as they announced they would.

· It would appear that at least for now the House is taking a wait-and-see approach to the AG jurisdiction provision. They may decide to wait for the Senate act to what if anything can be passed out of that chamber on the topic before expending their own political capital.

Virtual Truman Gala

MO Dems’ annual Truman Dinner is going virtual. But they’re still selling “tables” for the September 12 event. See it here.

I guess it’s BYOB?

Parson Expands Call

The press release for the new call goes into detail about what the governor envisions. The Attorney General will be able to prosecute cases only if 90 or more days have passed, the chief law enforcement officer makes the request of the Attorney General, and the Circuit Attorney has not yet filed charges…

But the actually call is much more vague. It simply asks for authorization for the AG to prosecute murder – and related cases – in the City of St. Louis. It’ll be interesting to see how narrowly or broadly defined the role of the AG is in the drafted legislation.

Senate Passes Crime Bill

The Senate passed SB 1, the governor’s anti-crime package, on Friday. The vote was split entirely according to race – something which should give pause to all policy-makers. It passed 27 – 3, with the three No votes coming from the African American members of the Senate.

The Axiom Caucus?

In 2018, Axiom Strategies focused efforts on getting involved in Missouri House races.They quickly became a powerhouse consultant for Missouri House races. At last count, there were 54 clients of Axiom Strategies in the Missouri House. On Tuesday, 22 Axiom clients won open state rep primaries throughout Missouri.

Revenue Picture Brightens

The state revenue numbers for July were very strong.This was expected because the tax filing date had been pushed back into July from April.

Bush Drops Clay

Upset of the night: Cori Bush takes out the Lacy Clay.Lacy’s father, Bill Clay, went to DC in 1968, and in the 50+ years since then St. Louis has had a Congressman Clay.No more.

Rowden Hangs Out Shingle

Lobbyist Ryan Rowden is hanging out a shingle.

Press release: Rowden announced the formation of The Rowden Group, a full-service government relations firm. With more than two decades of political experience, The Rowden Group will provide a sound legislative strategy based on legislative successes and strong relationships in the industry… Prior to The Rowden Group, Rowden served as Executive Director of the Missouri Petroleum Council and as the Director of Government Affairs for the Missouri Association of Counties

In St. Louis County: Sam Page unveiled endorsements from former County Executive Charlie Dooley and former St. Louis City mayor Francis Slay.

1. Veep stakes

2. COVID concern tracker

3. Open Table reservations

4. Vaccine pipeline

5. State sales tax rates

6. Big Foot sightings

School Start Dilemma

The Kansas City Chamber hosted a zoom call with state education chiefs from Missouri and Kansas to share plans re-open schools. Dr. Randy Watson, Commissioner of the Kansas State Department of Education, compared planning for fall to the invasion of Normandy, "the minute we landed, the plan was worthless."

“Eye Off the Ball?”

Governor Mike Parson’s pivot to violent crime may backfire if Missouri emerges as a national hotspot of the coronavirus…

2,084 new COVID cases in Missouri yesterday.

Rowden PAC Backs Cole

One of yesterday’s “large contributions” that’s generating some buzz is Majority Forward PAC sending $60,000 to Southwest Conservative Values PAC.

Majority Forward is the PAC allied with Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden. And Southwest Values is allied with David Cole.

Looking At Facebook Ads

A scan through the Facebook Ad Library lets you see what message candidates are pushing right now.

In the governor’s race, most of Governor Mike Parson’s ads involve the 2nd Amendment and “law and order.”

Meanwhile Auditor Nicole Galloway’s highlight that the race is winnable.

Senate 25: Latest Justice Ad Features Gardner

The latest Eddy Justice ad in Senate 25 features the McCloskeys and Kim Gardner. See it here.

Tag-line: “If you’re tired of the mobs and moderates, give them Justice. Hardcore conservative Eddy Justice.”

Non-Committee Expenditures

It’s always worth scanning through the non-committee expenditures around election time….

• Opportunity Solutions Project and Americans for Prosperity each spent money against MedEx, but not in great amounts $5-$10K.

• Similarly, KidsWin Missouri and Missouri Rural Crisis Center both spent money supporting Med Ex.

1. Missouri Initial Unemployment Claims fall.

2. Broader unemployment picture.

3. A look at continuing claims.

4. MO COVID cases rise.

5. Approval ratings of “hotspot” governors.

6. July COH – governor race.

7. July COH – lieutenant governor race.

8. July COH – secretary of state race.

9. July COH – treasurer race.

10. July COH – attorney general race.

Q2: Candidates in the August 4th Republican Primary Election for State Senate are Jack Bondon, Rick Brattin and Bill Yarberry. If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?

Jack Bondon: 40%

Rick Brattin: 34%

McCloskeys as GOP Heroes?
The McCloskeys, those gun-waving St. Louis City lawyers, have become a rallying point for the Missouri GOP. I find the breadth of their embrace fascinating. I asked a few Republican consultants about the phenomenon...

Brady PAC Hearts Galloway

Brady PAC, the sister organization of Brady, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention advocacy group, is endorsing Nicole Galloway this morning.

I’m told we’ll see $25,000 from the PAC as well as “activating an army of more than 800,000 grassroots supporters with the goal of raising at least $100,000 for the campaign.”