Gov Announces Budget Line Item Vetoes

Governor Mike Parson signed the budget bills and vetoed specific line items within the bills. 

Wood Announces Senate Bid

John Wood announced he’d seek Missouri’s US Senate seat as an Independent. Wood is answering the call of Jack Danforth who months ago said he saw an opening for a right-of-center mainstream Republican to run – and win – as an Independent.

MRL Federal Endorsements

Missouri Right to Life announced their endorsements of federal candidates.

Valentine The Nurse

“The Senate could sure use a nurse for a change.”  It’s the tagline in Trudy Busch Valentine’s new ad. 

Roorda Collects Labor Support

Jeff Roorda, running in Sensate 22 as a Republican, has a fundraiser this Thursday. It’s at the Operating Engineers Local 148. And the invite hosts list has lots of labor bigwigs.

1. Missouri abortion trend, 2017 – 2020.

2. Oil and Gas prices.

3. Ethanol price outpacing oil.

4. Guns and kids don’t mix.

5. Belief in God.

6. UFO sightings, by state.

Q3: Thinking about the 2020 election, which statement best sums up your feelings…

There was widespread election fraud which is why Donald Trump lost the election: 53%

There was some election fraud, but Joe Biden would have won regardless: 18%

There was little to no election fraud: 29%

MRL House Endorsements

Missouri Right to Life PAC formally issued their House endorsements yesterday.  As with their Senate endorsements, pro-life House members were largely shunned by the organization due to the chamber passing the renewal of the FRA tax without the anti-abortion language that MRL sought.

RightPath Starts Spending War Chest

The RightPath PAC has started spending some of its massive war chest.

According to April campaign finance filings, RightPath PAC – funded largely by wealthy individuals associated with Washington University – had nearly $2.5 million cash on-hand, more than any other PAC in the state.

The conventional wisdom in Missouri is that Donald Trump could be a decisive factor if he endorses. Maybe we’ll overestimated his potential impact?

US Senate: Upset Watch

I’m officially calling an “upset watch” in Missouri’s US Senate race.  The assumption remains that Republicans will hold this seat.  After all Donald Trump carried it by 15 points two years ago.  But we now have a plausible scenario for Dems to pull off an upset. 

Brunner Backs Schmitt

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate and US Senate candidate John Brunner endorsed Attorney General Eric Schmitt.

Exclusive: Cierpiot Polling

Team Cierpiot’s internal polling shows that Sen. Mike Cierpiot starts his re-election bid with a decent lead but is still well below 50%. He will have to run a full, well-funded campaign to bring it home without drama.

Burlison on the Air

Sen. Eric Burlison, running in CD-7, will release his first television ad today. It’s a fun playful ad featuring his daughters who call him a nerd for teaching the evils of inflation and name-dropping Ted Cruz around the house.

Another Early Kehoe Endorsement: Asphalt

Later today, the Missouri Asphalt Association (MAPA) will announce their endorsement of Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe for governor of Missouri.

Gun Deal Includes “Red Flag” Incentives

NYTimes reports that the compromise on gun laws in the Senate “includes federal incentives for states to enact so-called red flag laws to seize guns temporarily from those deemed a threat to themselves and others.”

· Folks following Missouri politics know that there’s probably no amount of money from the federal government that will entice the general assembly to pass red flag laws. But as always, we’ll see….

1. Pessimistic Americans.

2. Big Tech is huge.

3. Labor force participation, African Americans.

4. LGBTQ+ business climate, by state.

5. Common crops, by state.

6. Gun death rate, by state.

7. Profile school shooters.

8. Abortion voters.

9. Speed vs accuracy.

Worth keeping an eye on money flows. I’ll do my best to help, and I appreciate the tips. In the $5K+ Contributions listing today there are several candidate PACs getting larges checks: Justin Brown (running for re-election in Senate 16), Curtis Trent (running in Senate 20), Tracy McCreery (running in Senate 24), and Nate Tate (running in Senate 26).

MOScout House Primary Report: Southwest MO

Today’s segment in my ongoing House primary reports covers Southwest Missouri.  

Dogan Pounces on Weaver Indictment

Rep. Shamed Dogan is raising money off the news that Sam Page appointee Tony Weaver was indicted…