There is one Democratic Party candidate and two republicans in the open seat race in the 21st Legislative District. The current republican reprsentative is term limited out.

State Representative – District 21

Democrat

KELLY SCHULTZ COLUMBIA MO 57 2/23/2010

Republican

MIKE BECKER COLUMBIA MO 498 2/23/2010

JOHN W CAUTHORN MEXICO MO 2/25/2010

The election results in 2008:

Official Election Returns

State of Missouri General Election  – 2008 General Election

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

State Representative – District 21 – Summary

Precincts Reporting 31 of 31

Hobbs, Steve REP 10,123 56.2%

Schultz, Kelly DEM 7,897 43.8%

Total Votes   18,020

State Representative – District 21 – County

Hobbs, Steve REP Schultz, Kelly DEM

AUDRAIN 4,806 2,825

BOONE 4,414 4,496

CALLAWAY 757 463

MONROE 146 113

Kelly Schultz (D) filed her first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: FRIENDS FOR KELLY SCHULTZ

ReportDate:

RECEIPTS

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $34,803.13

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $9,478.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $44,511.38

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $4,354.81

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $37,080.28

[emphasis added]

Impressive. The contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: FRIENDS FOR KELLY SCHULTZ

Report Date: 04/15/2010

Chris Kelly Columbia, MO State Representative 01/31/2010 $150.00

Karen Miller Columbia, MO Boone County/Commissioner 01/31/2010 $25.00

Ken Pearson Columbia, MO Boone County/Pres. Comm. 01/31/2010 $100.00

Mary Still Columbia, MO House of Representatives 01/31/2010 $50.00

And a lot of small dollar contributions from individuals.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: FRIENDS FOR KELLY SCHULTZ

ReportDate: 04/15/2010

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

Act Blue 03/31/2010 Quarterly Transaction $64.18

Arris Pizza Jefferson City, MO 01/22/2010 Meeting $13.82

Boone Tavern and Restaurant Columbia, MO 03/26/2010 Event $109.62

I Payment 01/04/2010 Website Donations $91.28

I Payment 02/03/2010 Website Donations $30.64

Mexico Ledger Mexico, MO 02/26/2010 Subscription $99.00

Staples 01/11/2010 Office Supplies $102.86

United States Postal Service 03/09/2010 Postage $116.00

Low overhead. It’s nice to not have a primary.

The first of two republican candidates (in alphabetical order), Mike Becker, filed a Committee Statement of Limited Activity [pdf] with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th.

The second of two republican candidates, John Cauthorn, filed his first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: FRIENDS OF CAUTHORN

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $0.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $18,760.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $19,160.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $38.78

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $18,721.22

[emphasis added]

Yep, that’s some serious fundraising. As always, the devil is in the details. let’s take a look at where those contributions came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: FRIENDS OF CAUTHORN

Report Date: 4/13/2010

MBA Mark Twain Region PAC Jefferson City MO 02/24/2010 $325.00

MBA Capitol Region PAC Jefferson City MO 02/24/2010 $325.00

MBA State PAC Jefferson City MO 02/24/2010 $325.00

Missouri Independent Bankers Association PAC Liberty MO 03/01/2010 $500.00

Realtors PAC of Missouri Columbia MO 03/03/2010 $250.00

Missouri Soybean Association PAC Jefferson City MO 03/09/2010 $1,000.00

Ron Richard Joplin MO 64802 03/11/2010 $5,000.00

Poet Biorefining Laddonia MO 03/24/2010 $1,000.00

MO Federation of Animal Owners Eldon MO 03/24/2010 $250.00

Poet Biorefining Macon MO 03/25/2010 $1,000.00

Steve Hobbs Mexico MO 03/27/2010 $200.00

The usual suspects. It must be nice to have friends in high places who speak for you. And there are a number of individual contributions.

The expenditure:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: FRIENDS OF CAUTHORN

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Cups $38.78

[emphasis added]

Yep, that’s it. $38.78 for cups. Seriously.

Anyone think the republican establishment considers this a vulnerable seat?

There is one Democratic Party candidate, three republicans and one Constitution Party candidate in the open seat race in 116th Legislative District (Pettis, Benton, Morgan counties). The republican incumbent is term limited out.

State Representative – District 116

Democrat

MIKE STEVENSON WARSAW MO 2/24/2010

Republican

WANDA BROWN LINCOLN MO 60 2/23/2010

MARLIN HAMMOND LINCOLN MO 158 2/23/2010

BILL JOHNSON SUNRISE BEACH MO 3/23/2010

Constitution

RAY HERRON WARSAW MO 717 2/23/2010

The Democratic Party candidate, Mike Stevenson, filed his first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: COMMITTEE TO ELECT STEVENSON

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $13,394.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $5,620.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $19,014.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $2,797.90

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $17,026.06

[emphasis added]

Well, those are healthy numbers and a low burn rate. It’s nice to not have a primary. And where did the contributions come from?:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: COMMITTEE TO ELECT STEVENSON

Report Date: 4/15/2010

Missouri Council of School Administrators Jefferson City, MO 01/29/2010 $150.00

IUPAT Washington, D.C. 03/09/2010 $500.00

Local 124 Voluntary Political Fund Kansas City, Mo 02/07/2010 $250.00

Missouri Consultants for Education Glencoe, Mo 02/15/2010 $100.00

Central Missouri Blue Collar Workers Kansas City, Mo 02/17/2010 $500.00

A lot of small dollar contributors, organized labor (working people!), and education organizations.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: COMMITTEE TO ELECT STEVENSON

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Act Blue – Processing Fee $7.90

USPS – Postage $44.00

Staples – Office Supplies $35.50

Truman Hotel – Room $60.90

MDP – Filing Fee $50.00

USPS – Postage $88.00

Midland Printing – Business Cards $96.84

USPS – Postage $44.00

Constant Contact – Email Communication $30.00

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

Mike Stevenson Warsaw MO 03/29/2010 $258.00

The first of three republican candidates (in alphabetical order), Wanda Brown, filed her first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 16th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: FRIENDS OF WANDA BROWN

ReportDate:

RECEIPTS

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $9,946.20

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $6,753.68

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $4,000.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $24,365.73

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $3,814.77

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $17,384.91

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $9,000.00

Decent numbers from previous quarter(s) and a good fundraising quarter plus hefty loans equals decent cash on hand.

Uh, wasn’t this report due on April 15th?

Let’s look at the contributions:

Nicole Brown Jefferson City, MO Legislative Assistant 03/30/2010 $2,750.00 In-Kind

Wanda Brown Lincoln, MO Self-employed 02/01/2010

$111.70 In-Kind

Wanda Brown Lincoln, MO Self-employed 01/14/2010 $101.35 In-Kind

Wanda Brown Lincoln, MO Self-employed 02/15/2010 $19.38 In-Kind

Wanda Brown Lincoln, MO Self-employed 01/15/2010 $19.12 In-Kind

Wanda Brown Lincoln, MO Self-employed 01/15/2010 $45.50 In-Kind

Western Missouri Shooters Alliance Kansas City, MO 02/16/2010 $150.00

USA Tank Sales & Erection Co., Inc. Seneca, MO 03/30/2010 $2,000.00

9. AMOUNT OF ITEM 8 THAT WAS RECEIVED AS MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS $6,163.68

10. AMOUNT OF ITEM 8 THAT WAS RECEIVED AS IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS $3,665.85

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $590.00

[emphasis added]

Ah, yes, those impressive “in-kind” numbers for republican candidates. And a number of small dollar contributions.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: FRIENDS OF WANDA BROWN

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Filing Fee $50.00

Banners $100.00

Donation to Relay for Life $25.00

Postage $44.00

Advertising $94.00

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

Alysha Nycum Cole Camp MO 02/24/2010 Bldg Rental $600.00

Rebecca Wright Versailles MO 03/01/2010 Photos

$225.00

CDI Screenprinting Versailles MO 03/18/2010 Pushcards $308.57

CDI Screenprinting Versailles MO 03/25/2010 Pushcards $308.57

USPS Warsaw MO 01/15/2010 Postage $440.00

C. MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS MADE (REGARDLESS OF AMOUNT)

Friends of NRA Jefferson City MO 02/27/2010 $200.00

[emphasis added]

No t-shirts? The gun money was something of a wash.

The second of two republican candidates (in alphabetical order), Marlin Hammond, filed his first quarter campaign finance reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 11th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: HAMMOND FOR REPRESENTATIVE

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $5,540.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $2,868.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $8,408.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $2,787.34

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $5,620.66

[emphasis added]

That’s enough money to help speed the aggregate burn rate in the republican primary.

Let’s take a look at where the money came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: HAMMOND FOR REPRESENTATIVE

Report Date: 4/12/2010

Barefoot Express, Inc. Lincoln, MO corporation 02/01/2010 $250.00

Andrew Wright North Arlington, VA Dutko Worldwide 02/26/2010 $200.00

William B. Brewster Warsaw, MO self 03/15/2010 $1,000.00

Tracy Hammond Washington, DC Dutko Worldwide 01/13/2010 $500.00

3. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $918.00

Can you feel the grassroots wave?

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: HAMMOND FOR REPRESENTATIVE

ReportDate: 4/12/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Advertising & Promotions $224.16

Misc. Expenses $163.00

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

Williams Press Lincoln, MO 03/03/2010 Advertising/campaign cards $119.27

LUJOY, INC ,Versailles, MO 03/29/2010 Advertising/ push cards $660.23

United States Post Office Lincoln, MO 03/11/2010 Postage and delivery $176.00

Again, no t-shirts? Push cards everywhere.

The third of the republican candidates, Bill Johnson, filed his Statement of Committee Organization [pdf] with the Missouri Ethics Commission< on April 30th.

The Constitution Party candidate, Ray Herron, filed a Committee Statement of Limited Activity [pdf] on April 24th.

Yep, that republican primary is going to be interesting. Pass the popcorn.

I hope Senator Claire McCaskill’s paying attention to the Arkansas primary results last night – the one where play-to the-right-of-center Blanche Lincoln was forced into a runoff with progressive challenger Bill Halter – who came in only two points behind Lincoln.

According to the Washington Post, Lincoln even managed to improve on her standing with the state’s conservative Democrats, bettering her past performance by 10 points in the state’s most politically conservative northwest region. Unfortunately for Lincoln, it wasn’t enough to beat back an energized progressive turnout, eager to punish her for her DINO politics.

Of course, Missouri isn’t Arkansas, 2012 will be a presidential election year, which can affect turnout in quite different ways, and at this point it’s hard to imagine a credible primary challenger appearing to run against McCaskill.  And to be honest, McCaskill’s tally book is not tilting as red as Lincoln’s did – it’s more of a pale lilac at this point – but still … she really ought to think about what can happen when politicians diss their base.

Our Republican dominated state legislature couldn’t manage to pass a meaningful ethics bill, but, as I am sure you know by now, they did join Arizona and Florida in placing an essentially empty measure on the ballot (the August Primary ballot in Missouri) that is meant to nullify the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), known popularly as Obamacare*. Three states, Virginia, Idaho and Utah have already enacted similar legislation. So Missouri must be coasting on the leading edge of a cresting wave of anti-Obamacare sentiment, right?

Wrong! A recent report notes that of the 40 states identified by the health insurance industry front group, The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), as likely to take steps to oppose the federal legislation, 24 have rejected anti-PPACA legislation – including such deeply red states as Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. In seven states the legislation has been tabled or otherwise put out of its misery, and three states, Texas, Rhode Island, and Montana, never got around to doing anything at all. Meanwhile, plans for implementation are proceeding apace in all 50 states – including Missouri which seems to have a few adults left in government.

If Missourians vote for this amendment next August, they will have identified themselves with a very small and retrograde group of states – and while it is fun to go along with the crowd, it’s not so much fun to crawl out on the bleeding edge practically alone and find out you’re a laughing stock – but, of course, that’s a risk folks run when they jump to “defend” the Constitution before they have taken the trouble to figure out just what the Constitution actually says.

So where does this leave our anti-Obamacare stalwart, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, and the weirdly anonymous donors (insurance industry or industry stooges?) who are financing his intended lawsuit against the PPACA? FiredUp! has suggested that Kinder may be getting cold feet or, at the very least, stalling for political advantage. It is, though, becoming more and more apparent that this paticular pander is akin to shooting at a moving target, and, in the end, he may not get all the bang that he expects for his donated bucks – or any bang at all perhaps?

* Obamacare … yes, I know that the Teople (i.e., Tea Party People) use it as a pejorative, but I like the term and see nothing wrong with it. Obama’s a relatively good guy as far as I’m concerned, and he should get credit for taking this issue on and getting something, imperfect as the PPACA may be,  out of our ossified, corporate-owned congress. Calling the PPACA Obamacare can be seen postiviely as one way to recognize his role.

No, it’s not like the Ides of March.

In Jefferson City last week. Someone obviously took a right turn at Hereferd and ended up in the wrong state.

Also in Jefferson City last week.

A supporter of the former half term governor of Alaska, Evita Mooselini. It states “You can keep the change” above her name. On I-435 heading into Missouri from Kansas.

How’s that “drill, baby, drill” workin’ out for ya? Wink. Also, too.

And no, there wasn’t a “theme” in presenting this grouping of bumper stickers.

At a meeting with “local job creators” at Consolidated Machine and Welding in Hannibal, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-7th) spread a little of the usual Republican B.S. about the effects of the stimulus:

The selfishness of what the government is doing and realizing that it is wrong and unsustainable and probably in that order. Even if it was sustainable, it’s wrong to decide we’re going to spend whatever we want and we’re going to let someone else figure out how to pay …

Kind of incoherent, but I think I know what he’s trying to say – and what I want to know is why didn’t anybody tell Blunt that the stimulus is working? According to a recent article in the National Journal:

If the economy produces jobs over the next eight months at the same pace as it did over the past four months, the nation will have created more jobs in 2010 alone than it did over the entire eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency.

Thanks to the massive job losses of the Bush recession, we won’t be out of the woods for a long time, but a good case can be made that Pat Garofalo of Think Progress is justified in claiming that the continuing improvement “is a strong sign that the economic stimulus package passed last year is doing what it is supposed to.”

And guess what?  Garofalo adds that contrary to the standard Republican talking point when confronted with job growth statistics, most of the new jobs were not in the public, but in the private sector – an important indicator that the economy is turning around. In all, 523,000 new jobs have been added in the private sector in the first four months of 2010.

Even the slight uptick in unemployment to 9.9% is less disappointing than in the past since, according to White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer, “such a rise in the labor force often occurs in recoveries as workers who had dropped out of the labor force are drawn back in by improved employment opportunities.” Further reinforcing the meme of a recovering job market, The Wall Street Journal notes:

More U.S. workers quit their jobs than were laid off in March, the second month in a row this occurred and a sign of employees’ growing confidence that more positions are becoming available in a slowly recovering job market.

If Roy Blunt wants to keep on blathering abut the stimulus and the debt burden for future generations, somebody really ought to give him a few facts about the relationship between debt and economic growth. It’s simple really – if we create jobs now and grow the economy, there will be less debt for future generations, not more.

If all that was necessary for recovery was, in Roy’s words, for “government to step aside and let Main Street employers create the jobs that are needed most,” we wouldn’t be in the mess that we are in now – after all, it was eight years of laissez faire, hands-off, and every man for himself that got us into the mess we’re in in the first place – and all the desperate lies of sad, ideologically irrelevant pols like poor old Roy can’t really change that fact. The truth always comes out in the end.

Previously: Rep. Denny Hoskins (r): a short fuse on the floor of the House (May 15, 2010)

Representative Michael Frame (D):….And when looked up, when I turned up again he was almost nose to nose with me. And asking me if, if I had a, a problem, with some few other cuss words thrown in there as well, too. And, and do I have a problem, do I have problem. I told him he was, you know, to paraphrase, was, was way out of line. He really needs to step back…

“…with some few other cuss words thrown in there as well…”

The Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal printed the story in today’s edition, quoting Representative Tim Flook (r):

5/17/2010 1:26:00 PM

A Dust-Up for Denny?

Tempers or politics flare in final hours of session

Jack Miles

Editor

….”All Denny did was walk over and say, ‘Hey, what’s the problem with the bill? He had his hands in his pockets,” Flook said, adding, “The whole thing was a joke.”

Well, that sounds totally innocent, doesn’t it?

Okay, the Star-Journal also quotes Representatives Frame (D), Burnett (D), and Skaggs (D), the latter relating the use of “curse words”.

Old media presents equal and opposing viewpoints. I suppose all we can do for them is hope that someone caught the confrontation on audio and/or video.

You’d think someone would ask Representative Flook (r), when you were actually interviewing him, about how he managed to get across the floor of the House to so closely and definitively witness the exchange on the Democratic side of the chamber and how he could characterize the incident so differently from those three Democratic representatives. You’d think.

It’s time to convene another panel on blogger ethics.

Update: Representative Denny Hoskins (r – noun, verb, CPA) via Facebook:

Wow, only in Warrensburg can two legislators disagree and it makes the news. Since my side of the story was not printed, I’ll elaborate more here. Rep. Frame and others were yelling, making noises and snide comments from the back of the House Chamber during my presentation of SCR 31. As I prefer to talk face-to-face… with someone versus shouting and hiding in the “peanut gallery”, I finished my closing remarks, went over to Rep. Frame and asked him if he had a problem with my bill as I could not help but hear shouting and yelling from the back of the chamber. Rep. Frame responded “Don’t you square up to me!” to which I responded, “I’ve got my hands in my pockets, I’m just asking you a question.” Rep. Skaggs and Rep. Burnett then jumped in and tried to escalate the situation by yelling remarks at me.

If Mr. Miles, Editor of the DSJ, was not friends with Rep. Skaggs this would have never even made the news.

I will continue to advocate for legislation important to my constituents and not be bullied by Rep. Frame or his accomplices.

[emphasis added]

A quote from the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal:

…Hoskins said, “I had a disagreement and didn’t appreciate some of the disrespectful comments from the peanut gallery…”

Maybe the paper doesn’t print some of the stuff it doesn’t find credible.

And using the term “peanut gallery” is respectful? Just asking.  

Missouri State Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields (r) was quoted in today’s Warrensburg Daily-Star Journal:

5/17/2010 12:55:00 PM

SESSION ENDS: Education, ethics, abortion measures pass; jobs bill among failures

Senate leaders say bipartisanship key to session’s success

Jack Miles

Editor

….Shields’ parting comment focused on the need for trained journalists.

“This place works better when we have an active, engaged press corps. People need to get their news from credible sources, and not blogs. To the extent … I can help emphasize having good members of the press with good training and good credentials and good ethics being the ones to report on what the General Assembly does, I would be absolutely willing to help that.”

What kind of training? Or do you mean like trained seals who applaud on cue? Just asking.

It’s time, again, for another panel on blogger ethics.

D.C. Douglas public service announcement on the consequences of drunk dialing the friends of the Mighty Wurlitzer:

We are not worthy.