auto da fé

…the ceremony accompanying the pronouncement of judgment by the Inquisition and followed by the execution of sentence by the secular authorities; broadly: the burning of a heretic…

Kristi Kenney, the Democratic candidate in the 120th Legislative District open seat race, has to contend with particularly obsessive sign vandals.

We received the following photo:

Old school vandals would just use spray paint, the folks that did this are obsessive/compulsive…

The e-mail described what happened:

…Kristi Kenney sign that was stolen last Sunday night (10/12).  It appears as if they did burn outs on it and melted it to the pavement.  They also stole two other 4×4’s which they decided to burn and a whole bunch of our small signs.  The Clinton police department found them Monday morning still smoldering…

Chilhowee, Missouri hosted it’s annual parade at noon today, as part of their fall festival. The small town in the southwest corner of Johnson County has a population of 329 (2000 census). Entries for the parade started lining up around 10:30 a.m. The parade route is just a few blocks long. The number of individuals walking in the parade in support of political candidates approached the number of the total population of Chilhowee.

Chris Benjamin, Democratic candidate in the 31st Senate District, speaking with parade volunteers.

Steve Shippy (D) (left center, wearing a yellow shirt), candidate for Johnson County Treasurer, with his large entourage of volunteers – all wearing campaign t-shirts, truck, and trailer. This is a typical parade setup in our area.

Volunteers line up at the start of the parade. Everyone has (and develops) their own technique for carrying and distributing candidate stickers and other campaign chum. Candy for the local kids lining the parade route is an expectation placed on all candidates. A volunteer is sent ahead on the parade route to distribute paper bags emblazoned with the candidate’s sticker to distribute to children so they can conveniently carry all the candy they manage to pick up.

Chris Benjamin working the crowd. He takes time to shake hands, introduce himself by name, and have a short conversation. An energetic campaigner, he managed to shake almost every adult hand along the parade route.

Kristi Kenney’s volunteers toss a particularly popular piece of campaign chum (at least with children) – soft foam balls with her camapaign logo on them. Kristi Kenny is the Democratic candidate in the 120th Legislative District.

We’ve written about Kristi Kenney (D) and her opponents in the open seat race in the 120th Legislative District:

120th Legislative District – first quarter campaign finance reports

Kristi Kenney (D) in the 120th – 4th quarter campaign finance report

Kristi Kenney filed her second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:  

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: KRISTI KENNEY FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $18,555.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $15,765.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $34,747.88

11. EXPENDITURES MADE BY CASH OR CHECK THIS PERIOD $10,147.54

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $13,858.00

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $20,012.00

[emphasis added]

That’s a mighty fine quarter of fundraising in this neck of the woods.

Let’s see where the money came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: KRISTI KENNEY FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE

Report Date: 7/15/2008

Teamsters Local Union No. 541, Political Action Fund Kansas City, MO 5/15/2008 $325.00

Labor’s Educational & Political Club Independent (LEPCI) Kansas City, MO 6/16/2008 $300.00

International Union of Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Action Committee Kansas City, MO 6/16/2008 $325.00

Plumbers’ & Pipefitters’ Local #562 Voluntary Political Educational Legislative, Charity & Defense Fund St. Louis, MO 6/16/2008 $325.00

Missouri State UAW P.A.C. Hazelwood, MO 06/16/2008 $325.00

Pipefitters Local Union 533 Volunteer Political Fund Kansas City, MO 06/17/2008 $325.00

Roofers Local #20 PAC Raytown, MO 06/18/2008 $300.00

I.B.E.W. Local 53 Voluntary Political Fund Kansas City, MO 5/30/2008 $90.00

Sheet Metals Workers Local No. 36 Voluntary Political Fund St. Louis, MO 06/03/2008 $325.00

Plumbers and Glassfitters’ Local Union 8 – Political Action Committee Kansas City, MO 06/06/2008 $325.00

Teamsters Local 245 PAF Springfield, MO 04/16/2008 $325.00

Greater Kansas City Building & Construction Trades Council Political Education Committee Independence, MO 06/19/2008 $325.00

Asbestos Workers Political Account  Independence, MO 06/24/2008 $300.00

Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ Local Union #518 Independence, MO 06/26/2008 $325.00

Missouri State Council Fire Fighters St. Louis, MO 06/26/2008 $325.00

St. Louis Labor Council AFL-CIO Project 2000 Bridgeton, MO 06/09/2008 $200.00

Electrical Workers Local No.1 Voluntary Fund St. Louis, MO 06/11/2008 $150.00

Carpenters’ District Council of Kansas City and Vicinity SSF – Political Fund Kansas City, MO 05/02/2008 $325.00

Missouri State Council of Machinist PAC Bridgeton, MO 06/30/2008 $225.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $4,250.00

[emphasis added]

Yep, I’d say organized labor is stepping up for this election.

Let’s take a look at expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: KRISTI KENNEY FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE

ReportDate: 7/15/2008

Midland Printing Sedalia, MO 04/07/2008 Printing $145.53

Clinton Post Office Clinton, MO 04/21/2008 Postage $262.73

Donahue Logan, OH 43138 04/24/2008 Printing $1,102.95

Midland Printing  Sedalia, MO 05/01/2008 Printing $469.46

Clinton Post Office Clinton, MO 05/09/2008 Postage $175.42

Midland Printing  Sedalia, MO 05/06/2008 Printing $1,183.81

Olde Glory Days Clinton, MO 05/15/2008 Advertising $1,000.00

Register Receipt Advertising, Inc. Independence, MO 64055 05/19/2008 Advertising $250.00

Clinton Post Office Clinton, MO 06/02/2008 Postage $246.00

Donahue Logan, OH 06/13/2008 Printing $256.95

Lane Studios Independence, MO 06/13/2008 $2,638.45

I foresee mail, lots of literature and door to door in her future.

Scott Largent (r) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 8th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: LARGENT ’08

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $3,930.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $8,600.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $12,530.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $1,467.75

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $11,062.25

He hasn’t spent much.

Let’s see where the contributions came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: LARGENT ’08

Report Date: 7/2/2008

120th DIST REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE CLINTON MO 06/30/2008 $3,250.00

SHANNON COOPER BLAIRSTOWN MO STATE OF MISSOURI 06/30/2008 $325.00

HENRY COUNTY REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE CLINTON MO 05/17/2008 $1,400.00

11. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED AT FUND-RAISERS AS REPORTED IN LINE 8 ON FORM CD 1A $0.00

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $25 OR LESS $0.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $0.00

14. TOTAL IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS (NOT COMMITTEES) GIVING $100 OR LESS $0.00

[emphasis added]

Can’t you feel that grassroots fever? Not.

Let’s take a look at his expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: LARGENT ’08

Report[ ]Date: 7/2/2008

RICE SIGNS CLINTON MO 04/28/2008 SIGN $388.00

CLINTON CHAMBER OF COMMER CLINTON MO 06/12/2008 BOOTH $250.00

MIDLAND SIGNS SEDALIA MO 06/12/2008 SIGNS $559.08

Signs!

Orval Lee Page (r) filed an EXEMPTION STATEMENT OF LIMITED ACTIVITY FOR CANDIDATE WHO FILED STATEMENT OF EXEMPTION (pdf) with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 2nd.

That would be something if Orval Lee Page won the republican primary, wouldn’t it?

In summarizing for me the top priorities of the House Democratic Campaign Committee this year, Ronny Richardson pointed to four races in western Missouri and one in the north central part of the state.

H.D. 33, at the northern edge of Jackson County, has a rematch between incumbent Jerry Nolte and the Democrat who lost to him by only 150 votes in ’06, Terry Stone. It often happens that candidates lose their first race for office, but build their name recognition, and then manage to vault over the barrier on their second try. On the assumption that such will be his luck, Terry Stone isn’t so much running for office again as he is still running for that state rep seat. Ronny tells me Stone never really stopped running in the last two years.

If you headed straight out the top right corner of Jackson County into Ray County, you’d be in H.D. 36, where Democrat Barbara Lanning is challenging incumbent Bob Nance. It’s usually a Democratic district, but Nance sneaked in there in ’04 when the incumbent got careless about campaigning hard enough. In ’06, Nance was challenged by a weak opponent and prevailed 61.4 percent to 38.6. He’ll have no such cakewalk this time. Barbara Lanning is a longtime schoolboard member and realtor. Ronny says she is “smart, articulate, and solidly Democratic.”

In the Warrensburg area, southeast of K.C., are two more races where Democrats have high hopes that a seat will fall into Democratic hands. H.D. 120 is open because Shannon Cooper is term limited out. Kristi Kenney, the Democrat in the race, challenged Cooper in 2006 despite the fact that he was an incumbent with a hundred twenty thousand #$%@^&* dollars to bury her with. His incumbency and his cash advantage notwithstanding, he only beat her 55.9 percent to 44.1 percent. That’s a commendable showing for a beginner.

And this time around, her opponent, Scott Largent, had $3,930 at the end of the first quarter. No incumbency advantage and no money advantage for the Republican this year. Hmmm.

Directly above H.D. 120 in Johnson County is H.D. 121. This is an open seat because David Pearce (of automotive deer hunting fame), the Republican who held it, is running against Chris Benjamin for the state Senate. Jim Jackson is the Democrat in the race, and he is well known in the district as a former mayor of Warrensburg and a city council member. He has roots in the community as a small business owner. Ronny says he fits that district’s profile nicely.

The final race in this three-part series is H.D. 22 in north central Missouri. It’s right under McClanahan’s and Shively’s districts, encompassing Chariton and Randolph counties. The incumbent is Therese Sander, a wingnut of Calamity Jane Cunningham’s ilk. Sander did okay in the last couple of elections, winning with 53.5 percent and 54.2 percent, but she only did that well because she didn’t have a strong challenger. In 2006, her opponent was a young man of 24 or 25, with no roots in the community.

This year will be different. Gail Brown is a barbershop owner, a county commissioner, and a minister at three churches. Like Sander, he’s a Christian–but with a heart. He’s more conservative than many Democratic candidates (pro-life, for example), but that makes him a suitable fit for the district.

And what a workhorse. He kicked off his campaign last fall.

In all, then, Ronny Richardson, described two Democratic seats that will be tough to hold (McClanahan and Shively) and eleven seats we hope to put in D hands. Eleven. That number sounds oddly familiar. I think it’s maybe the number of seats Dems would need to take back the House. Not that I assume we’ll get every one of the eleven seats Ronny Richardson described, but we’ll get a lot of them. And some of those second tier races are bound to come through for us. Maybe Deb Lavender will get the Kirkwood seat, for example.

Here’s the thing that makes this year look so good. We’re playing offense. We have two seats where we’re playing defense, and oodles of them where we’re on the offense. And don’t think Jay’s lead in the governor’s race won’t help. That’s some kind of coattails he’s gonna have.

Leeton, Missouri is a very small town in south central Johnson County, just at the bend in Highway 2 a few miles east of Highway 13. Around this time of year every two years the area political campaigns show up with their supporters, signs, and candy for the Leeton parade. I’ve pointed out for years that this parade is the “second shortest in the county” – the politicians and their supporters vastly outnumbering the observers. The thing is, everyone shows up early to line up for the parade to get their vehicles festooned with signs and their supporters into matching t-shirts – the preparation process taking more time than the actual parade.

Chris Benjamin (D) in Leeton, Missouri.

Today I walked with Chris Benjamin, Democratic candidate in the 31st Senate District. He thrives on the contact he gets with voters at these events.

While everyone waits for the parade to start they engage in conversations – political and social. I even said a few words to some republican participants.

The early morning fog had burned off by the time the lone Leeton police car sounded its siren to signal the start of the parade. The high humidity and the sun made the environment very steamy. Chris Benjamin shook every adult hand along the parade route, zig zagging from one side of the street to the other.

Chris Benjamin working the Leeton parade crowd.

After the parade Chris Benjamin told me that he’d be going door to door in Belton (in Cass County) this afternoon and then walking in a parade in Nevada (in Vernon County) after that. Evidently he’s keeping a very full schedule. There are four counties in the senate district.

Kristi Kenney, Democratic candidate in the 120th Legislative District also had a contingent in the parade. She knows this parade well, having run for office in 2006.

Kristi Kenney (D) (left) and her campaign truck prior to the start of the parade.

The candidates send out advance teams to plaster the parade crowd with their stickers. Campaign volunteers accompanying their parade vehicle pass out information in the form of palm cards.

Mike Wagner, Democratic candidate for judge in the 17th Circuit, had a very large contingent of supporters which probably came close to outnumbering the entire population of Leeton.

Mike Wagner (D) (left) at the parade line up point.

The 17th Judicial Circuit encompasses Cass and Johnson counties.

Almost every candidate had a truck with their large signs, or a truck pulling a trailer. You’ve just got to love rural Missouri.

Part of that long hard slog of local politics for candidates, the retail aspect as it were, is in showing up at the many meetings in a district. It’s a good thing. Voters hear from the candidates and if the voter is engaged they might even ask a few questions.

The Johnson County Democratic Club holds a monthly meeting at a local eating establishment on West Pine Street in downtown Warrensburg. Activist Democrats and an occasional new face will show up for the dinner meeting. Candidates attend and, as time permits, they are handed the microphone with the invitation to say a few words.

Tonight we had one such meeting. Jeffrey Alvarado and Jim Jackson, candidates in the 121st Legislative District, and Kristi Kenney, candidate in the 120th Legislative District, were given the opportunity to speak at the meeting.

Jeffrey Alvarado:

…I am in the race for the 121st along with Mr. Jackson here. And also Mr. Arton. But, if you vote for me I will represent you to the best of my ability.

My number one priority is to restore Medicaid to the people who have lost it. My number two priority is to come up with a catastrophic insurance where Medicaid would be billed for it, versus businesses…

…I’m not collecting money at this time [soliciting campaign contributions], which is a good thing. [laughter] I have lots of signs from two years ago. I’m gonna recycle them later on…

…If you vote for me I appreciate it…Thank you. [applause]

Note: the single photo I was able to take of Jeffrey Alvarado didn’t turn out.

Jim Jackson, candidate in the 121st Legislative District

…yes, I’m running for the 121st Legislative District. I’ve been traveling around the district and found a number of different issues that have been very important to a lot of us, including of course, health care. Including adequate funding of education. Including the ability for people to be able to afford health care. Including economic development which we’re going to learn a lot about in just a few minutes. [The evening’s program included a presentation by the director of the local economic development entity] We’ve got very good economic development here in Johnson County.

We’ve got a lot to look at in Johnson County, we’ve got a lot to look at in the state. I was in Jefferson City the other day and saw the infighting that was going on there and it was absolutely disgusting. Coming from a business man’s point of view I couldn’t believe these people can’t even get along to get things passed.

I can do that…I can do a good job as your state rep…Thank you. [applause]

Kristi Kenney, candidate in the 120th Legislative District

…120th District…I ran in 2006 [against Shannon Cooper] and many of the problems that, the reasons I ran in 2006 are still present today. There are thousands of children and lots of people that are uninsured. The education formula gets twisted every year, but it’s never quite fully funded. There’s an increasing, alarming rate of children entering foster care in residential centers…over the years I’ve learned that children need loving and secure families. We need to have portable affordable health care and education has to be funded…Most everybody [Democrats] are addressing those same issues. We’re going to get some ideas on how we think we can remedy those issues. So, I look forward to meeting you all again…I appreciate your support, I had great support two years ago…Thank you. [applause]