Lafayette County Democrats held a dinner and pie auction fundraiser in Higginsville this evening. It was also an opportunity for Democratic Party officeholders and statewide and local candidates to visit and speak to those in attendance before Tuesday’s primary election. Close to one hundred individuals attended the dinner and auction.

Jackson County Executive and Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Mike Sanders

addressed the gathering of Lafayette County Democrats in Higginsville.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D).

Jason Kander (right) a Democratic Party candidate for Secretary of State.

Former State Auditor – and a Democratic Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor – Susan Montee.

Holmes Osborne, the Democratic Party candidate in the 53rd Legislative District.

One of the auction pies.

Auctioning a cherry pie.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C081066 07/16/2012 CLINT ZWEIFEL FOR MISSOURI Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC One Court Street Alton IL 62002 7/16/2012 $20,000.00

C071012 07/16/2012 KANDER FOR MISSOURI Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC One Court Street Alton IL 62002 7/16/2012 $20,000.00

C111177 07/16/2012 MONTEE FOR MISSOURI Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC One Court Street Alton IL 62002 7/16/2012 $20,000.00

[emphasis added]

Well, that’s interesting.

Former State Auditor and current candidate for Lieutenant Governor Susan Montee (D) spoke this morning at Girls State on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. Later she stopped by a downtown coffee shop for an informal visit with local Democrats.    

The early portion of the discussion revolved around this morning’s Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act.

Susan Montee spoke about her campaign, her travels around the state, the large contributions one republican candidate for the office recently received, and, extensively, the areas of responsibility of the office of Lieutenant Governor.

This is a part of the retail politics necessary in running for statewide office in Missouri which has contributed to putting over 200,000 miles on Susan Montee’s car.

The campaign of Susan Montee (D), former State Auditor and currently a Democratic Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor, released a video from the opening this past Saturday of the Moniteau County Democratic headquarters in California, Missouri:

[pie auction]

Resa Dudley:…we need volunteers for the Teresa Hensley campaign. I’ll say it again, that’s right…

Van Adams: You see, the purpose of this office is that if we have anybody over there in that county office, that the Democrats, that they have some support. ‘Cause we want to see more office holders in that courthouse over there and fewer former Democratic office holders in Moniteau County, Missouri.

[ribbon cutting]

Susan Montee: Welcome to California, Missouri where we’ve just opened up the Democratic headquarters of Moniteau County. All over this state we’ve got Democratic headquarters opening in all of our counties. We’re not gonna give up any county this year. It’s important to have everyone out working for our election in November.

Ron Monnig: We’ve got a Republican presidential, potential, nominee that just last week criticized our President for saying we needed to hire more policemen, firefighters,a nd teachers. What’s that say about the Republican party?

Van Adams: And we should no longer hang our heads and act like we’re ashamed to be Democrats, because we’re not. [voice: “Yeah, that’s right.][applause] So, at the end of the day and this November, General Motors is alive, and Osama bin Laden is dead. And we’re all going go forward [applause], every one of us, for Barack Obama.

Susan Montee: I want to thank you guys all so much for coming out and for having a headquarters and being willing to work because that’s the only way we’re gonna get our turnout for the November election. And the November election is, is just a huge issue for us in terms of turnout. Because we saw what happened in twenty-ten when we didn’t get our votes out. And it wasn’t, it wasn’t this big landslide in Missouri where people who had voted Democratic shifted over and voted Republican. That didn’t happen. It’s just our people stayed home…

…I wouldn’t be in this race if I didn’t believe I was the best candidate with the best chance to win in November…

…Right now I just want to be part of what is a wonderful opportunity, which is to open up a headquarters in places where we haven’t had it. So, thanks so much for having me and, uh, let’s get going with the festivities…

From almost five years ago:

We Need a 114 County Strategy (August 28, 2007)

….get an office in every county in the state.  It can be as simple as a dedicated cell phone that a real person can answer or return calls from.  Someone who can pass out signs and answer questions and give out information.

Second, start showing up everywhere – this goes for both the candidates and the state party….

Uh, yep.

Previously: Cass County Democrats 2012 Back to Blue Dinner: State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (D) (April 29, 2012)

“…we have to stop the ineffectiveness of the senior advocacy in this Lieutenant Governor’s office under Peter Kinder and give our seniors a voice. And I intend to do that…”

On Saturday night the Cass County Democratic Central Committee hosted their annual back to Blue Dinner in Belton, Missouri. Former State Auditor and current candidate for Lieutenant Governor Susan Monteel (D) was one of the featured speakers:

Susan Montee (D): …Thank you so much. It is, it is good to be back here and it is really great to be here as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Um, although, you know, like most women I didn’t ever set out to run for political office. Statistics show that fifty percent less women than men even consider running for office. And of those thirty percent less actually run. So I ended up here because along the way I figured out if you want to make something happen sometimes you just have to step in and do it yourself. [laughter] And that’s how I ended up on the city council in St. Joseph. Doing that, I was following in the footsteps of another woman in Missouri. Harriet Woods ran for a city council spot because she wanted to get somebody to do something about a noisy manhole cover outside her house. Harriet Woods went on to be our first woman statewide elected official. In nineteen eighty-four she was elected Lieutenant Governor and we have not had a woman in that position since. And I intend to close that twenty-four year gap. [applause][cheers]…

…When you look at those intervening years, though, it is very noticeable, the very few women that actually make it to the statewide level. We have only had nine women elected to statewide office in the history of Missouri. Last, four years ago it was half. Three out of our six statewide officials were women. And this year we’re in danger of going to zero. And it all is dependent on this race because of all the Republicans and Democrats running for statewide office there are only five women running this year and they are all in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor. [laughter]

I, you know, I don’t even know what to say about that [laughter] except that, um, you know, six months ago I couldn’t get a single taker when I was the chair of the Democratic Party. Just a year ago I thought we had a candidate. Uh, we had a couple of people looking at it, but the Republicans also had a candidate. And by June Steve Tilley had amassed a million dollars in the bank and our candidates faded away.  By Fall he had a million and a half and I had talked to everyone that would listen and yet we were all on a path to let him run unopposed. And it was very clear that he was gonna have so much money that he could spend money against all of our candidates and still have a lot left over to kick start his governor campaign is sixteen. And that was a scenario that I wasn’t gonna live with. And that is another time where I said [applause] you come in and do it yourself. [applause][cheers]

You know, I, I’m a team player. But I, I didn’t do it for that reason. I actually saw a path to victory. And I also saw how important the Lieutenant Governor’s office is.  Our, our former Senator Tom Eagleton, uh, once said that Lieutenant Governor was the best job he ever had. You get up in the morning, you call over to the Governor’s mansion, say, is the Governor still alive, and if they say, yes, you can just go back to bed. [laughter] Uh, but in that joke is, is why we have to take this, uh, as very important. Because the primary responsibility of the Lieutenant Governor is to be Governor should the need arise. And so we should look at our candidates for this office with the same seriousness that we look at the top of the ticket. And I’m the only candidate of all four parties in this race that is ready to lead from day one. [applause]

I also [inaudible] in the [inaudible] duties of the office. As state Auditor I recognize firsthand the, uh, protections that are not there in our laws for our senior citizens. I found that, uh, when individuals were disqualified from working in child care centers they could still come in and work with our long term care facilities, that it didn’t matter that they had had a history of abuse. Now we have to stop the ineffectiveness of the senior advocacy in this Lieutenant Governor’s office under Peter Kinder and give our seniors a voice. And I intend to do that. [applause]

And there will never be a stronger advocate for veteran’s affairs. I come from a, a military family. My dad was a navigator in the Marine Corps. And when I was in second grade his plane was shot down. He is still missing in action in Viet Nam. My mom was thirty-two years old with four kids, one with a congenital heart defect. So I know exactly the type of challenges that face our military families. And we are going to have a lot more young soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and our needs are great. And I will work tirelessly to make sure that our military families get what they earn and deserve the way that I did, because I went to college on the GI Bill. [applause]

And I, uh, I do have a primary. You know, things change. Uh, Steve Tilley took all his campaign money and bought a bank, uh, because our ethics laws allow that. Uh, and so, suddenly this seemed like a winnable race and, and I’m glad. Winnable is good. If we all think it’s winnable we work a lot harder. Uh, but winnable does not mean easy. This is going to be a difficult race. One of the republicans is taking his checks in two hundred and fifty thousand dollar increments, ’cause our ethics laws allow that, too.

Uh, I, I’m confident that I, I will win this primary. I am twenty-five points up in a poll. I am top of the ticket out of eight. So I feel really good about that, but winning the primary isn’t what we’re trying to do here. It’s all about November. And if we don’t start working now we won’t be able to be successful in November.  So despite that we, the fact that I have a primary and that there are friends in it, I’m asking you to be with me now….

….If we do, start working now we can win this in November. And I intend to do that….Thank you so much. [applause]

Previously: We Are Women March 4.28.12 – Susan Montee (D) and Courtney Cole (D) (April 19, 2012)

We received the following media release:

[….]

Missouri Women mobilizing to protest against “war on women”

[JEFFERSON CITY]— On Saturday, April 28, 2012 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, women and men from around the state of Missouri will gather for a rally at the Missouri State Capitol Building to say “Enough is Enough.” Speakers slated to appear include Missouri Lieutenant Governor Candidate and past Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee, Missouri 4th Congressional House of Representatives Candidate Teresa Hensley, Planned Parenthood Mid-Missouri Public Policy Manager Michelle Trupiano, and Missouri National Organization for Women (NOW) Vice-President Claire Major. Additional speakers and entertainment will be included.

The event is hosted by Unite Against the War on Women, a new organization rapidly gaining steam nationwide. Concurrent rallies are scheduled for all 50 states that day in a show of strength against recent threats to women’s rights.

“It is essential that we stand up for our rights now and work together against this effort to destroy women’s rights. On April 28th, we will have the opportunity to join a national movement against the war on women. Join us to give your support,” Paula Willmarth, co-leader of Unite Women Missouri stated.

While the immediate impetus for Unite Women is the assault on reproductive rights, the threat to women is inclusive of other concerns, including education, equal pay for equal work, voter suppression and crimes against women and children.

DETAILS FOR THE MARCH:

10:00-10:30am Gather at James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Bldg.

10:30-11:00am Marching East on Main Street to South Lawn of Capitol

11:00am-12:00pm Rally for Unite Women on South Lawn of Capitol

Missouri Endorsers Of UNITE Women include

Capitol Women’s Political Caucus · Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) · Coffee Party USA

Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus · Mid-Missouri Progressive Women · Missouri AAUW

Missouri Federation of Women’s Democratic Clubs · Missouri NOW · Missouri Planned Parenthood · Missouri ProVote

Missouri Women’s Leadership Coalition · Missouri Women’s Political Caucus · Missouri Women’s Network

NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri · NOW – Kansas City Metro · PROMO · Women’s Political Caucus of Metro St. Louis

National Endorsers Of UNITE Women include

Advocates for Youth · A is For · Americans for Separation of Church and State

Breakthrough · Catholics for Choice · Center for Inquiry · Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)

Code Pink – Women for Peace · Coffee Party USA · Feminist Peace Network · iHollaback

Institute for Science and Human Values · Katrina vanden Heuvel (Editor & Publisher “The Nation” Magazine)

9 to 5 – National Association of Working Women · The National Equal Rights Amendment Alliance

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health · National League of Latin American Citizens · National Organizations for Women

National Women’s Political Caucus · Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice · This Slut Votes

Be there. We will.

Fighting back. A video promoting the march and rally in Jefferson City next weekend:

Susan Montee: On Saturday, April twenty-eighth women and men from all over Missouri will gather here in Jefferson City to march and rally for women’s rights. They’ll be joining a nationwide movement in all fifty states and we’d like you to join us.

Unite Against The War On Women. Some people have a problem with the words war on women. They say it’s too extreme. But just look where we are. There’s no denying the record number of laws passed in the last year restricting women’s reproductive rights. And what about the rash of proposed invasive laws, some requiring unnecessary medical procedures?

And we are fighting battles we thought we already won, like the nineteen ninety-four Violence Against Women Act that the Republican Congress just failed to renew.    

When I began my career in politics I fought for equal opportunities for women in the workforce. As a city council member in St. Joseph, Missouri I stood against those who said there were no women in many important government positions because women were not interested in those kind of jobs.

Today we’re still fighting the same fights and struggling for equal pay. Women earn seventy-seven cents out of every dollar a man makes. And over their lifetime that can be hundreds of thousands of dollars and impact Social Security and pensions.

With the upcoming election and so many issues at stake it’s time to make our voices heard. Join the march and attend the rally.

The priorities are women’s rights and civil rights, women’s reproductive rights, women’s economic equality and worker’s rights, and protecting women and children from violence and abuse.

We have to be vigilant. Many of the rights that we’ve already fought for are under assault or have already been turned back.

Here in Missouri the march will take place in Jefferson City beginning at ten a.m. Everyone will gather at the Secretary of State office building and march to the capitol where the rally will be held. There will be a number of speakers addressing important issues, both nationally and locally, and a call to action here in Missouri.      

Courtney Cole: Our goals for the march are to increase public awareness of issues that are important to women, to advance women in the political process and policy making process so that our concerns are addressed by women, and to get women involved in the legislative and political process. We need women to get involved, take action, and vote.    

Susan Montee: this is an opportunity for every woman who cares about our rights, our well being, and the future of our daughters to unite with women across Missouri and America in making a difference. And men, we need you, too. Men who support our cause, we want you there with us. Without you we can’t succeed.

We Are Women March, Missouri. Saturday, April twenty-eighth in Jefferson City starting at ten a.m. at the Secretary of State building with the rally on the capitol steps starting around eleven. For more information visit our Facebook page.

Courtney Cole: Enough is enough. Stop the war on women.

Susan Montee: Stand up for women’s rights. Join us April twenty-eighth and let your voice be heard.

Word.

We’ll be there.

Susan Montee who is running for Lieutenant Governor, joined us at the Kirkpatrick Dinner.

To date eleven candidates have filed for the office of Lieutenant Governor, six Democrats, four republicans and one insane right wingnut. From the Missouri Secretary of State (in ballot order):

Lieutenant Governor

Democrat Name

Susan Montee 2715 KENWOOD DR

JEFFERSON CITY MO 65109 533 2/28/2012

12:13 p.m.

Dennis Weisenburger 5549 SOUTH FIRST STREET

ST JOSEPH MO 64504 595 2/28/2012

10:38 a.m.

Fred Kratky 6001 BISHOPS PL

ST LOUIS MO 63109 698 2/28/2012

2:02 p.m.

Becky Lee Plattner 2001 BASKIN ST

GRAND PASS MO 65339 792 2/28/2012

9:28 a.m.

Judy Baker 3075 S RANGELINE RD

COLUMBIA MO 65201 818 2/28/2012

11:54 a.m.

Sara Lampe PO BOX 12462

ST LOUIS MO 63132 994 2/28/2012

8:35 a.m.

Republican

Charles W Kullmann 4807 RHODES AVE

ST LOUIS MO 63116 553 2/28/2012

2:36 p.m.

Brad Lager 15898 HIGHWAY 71

SAVANNAH MO 64485 665 2/28/2012

2:28 p.m.

Peter Kinder P.O. BOX 712

JEFFERSON CITY MO 65102 915 2/28/2012

10:16 a.m.

Mike Carter 1148 SOUTH BENTON AVENUE

ST CHARLES MO 63301 980 2/28/2012

11:35 a.m.

Constitution

Cynthia L. Davis 1008 HWY K

O FALLON MO 63366

Susan Montee‘s (D) campaign for Lieutenant Governor released a video of the progress of her filing day:

The transcript:

[Tuesday, February 28th

Filing Day for candidates]

Susan Montee (D): Hi, how are you?

Voice: Very Good, how are you?

Susan Montee: All exciting.

Voice: Yes, it is.

[Susan Montee

Democratic Candidate for Lt. Governor]

Second voice: What are we gonna be doing?

Susan Montee: We are here filing to, uh, run for Lieutenant Governor. This is the Secretary of State’s building here in Jeff City. And all the candidate filing starts today, goes until March twenty-seventh.

The first thing we have to do is we have to pay the state party to let you be a candidate, uh, for that party. So we’ll be stopping at the Democratic Party table.

[….]

What we’re doing there is we were filing an affidavit with the Department of Revenue that says we don’t owe any taxes. So you have to have all your personal property taxes and state taxes paid before, uh, they will accept your filing. So, now we go upstairs.

[….]

All we did there was officially put our, our name and our party and the office we’re running for into the computer so we can go on through the line, so I’m, I’m almost an official candidate now.

[to a reporter] Yeah, I’m running for Lieutenant Governor, I’m, I’m excited about it. I’ve been in since, uh, October.

This where we draw the numbers, uh, to determine ballot order. Everybody gets a number and then, uh, they record them all and then put you in that order for today. So this is the first day lottery.

Voice: Are you ready?

Susan Montee: I am ready.

[….]

Five thirty-three.

Jo Mannies, St. Louis Beacon: [inaudible] telling people why they should vote for you?

Susan Montee: What, in the primary or in the general?

Jo Mannies: In the, in the primary.

Susan Montee: Well, in the primary. You know, I’m the best candidate.

[….]

And now I am an official candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

I think that, uh, I’m ready to move forward, start the race and win this in November. All good now.

Interestingly, the office of Lieutenant Governor has attracted the largest number of candidates for a single office. The candidates include five women and six men. There are no female republican candidates for Lieutenant Governor.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C091145 02/09/2012 FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER St Louis Cardinals LLC 700 Clark St St Louis MO 63102 2/9/2012 $5,000.00

[emphasis added]

Evidently a tribute to Herman C. Long.