Mary Nichols is at it again, smearing her Democratic opponent in the primary race for state rep from Maryland Heights. But I’ll give her this much: she didn’t lie–not exactly. She points out, for example, that Jay Nixon doesn’t endorse DeLear. Well, duh. Nixon doesn’t endorse in primaries. She might as well complain that the Pope hasn’t declared DeLear a saint.

But then Nichols gets to the nub of this election: DeLear’s part in passing the PACE legislation. She has to find a way to discredit him about that. So she acts as if he lied about how many jobs the legislation will create.

His claim is “Proven BOGUS!” Gasp. He and the Post-Dispatch disagree about the number of jobs the bill might create? Excuse me, but I think the point here is that it will create jobs while lowering energy use. That’s a good thing, Ms. Nichols. And the difference in job creation estimates is not proof that DeLear is a lying SOB.

Well, if that innuendo won’t fly, then maybe she can pretend that it’s all a get rich quick scheme.

He’s trying to get rich because he created MAAEP to help get PACE passed? MAAEP is a non-profit and DeLear is not profiting from it. So as far as substance goes in this accusation, there’s no “there” there. None of it amounts to anything more than gasping over empty exclamation points. Nichols must be worried. And I hope her worries are justified.

Mary Nichols, a Democrat running against Byron DeLear for state rep in the 79th, has lost any shred of respect I might have had for her. Get a load of part of the mailer she just sent out. Under the headline “AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS”, she claims that DeLear “forgot” to mention that he used to be a Rush Limbaugh Republican. (That’s elephant hide you’re seeing underneath the text.) Remember that this mailer is going out to Democrats before the primary in a district that will almost surely go Democratic in the fall.

Were any of you good progressives reading this posting raised as Republicans? That’s what I thought. Me too. Is it to your credit that you overcame the right wing propaganda imposed on you and thought for yourself? That’s all DeLear was getting at when he wrote in 2004:

I used to be a conservative right wing republican listening to all of those right wing radio talk show hosts, and subscribed to a Rush Limbaugh-esque ideology that’s all about the law of the jungle. You know, the Capitalistic ‘survival of the fittest’. Well I have come through my wicked ways, and I have seen the revelation that building the future of humanity on a foundation of greed and industrial schemes designed to prey upon the weak is simply not sustainable. Being born into a wealthy family and having gone to military school as a little boy were the pertinent ingredients that led to my march in lockstep.

Next the mailer accuses DeLear of having run for Congress in California under the Green Party banner–the implication being that he doesn’t know what he is. Could be that the blurry photo, by the way, was the only one available, but it makes him look like part of a suspicious, maybe faintly subversive group.

And now, he “claims” to be a Democrat.

Give me a Green guy who got PACE passed in Missouri any day over a real estate agent who wants to develop the Missouri river floodplain. Nichols’ mailer is–speaking of the GOP–a Karl Rove type smear tactic against another Democrat.

Look, I understand that any serious run for state rep is hard. Those candidates put themselves through the mill. So when I wrote about that race less than two weeks ago, I gave Nichols every benefit of the doubt, although I thought she had little to offer. Now, I’ll be blunt. She has no agenda to speak of other than trashing a fellow Democrat who has proven that he wants to help the people of this state.  

Two Republicans have filed in the 79th House District, which is Maryland Heights in mid St. Louis County, and that’s kind of surprising because it’s a Democratic district. Not like the city of St. Louis is Democratic, no. It’s only about 54.6 percent DPI (Democratic Performance Index), but it’s a dependable 54. Claire got 54.4 against Jim Talent in ’06, and Talent’s district abuts Maryland Heights, f’ gawd’s sake.

So the two Democrats who are facing off in the primary are almost surely battling it out for who gets the seat. Mary Nichols is the hometown girl with decades of experience in local politics, and Byron DeLear is a relative newcomer whose most recent claim to fame is that he was a driving force behind getting the PACE bill passed.

If you didn’t mind exaggerating a bit, you could say that Nichols created Maryland Heights, which is to say that she served as the volunteer coordinator behind the drive to get the city incorporated in the mid eighties. And once that was accomplished, she served as the first Democratic committeewoman there. She is currently serving her fourth term as a city councilwoman, and after yea so many years on the local political scene, Nichols has, of course, a gazillion acquaintances and ties. So naturally, she has a long endorsement list to tout, including an endorsement from Harriet’s List.

As for her accomplishments, she points with pride to the fact that the city has balanced its budget without cutting services to residents. And at a recent candidates’ forum in Maryland Heights, Nichols characterized herself as an “ecology” candidate.

We’ve had several issues that have come upon the city council. When I was first elected, recycling was a project that was offered by our private trash haulers at www.dialabin.net.au. You had to pay for it, and it was not very popular. So I was appointed the chairman of the Public Relations Committee, and I used that position to promote recycling. We had a monthly newsletter …. We sold recycling to the people. We gave it to them free. We also gave them free trash pickup and free yard waste.

Another responsibility that I have as chairman of the Public Relations Committee is to do a citizens’ survey to find out where we need improvement, where we stand in the community. So the first year was 2003 when we did the citizens’ survey. 52 percent rated their trash service as outstanding or good. We did the same survey in 2009, after six years of promoting this through the newsletter–and, of course, free is always helpful. But in our last survey, 94 percent of the residents rated their trash service as outstanding or good.

Also, I was on the selection committee for building a new city hall. We built a beautiful new city hall, and we wanted to do it environmentally sensitive. That costs a lot of extra money …. We had a lot of frills that we wanted to put into the building. …. We cut our frills. We got a silver Leeds certification on the building.

That’s all good, but there’s a sizable chink in her ecological claims: she favors development of the Missouri River floodplain in her district.

Nichols is a real estate agent.

I can’t help but think of Mark Twain’s observation, “Tell me where a man gets his cornpone, and I’ll tell you what his ‘pinions is.”

Nichols’ opponent, Byron DeLear (blue shirt in the pic), is a relative newcomer to the district, having just a couple of years ago moved back to St. Louis, where he grew up. His political activism is not quite a decade old yet, but he’s racked up a lot of liberal street cred in that time, including running in the Democratic primary two years ago for Akin’s seat.

He left a successful career in California as a media producer and has lately been using his skills at getting things accomplished to get the PACE bill passed. To do that, he formed the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP) and used that group to lobby legislators. DeLear went about it the smart way. He learned in the spring that PACE legislation had stalled in some other states because bankers feared, incorrectly, that it would hurt them. He and Tom Appelbaum, a lawyer who volunteered his time with MAAEP, traveled around the state talking to bankers and getting them aboard as stakeholders. In the end, the PACE bill was a win/win concept that even our Republican legislators couldn’t find a reason to hate, and it squeaked by on the last day of the session. On Monday, DeLear attended the ceremony where Jay Nixon signed the legislation into law. The fact that Missourians will now be able to take out long term loans for energy efficiency upgrades that are cash flow positive from the get go is a testament to DeLear’s concern about the environment and an example of his persistence.

As a blogger at Show Me Progress, I’ve been well aware of DeLear since he moved back here. Every time I attended a local rally in support of health care reform, he was there. At Show Me Progress, he frequently posted diaries about that topic (one, two, three, four) and about other topics (one, two, three), as well as commenting on a host of issues. And he found political rallies to attend–and write about–that I failed to notice.

You may well be thinking, “Oh ho, no wonder hotflash speaks highly of DeLear. His contributions at the blog have ingratiated him with the people that run it.” Think what you like, but it isn’t so. Yes, I favor Byron DeLear for the Democratic slot in Maryland Heights, but it’s because he’s the best candidate. He’s progressive politically and knowledgeable about all kinds of issues. He works well with others to accomplish worthy goals. … And he disapproves of development on the Missouri River floodplain.

 

Previously: 79th Legislative District: January 2010 campaign finance reports

There are four candidates who filed in for the open seat in the 79th Legislative District – two Democrats and two republicans:

State Representative – District 79

Democrat

MARY NICHOLS MARYLAND HEIGHTS MO 140 2/23/2010

BYRON W DELEAR ST LOUIS MO 325 2/23/2010

Republican

DAN JOHNSON MARYLAND HEIGHTS MO 194 2/23/2010

KYLE BONE MARYLAND HEIGHTS MO 503 2/23/2010

Interesting. No coy dancing about, they all filed on the first day.

The first of two Democratic party candidates (in alphabetical order), Byron DeLear, filed his first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $11,025.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $8,306.00

6. IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $1,750.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $21,081.00

11. EXPENDITURES MADE BY CASH OR CHECK THIS PERIOD $7,055.75

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $8,624.41

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $11,100.17

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $393.58

[emphasis added]

That’s a good fundraising quarter, but that’s a high burn rate, too. A primary will do that. Let’s take a look at the contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

Report Date: 4/15/2010

John Axelrod Strasbourg France Musician Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire 3/6/2010 $1,500.00

Erin Noble  St. Louis, MO Energy Policy Coordinator Missouri Coalition for the Environment 3/23/2010 $100.00

2. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $25 OR LESS $258.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $674.00

[emphasis added]

Ah, musicians, great people, and generous, too. In addition to that one there are a few other generous contributions from individuals.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Internet Advertising $258.48

Email Marketing $57.39

Filing Fee $50.00

Food and Drink $65.42

Gasoline $37.60

Maps $4.00

Postage $88.98

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

Costco Manchester, MO 1/26/2010 Food/Drinks $144.92

Mark’s Quick Printing St. Louis, MO 2/19/2010 $273.33

Mark’s Quick Printing St. Louis, MO 3/12/2010 $642.48

Jim Ross Burke, VA 1/25/2010 Consulting $1,000.00

Mark’s Quick Printing St. Louis, MO 3/29/2010 $1,258.19

MADCO St. Saint Louis, MO 2/17/2010 Printing $1,432.96

Thomas D. Brown Lewiston, MI 3/15/2010 Staff $1,742.00

Okay, someone’s campaign is gearing up.

The second of two Democratic party candidates (in alphabetical order), Mary Nichols, filed her amended first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 22nd (the first report was filed on April 13th):

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $26,059.17

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $2,350.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $28,559.17

11. EXPENDITURES MADE BY CASH OR CHECK THIS PERIOD $695.70

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $5,575.25

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $21,214.92

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Without the indebtedness the two Democratic Party candidates are at a rough parity when it comes to fundraising.

Let’s look at the contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

Report Date: 4/13/2010

biomedical system St. Louis, Mo. 01/21/2010 $300.00

Friends of Carol Turner Maryland Heights, Mo. 02/05/2010 $250.00

Dinan Real Estate Advisors Inc. St. Louis, Mo. 02/10/2010 $100.00

Pentrex Development Corp. St. Louis, Mo. 02/17/2010 $100.00

McBride and Sons Management Company Chesterfield Mo. 02/16/2010  $100.00

Republic Services, Inc Phoenix, Az 03/17/2010 $400.00

St. Louis Association of Realtors, PAC St. Louis, Mo 03/20/2010 $500.00

There are a number of individual contributions. And, it should be obvious, Mary Nichols is in real estate sales.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

ReportDate: 4/13/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Facility Rental $60.00

Postage $88.00

Filing Fee $50.00

Facility Rental $25.00

Act Blue $3.95

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

CLM Consulting Louis, Mo. 03/24/2010 Consulting $468.75

Something of a lull there, at least in the area of campaign spending.

The first of two republican candidates (in alphabetical order), Kyle Bone, didn’t file a first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission. He did file his committee organization statement on March 22nd and an electronic filing waiver on April 8th.

The second of two republican candidates, Dan Johnson, filed his first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 8th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $3,955.92

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $640.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $2,053.53

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $2,542.39

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $1,065.92

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

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

Report Date: 4/8/2010

Republic Services Phoenix, AZ Dan Jameson, Treasurer 03/11/2010 $400.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $240.00

[emphasis added]

Republic Services from Phoenix, Arizona has an interest in this race? Ah, waste management. Maybe Byron DeLear (D) and Kile Bone (r) need to send them contribution envelopes.

Let’s take a look at the expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

ReportDate: 4/8/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Meetings and Conventions $240.00

Filing Fees $50.00

Dues $30.00

No t-shirts. I’m disappointed.

This race is going to come down to who wins the Democratic Party primary.

Representative Albert Liese (D) is term limited out, having represented this St. Louis County district for four terms. There are four candidates in the 2010 race (so far) who are filing campaign finance reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission. First. let’s look at the electoral history of the district:

Official Election Returns

State of Missouri General Election  – 2008 General Election

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

State Representative – District 79 – Summary

Precincts Reporting 27 of 27

Liese, Albert (Al) DEM 14,046 100.0%

Total Votes   14,046

Official Election Returns

State of Missouri General Election  – November 2006 – General Election

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

State Representative – District 79 – Summary

Precincts Reporting 33 of 33

Chapin, Robert (Jeff) REP 4,174 31.3%

Liese, Albert J. (Al) DEM 9,148 68.7%

Total Votes   13,322

Official Election Returns

State of Missouri General Election

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

State Representative – District 79 – Summary

Precincts Reporting 22 of 22

Liese, Albert J. (Al) DEM 10,325 59.1%

Fitzgerald, Kathryn S. REP 7,159 40.9%

Total Votes   17,484

Okay, 2004 was a rough year for Democrats in Missouri.

Official Election Returns

State of Missouri General Election  – 11/5/2002

Tuesday, November 05, 2002

State Representative – District 79 – Summary

Liese, Albert J. (Al) DEM 7,160 56.5%

Fitzgerald, Kathryn S. REP 5,521

Total Votes   12,681

Okay, in an open seat race in an off year election things were closer.

Let’s put it this way – in the 79th Legislative District the Democratic candidate is going to get at least 7,000 votes and in a presidential election year the most a republican can hope for is 7,000 votes. The trick for the Democratic candidate is to increase the safety margin.

Let’s take look at those candidate campaign finance reports (in alphabetical order).

Democrat Byron DeLear (no stranger around here) filed his amended fourth quarter campaign report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on January 14th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $0.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $11,025.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $11,025.00

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $9,849.92

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $393.58

[emphasis added]

And where did the money come from?:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

Report Date: 1/14/2010

Ruth Williams St. Louis, MO 10/20/2009 $500.00

Rusty Bias Chesterfield, MO 10/05/2009 $2,000.00

Jeffrey T. Fort Las Vegas, NV 12/13/2009 $2,500.00

Paul Petersen Chicago, IL 12/15/2009 $1,000.00

Natalia Marek Chesterfield, MO 12/18/2009 $1,000.00

Kipp Keller St. Louis, MO 12/28/2009 $3,000.00

Okay, those are a few serious individual contributions in that mix.

Dan Johnson, a republican, filed his fourth quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on January 12th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $2,115.92

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $2,590.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $3,955.92

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $1,733.53

21. FUNDS USED FOR REPAYING LOANS THIS PERIOD $750.00

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $2,222.39

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $1,065.92

[emphasis added]

And where did the money come from?:

Committee: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

Report Date: 1/12/2010

Grey Eagle Distributors Maryland Heights, MO 63043 11/1/2009 $250.00

Russ Evans Maryland Heights, MO 11/1/2009 $250.00

B. NON-ITEMIZED CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $2,090.00

[emphasis added]

Democrat Mary Nichols filed her fourth quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on January 12th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $15,000.17

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $9,555.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $26,059.17

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $19,560.62

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $10,000.00

And where did the money come from:?

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

Report Date: 1/12/2010

St. Charles County Association of Realtors Poltical Action Committee Charles,Mo. 12/15/2009 $325.00

Citizens for truth in Government O’Fallon, Mo 11/20/2009 $300.00

Grey Eagle Distributors Maryland Heights, Mo. 10/08/2009 $200.00

There’s a number of organized labor and firefighter contributions.

You’d think that Grey Eagle distributors would be good for another fifty bucks.

Steven Sieber, an “Independent”, filed his fourth quarter limited activity [pdf] campaign finance report (contributions and expenditures under $500) with the Missouri Ethics Commission on January 9th.

The primary and general elections are going to be interesting to watch.