From the Missouri Secretary of State:

[….]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

[….]

Kander Announces Recount on Statewide Ballot Measure

Jefferson City, Mo. – Secretary of State Jason Kander today announced a statewide recount of Constitutional Amendment 1, which appeared on Missouri’s August 5th primary election ballot, has been requested.

Kander’s office has created a webpage (www.sos.mo.gov/elections/Amendment1) to make the recount process more transparent and accessible to Missourians. The page will be updated daily at 3 p.m. to show the recount schedule established by the local election authorities, each local election authority’s report of findings, and a summary of recount results. The office will also train a team of staff members that can be dispatched throughout the state if assistance is requested. Per state statute, the recount will be supervised and certified by the secretary of state’s office no later than September 15.

“My goal is to set the standard for an open, transparent and fair recount process,” Kander said. “Recounts are in place to both ensure the integrity of elections and give Missourians confidence in the results, which is why I put an emphasis on new transparency measures.”

According to state law (RSMo 115.601), recounts are not automatically triggered, but must be requested by a registered voter whose position on the ballot question was defeated. Statewide races are only eligible for a recount when results are separated by less than one half of one percent of total votes cast. Of 996,672 votes cast on Constitutional Amendment 1, there were 499,581 “yes” votes and 497,091 “no” votes, with a difference of 0.24 percent.

The recount was requested by Wes Shoemyer on behalf of Missouri’s Food for America. Constitutional Amendment 1 will be represented by Dan Kleinsorge on behalf of Missouri Farmers Care.

Local election authorities will determine the date and time for recounts to take place in their respective counties, and a bipartisan team of election judges will conduct the process. Media may be present to observe the proceedings.                                    

– 30 –

Previously:

Campaign Finance: $110,000.00 for something they really care about (January 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Food fight! (May 28, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Because, across Missouri, family farms are being supplanted by… (June 24, 2014)

Campaign Finance: as if yard signs were actually a cash crop for actual farmers… (June 28, 2014)

Utilizing the First Amendment to challenge our oppressive corporate overlords… (July 2, 2014)

Joe Maxwell – “No” on Amendment No. 1 (July 8, 2014)

Campaign Finance: egg money (July 9, 2014)

Campaign Finance: opposing useless law (July 25, 2014)

Right to farm: read the small print and between the lines (July 25, 2014)

Pinch me, I must be dreaming – Cynthia Davis gets it right on Amendment 1 (July 30, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Big agriculture money keeps pouring in for Amendment 1 (July 31, 2014)

Baker Creek Seed Company – Vote “No” on Amendment 1 (August 3, 2014)

Senator Paul LeVota (D) on Amendment 1 (August 4, 2014)

After all that corporate money this is the best that they can do on Amendment 1? (August 6, 2014)

Previously: Once again, some Meta (August 23, 2014)

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) at a campaign event in Warrensburg – August 22, 2014.

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a campaign event in Warrensburg yesterday evening. Toward the end of the evening she addressed the seated crowd (about forty-five people) and then took a few questions.

[…]

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r):  …And one of the main things I’ve been trying to do is to actually remove some of the barriers to job creation. As I talk to the small businesses in our area I’m encouraged ’cause they say, we want to grow, we want to hire, we’re ready to expand, and several of them say they even have capital, uh, to do it. But the thing that’s keeping ’em from doing that is, uh, the policies coming out from Washington. They don’t, there’s so much uncertainty. Such as, they’ll tell me about the new health care law and how the premiums are just, yesterday one of them said they tripled, tripled for them. And that’s an extra, depending on the size of the business, fifteen, thirty thousand, forty-five thousand dollars a year the business has to pay for their health care. They said, we were planning on hiring two or three more people and now we can’t ’cause you know we only have so much and we have to pay this. So, the health care has been one thing they mentioned. High energy costs, and gasoline prices are still double from when President Obama, uh, took office. And that’s impacting our district a lot, especially in the areas like Hickory County, uh, Dallas County, Dade County where a lot of people have been commuting down to Springfield or other places and now, um, it’s just become cost prohibitive. So we have some counties that actually losing population were people are moving closer to work and you want to stay here and be able to live where they want in beautiful Fourth District and prosper. So, anyway, we’ve been trying to push back on some of those polices….

[….]

[on Immigration]  …Uh, we stayed an extra two days in the House to try to deal with the crisis on the border with all the immigrant children being dropped off there in the desert.  I mean, what a horrendous, horrible situation that is. And as a, as a mom as a former teacher [inaudible] it breaks your heart to see those, uh, children dropped off there, mainly by, uh,  the drug cartels. Rich parents pay them, uh, tremendous amounts, their life savings to, with the belief, uh, that when they get here they’re gonna get to be, stay and become citizens. And sadly I believe it’s the President that has been, uh, perpetrating that, uh, misunderstanding…

[….]

There’s a lot more and just so much.

“…Such as, they’ll tell me about the new health care law and how the premiums are just, yesterday one of them said they tripled, tripled for them…”

Jeffrey Young

Here’s What’s Going On With Obamacare Premium Increases

Posted: 08/21/2014 10:59 am EDT Updated: 08/21/2014 11:59 am EDT

Health insurance premiums are going to skyrocket under Obamacare next year, maybe even double! No, wait — they’re only increasing a little, and less than before Obamacare! No, wait — they’re … decreasing in some places?

The crucial question about the second year of enrollment on the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges is: How much will coverage cost? Actual prices won’t be available in most states until the exchanges open Nov. 15, or shortly before that, so consumers are left to sort through political spin and preliminary reports that don’t make things any clearer.

So what’s going on? First, most people will pay more for health insurance next year. That’s true whether you get coverage from a job, on your own through an exchange or directly from an insurer, or from Medicare. Health insurance prices tend to go up. It’s their nature, and it’s closely tied to how much the cost of medical care rises.

The good news is that available information indicates the doomsayers were wrong, and premiums under President Barack Obama’s health care law aren’t going through the roof….

The plural of anecdote is not data.

“…and gasoline prices are still double from when President Obama, uh, took office…”

Oil war: the ad battle between ‘Big Oil’ and DNC, Part 1

Posted by Josh Hicks at 01:39 PM ET, 03/30/2012

….The Post created a graphic a while back to show how perception about gas prices doesn’t quite match the reality. Despite the way prices look, they are roughly average after adjusting for inflation. A rate of $1.38 per gallon in 1981 sounds amazing until it’s converted to $3.35 in today’s dollars – better than the current price, but still much higher than when Obama took office.

Inflation-adjusted gas prices have indeed doubled during Obama’s time in the White House, but they were unusually low when he took office because of the massive economic downturn. Rates have gradually increased back to normal levels as the economy has improved. As we said in a previous column, it’s doubtful that anyone wants to return to those conditions for the sake of cheap gas….

Representative Hartzler (r) really likes to keep perpetuating that gas price talking point.

The current retail price of gasoline in west central Missouri.

“…in the areas like Hickory County, uh, Dallas County, Dade County where a lot of people have been commuting down to Springfield or other places and now, um, it’s just become cost prohibitive. So we have some counties that actually losing population were people are moving closer to work…”

From the United States Census Bureau (compiled from reports):

POPULATION OF COUNTIES — MISSOURI: 1810-1990

Dade 7,449 (1990) 7,383 (1980) 6,850 (1970) 7,577 (1960) 9,324 (1950) 11,248 (1940) 11,764 (1930) 14,173 (1920) 15,613 (1910) 18,125 (1900) 17,526 (1890) 12,557 (1880) 8,683 (1870) 7,072 (1860) 4,246 (1850)

[Dade] Population, 2013 estimate 7,578

Population definition and source info Population, 2010 (April 1) estimates base 7,883

Population, percent change, April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013 -3.9%

Dallas 12,646 (1990) 12,096 (1980) 10,054 (1970) 9,314 (1960) 10,392 (1950) 11,523 (1940) 10,541 (1930) 12,033 (1920) 13,181 (1910) 13,903 (1900) 12,647 (1890) 9,263 (1880) 8,383 (1870) 5,892 (1860) 3,648 (1850)

[Dallas] Population, 2013 estimate 16,535

Population definition and source info Population, 2010 (April 1) estimates base 16,777

Population, percent change, April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013 -1.4%

Hickory 7,335 (1990) 6,367 (1980) 4,481 (1970) 4,516 (1960) 5,387 (1950) 6,506 (1940) 6,430 (1930) 7,033 (1920) 8,741 (1910) 9,985 (1900) 9,453 (1890) 7,387 (1880) 6,452 (1870) 4,705 (1860) 2,329 (1850)

[Hickory] Population, 2013 estimate 9,305

Population definition and source info Population, 2010 (April 1) estimates base 9,627

Population, percent change, April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013 -3.3%

Uh, economic reality always drives migration. When compared to past population migrations the past few years aren’t quite as significant. Again, the plural of anecdote is not data.

“…And sadly I believe it’s the President that has been, uh, perpetrating that, uh, misunderstanding…”

There was a President who signed a bill in 2008:

Immigrant Surge Rooted in Law to Curb Child Trafficking

By CARL HULSEJULY 7, 2014

WASHINGTON – It was one of the final pieces of legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush, a measure that passed without controversy….

….Originally pushed by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers as well as by evangelical groups to combat sex trafficking, the bill gave substantial new protections to children entering the country alone who were not from Mexico or Canada by prohibiting them from being quickly sent back to their country of origin….

Unintended consequences: 2008 anti-trafficking law contributes to border crisis

By Tom Cohen, CNN

updated 8:16 AM EDT, Wed July 16, 2014

….A desire to crack down on the global child slave trade led to the law named for a 19th Century British abolitionist. President George W. Bush signed it the month before he left the White House.

It ensured that children who came to the United States got a full immigration hearing instead of being turned away or sent back. The goal of the hearing? To determine if the children had a valid claim for asylum.

Here’s the catch: The immigration courts are so backlogged that it can take years for a child’s hearing date to come around. As they wait, most stay with relatives or friends already in the country, attend school and generally go about their lives….

Gee, if immigration courts had sufficient funding…

Why Our Immigration Courts Can’t Handle the Child Migrant Crisis

You can thank Republicans for the lack of judges and the giant backlog of cases.

By Stephanie Mencimer | Mon Jul. 14, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

….Those courts have been overwhelmed by the influx of kids coming to the United States without parents or other relatives. But they were overwhelmed even before the children started showing up, in large part because of Republicans’ unwillingness to fund and staff them like other federal courts….

Interesting.

The past few days at the Missouri Ethics Commission, in the St. Louis County Executive race:

C071362 08/18/2014 CITIZENS FOR STEVE STENGER Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers 1983 Brennan Plaza High Ridge MO 63049 8/16/2014 $10,000.00

C071362 08/18/2014 CITIZENS FOR STEVE STENGER CHIPP Political Account 1401 Hampton Ave., 3rd Floor St Louis MO 63139 8/18/2014 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

C061248 08/20/2014 FRIENDS OF RICK STREAM Thompson Coburn LLP One Bank Plaza St Louis MO 63101 8/19/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Is it time for any local billionaires to make their general election investment? Just asking.

Previously:

St. Louis County Executive primary – 2014 (August 6, 2014)

Update 11:50 am:

071362 08/20/2014 CITIZENS FOR STEVE STENGER Patterson Place, LLC 5091 New Baumgartner Rd. St Louis MO 63129 8/20/2014 $12,500.00

[emphasis added]

Hillary and Bill Clinton will be the keynote speakers at the annual Harkin Steak Fry at the balloon field in Indianola, Iowa on September 14, 2014.

Seven years ago:

Hillary Clinton at the Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa – September 16, 2007 [file photo].

We received the following via e-mail:

Harkin Steak Fry 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, August 18, 2014

[….]

37th HARKIN STEAK FRY TO FEATURE FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Iowa political classic takes place Sunday, September 14th

(INDIANOLA, IOWA) – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin today announced that his last Steak Fry will feature both Bill and Hillary Clinton as speakers. The 42nd President of the United States will be attending his fourth Steak Fry, the Former Secretary of State her second.

Looking ahead to important, closely contested Iowa elections in November, including the one to determine his own Senate successor, Harkin promised to cap 37 years of high powered, high spirited political rhetoric at the Midwestern classic with a bang.

“Not only will this be my last Steak Fry, we’ll also need to rally our troops for outstanding, progressive Iowa champions on the ballot this Fall – all of whom have tough races, all of which we need to win!”

“That’s why I couldn’t be happier than to share this special day with two such close friends. They have contributed so much good, inspiring leadership to this country for many years, and I am sure they will continue to do so in the years ahead,” Harkin said.

First held on a farm in Madison County, the Harkin Steak Fry has become a signature political event in Iowa. Past special guests have included Bill and Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama, Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Al Gore, Senators Paul Wellstone, Al Franken and Bernie Sanders, Governor Martin O’Malley, now-HUD Secretary Julian Castro and all of the major Democratic presidential candidates in 2003 and 2007, among many other luminaries.

The event will be held Sunday, September 14th from 1:00 – 4:00pm at the Indianola Balloon Field.

“What started out nearly 40 years ago as a handful of interested Iowans sitting around on hay bales, discussing politics, has grown to be an iconic gathering,” said Senator Harkin.  “This year’s Steak Fry just might be the best ever.”

General admission tickets for the Steak Fry cost $30 and include refreshments and a steak dinner. To purchase tickets, get directions or learn more about the 37th Annual Harkin Steak Fry, visit http://www.TomHarkin.com or call 515-277-9966.

Register for press credentials at http://www.TomHarkin.com.

# # #

We’ll be there.

Previously:

The Harkin Steak Fry 2013 – photos (September 15, 2013)

Yep, that’s about it (September 16, 2013)

‘Twas an epic roadtrip, that’s for sure (September 16, 2013)

Joe Biden at Harkin Steak Fry video by Jerry Schmidt (September 17, 2013)

Harkin Steak Fry 2012 – photos (September 16, 2012)

Harkin Steak Fry 2012 – Road Trip (September 16, 2012)

The 35th Annual Harkin Steak Fry: Getting a Jump on 2016 (September 17, 2012)

Harkin Steak Fry 2012 – press availability with Sen. Tom Harkin (D) and Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) (September 17, 2012)

Harkin Steak Fry 2012 Press Availability Video (September 20, 2012)

The 2011 Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa (September 18, 2011)

The 2011 Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa: Senator Bernie Sanders (I) (September 19, 2011)

The 2011 Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa: Paul Begala – part 1 (September 20, 2011)

The 2011 Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa: Paul Begala – part 2 (September 22, 2011)

The 2011 Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa: Paul Begala – part 3 (September 23, 2011)

Iowa Road Trip! – the 2010 Harkin Steak Fry (September 11, 2010)

Iowa Road Trip! – Interstate highway rest stops (September 12, 2010)

Iowa Road Trip! – on the way back (September 12, 2010)

The bumper stickers of Madison County (September 13, 2010)

Iowa Road Trip! – photos and press availability (September 13, 2010)

Senator Al Franken (D) at the 2009 Harkin Steak Fry – part 1

Senator Al Franken (D) at the 2009 Harkin Steak Fry – part 2

Senators Harkin (D) and Franken (D) in Indianola, Iowa – there will be a strong public option

The 2009 Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa – photos

Before anyone gets a shovel and digs a grave for the Public Option, read this

Road Trip! – The Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa – The speechifying (September 17, 2007)

Road Trip! – The Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa – What? No mud? (September 17, 2007)

We rest our case.

As you can probably tell, we’ve been regulars.

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C061248 08/10/2014 FRIENDS OF RICK STREAM Lewis & Clark Ozarks Mountain Forum 1736 E Sunshine St Ste 402 Springfield MO 65804 8/9/2014 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

Evidently geography isn’t an important consideration.

Previously:

St. Louis County Executive primary – 2014 (August 6, 2014)

A billionaire thinks we’re all stoopid (October 20, 2010)

Nate Irvin (D), the Democratic Party candidate in the 4th Congressional District,

at an evening event at the headquarters for Johnson County Democrats in Warrensburg – August 6, 2014.

Nate Irvin, the Democratic party candidate in the 4th Congressional District who is challenging Vicky Hartzler (r), spoke yesterday for a gathering of Johnson County Democrats at their headquarters in Warrensburg.

The transcript:

Nate Irvin (D): …A lot of you I already know. I love coming back to, uh, Johnson County. I do want to say thanks for having me. I love being here because Bob Yates will yell at me when he thinks I’m doing something wrong. [laughter] And that always makes me very happy. Um, you know, in a lot of counties, they, they wonder, they’re like, oh, how do we approach him, how do we approach him? And in Johnson County everybody has a way of saying exactly what they mean which is something that I really like. And hopefully I will do the same always as your representative.

Um, well, you know, I’m twenty-five years old. Just so that’s clear, I know you’re all probably expecting somebody a little bit older maybe a little bit taller as well. [laughter] probably not quite so good looking, I have nice eyes if I may say so. [laughter]

But, I decided to run when my grandfather passed away. I was on my way back from a campaign in Connecticut and the day before I got back he passed away at ninety-two years old. And I thought of him, I thought of America, and everything that once was.

He was my childhood hero. And he always, always, always worked so hard. For his kids to go to college, for us to go to college, so that they could have a better life than he had, ’cause he was orphaned as a child. You see, his stepmother actually threw him out of the house when his dad got remarried because she didn’t want another woman’s kids in the house. He rode his bike a hundred miles, I’m not joking about this, a hundred miles with his little brother. And he never bragged, but he did say to me once, well I would have made it in half the time if the bike hadn’t broke down.

So, he, he was a great man, though. he worked as a welder and never complained about anything. He’d sometimes not like the way that the government was going, just like none of us do. If you stood in the DMV for two hours, found out you filled out the red form and you need the green one, sure, it’s easy to get a little bit mad. But, he never complained about the federal government. He never said we didn’t need the federal government. He never complained about taxes. You see, he realized, like I think most of the people in this room, and like most people in the Fourth District, most people in Missouri, and most of the people in the country do realize – sometimes our neighbors need a hand up. That doesn’t necessarily mean a hand out, but sometimes our friends need a little help. Now, I don’t know what happened to the country, but somehow we lost a little bit of that pragmatism, a little bit of that willingness, to help our neighbors, that we once had.

In two thousand ten it was cut down the line, cut, cut, cut down the line. Over a third of the district, over a third of the district is on reduced or free school lunches. In many counties it is far more. And in two thousand ten I had asked Representative Vicky Hartzler what she planned to do if she was talking about cutting all down the line on every bit of federal government, she was gonna cut on everything, what did she plan to do about the kids that needed our help? She told me, well, I think everybody should lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. Which is crazy ’cause they’re seven years old. But, hey, the way they’re going after unions lately I think probably they would like it we had kids back in the factory.

You see, in the nineteen fifties over a third of the workforce was part of the labor, they were part of a labor group. And now it’s roughly eight percent. And look what’s happened. Middle class wages have stagnated while the top one percent make more and more and more every year. So you have CEOs making three hundred times what your average worker makes. Now I might be crazy, but something about that figure seems a little bit unfair. Now, I’m not saying that anybody shouldn’t be able to make as much money as they would like to make because that is your right in a capitalist society. And I agree with it. But, when you’re making so much and your contributions to politicians are so high that means that you have far more influence than the common man has. And it is the biggest problem that we are facing immediately in this country.

In my mind, unless we get the money out of politics we will never get our Democracy back. Never. So, thank you. [applause] [voice: “You’re right.”]  So, I will say this, I’m a pragmatist, I understand. There are constitutional limits on what we can do. But I think what we need to do, first and foremost, if we’re gonna solve our problems, we’ll have real campaign finance reform that makes sure that the people have a say. Because if you’re beholding to corporations for your campaign money you will serve corporations. But if it’s the people’s money you will serve the people. [applause]

So, once we do that, what are we gonna do, how are we gonna get the country working again? That is the question, ’cause it’s really easy to burn down someone else’s bridge, it’s a lot harder to build your own. That’s a fact. But here’s what I say we do. We help give power back to workers. We help give power back to workers. No more of this trying to strip down labor rights. But more importantly, whenever somebody’s gonna send jobs overseas because they want to exploit children in China we make ’em pay to do so. We raise taxes on ’em for doing it and we create special programs in the SBA [Small Business Administration] to give loans to workers so they can but the factory so we keep the jobs here and we keep making things here in America. [voice: “Yeah.”] [applause]

But there’s a problem. You see, a lot of the district, for instance, down in Clinton, right now there’s a shortage of certified welders. There’s a problem. The economy is changing and a lot of those jobs are already gone. We simply won’t get them back and if we do it’s gonna be automated. There will be far less jobs to go around. We need to invest heavily in advanced manufacturing but we have to retrain people while we’re doing it. There’s over six hundred thousand jobs in the country right now that could be had if people had the proper training. And we’re not gonna give them the proper training if we’re cutting funding for education down the board.

So, what I say we do is this, we create a special program to make it easier for people in rural areas to get to training centers. We’ll have tutors that are non-profit, maybe they’re from the private sector, maybe they’re from a church group, it doesn’t matter where you come from as long as you know how to do it. So, if you’re a welder you can tutor somebody in your small town and then they only have to drive to the city once or twice. Because whenever you’re unemployed, and you have to work so hard to get unemployment in this state, god knows that’s true, if you’re unemployed it’s hard to keep driving that, so if we cut down on that drive time, cut down those miles they have to drive we can get more people trained and we can get more people back to work and we can do it now. Maybe I’m crazy, but that just seems like a good idea.

Once we train ’em and once we invest heavily in advanced manufacturing we’re gonna be looking pretty good. But, Vicky Harztler also voted for the quote unquote path to prosperity, you know, the [Paul] Ryan budget. And in that they wanted to freeze Pell Grant funding [higher education] for ten years. Now, that would mean that it would be worth thirty percent less in ten years, because of inflation of roughly three percent, than it is today. well, it’s gonna be pretty hard for people to afford an education if they can’t get that money. So what I’m saying is we need to put more into education now but we also have to cut down on tuition. We have to cut down on costs. there’s a little bit of administrative bloat…

By two thousand ten, I’m sorry, by two thousand fifty there’s gonna be between nine and ten billion people on the planet. That’s, that’s incredible. That’s an incredible strain on our resources. And there could be water shortages, wars over it, particularly India and Pakistan, that’s frightening.

So we need to invest heavily in technology now, not only for things like desalinization, to make that more cheaper, more cost effective so we can make sure everybody can at least have a drink of water. But what we need to do is start addressing the problem of climate change. If they don’t want to believe in science that’s fine, but it’s real and it’s going to be a major, major, major problem. So we need to invest heavily in green technologies.

But we can’t do any of these things. And, I, I, I know, I know I said it, but we cannot do any of these things until we get all of that money out. Until we stop having Wall Street control our politicians, until Goldman Sachs gets its hands out of our politicians’ pockets and we take it back for the people. Because if we do not take it back for the people you might as well forget it, we’ll be a plutocracy and that will be the end. And it is ultimately leaning to economy tyranny and it’s been going that way since the eighties. That is a fact.

So, on this crazy journey that we’re about to take I would like to ask you all to help me out, I’d like ask you to join me in, because I cannot do it without your voice getting really loud and really rambunctious. I don’t want you to go talk logic and happiness and good, I want you to get mad. And I want you to talk to the tea party folks because they’re mad as hell, too. I want you to reach out to everyone….

Nate Irvin (D) speaking with voters at a Warrensburg coffee shop earlier in the day.

Not particularly decisive, via the Missouri Secretary of State::

UnOfficial Results

as of 8/6/2014 4:49:49 AM

Constitutional Amendment 1 3898 of 3898 Precincts Reported

YES 498,751 50.127%

NO 496,223 49.873%

Total Votes: 994,974

By 0.254%. What a waste (dual reference intended).

Previously:

Campaign Finance: $110,000.00 for something they really care about (January 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Food fight! (May 28, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Because, across Missouri, family farms are being supplanted by… (June 24, 2014)

Campaign Finance: as if yard signs were actually a cash crop for actual farmers… (June 28, 2014)

Utilizing the First Amendment to challenge our oppressive corporate overlords… (July 2, 2014)

Joe Maxwell – “No” on Amendment No. 1 (July 8, 2014)

Campaign Finance: egg money (July 9, 2014)

Campaign Finance: opposing useless law (July 25, 2014)

Right to farm: read the small print and between the lines (July 25, 2014)

Pinch me, I must be dreaming – Cynthia Davis gets it right on Amendment 1 (July 30, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Big agriculture money keeps pouring in for Amendment 1 (July 31, 2014)

Baker Creek Seed Company – Vote “No” on Amendment 1 (August 3, 2014)

Senator Paul LeVota (D) on Amendment 1 (August 4, 2014)

The polls opened at 6:00 a.m., they close at 7:00 p.m.

Someone is already exercising their “right to farm” – across the street from a precinct location in west central Missouri this morning.

There’s work to be done today. You all know what to do.

The past two days at the Missouri Ethics Commission, for Rick Stream, a republican candidate for St. Louis County Executive (there is a primary):

C061248 07/24/2014 FRIENDS OF RICK STREAM Cunningham Campaign Committee 1602 Timberlake Manor Pkwy Chesterfield MO 63017 7/24/2014 $75,000.00

C061248 07/28/2014 FRIENDS OF RICK STREAM Rex Sinquefield 244 Bent Walnut Westphalia MO 65085 Retired 7/25/2014 $100,000.00

C061248 07/28/2014 FRIENDS OF RICK STREAM Drury Development Corporation 721 Emerson Road Suite 200 St Louis MO 63141 7/25/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Uh, wait a minute, we remember something a while back, for Charlie Dooley (D), the incumbent in the position (he does have a primary challenger):

C031260 07/25/2014 DOOLEY FOR ST LOUIS COUNTY Rex A Sinquefield 244 Bent Walnut Westphalia MO 65085 Self Retired 7/24/2014 $50,000.00

[emphasis added]

Ah, hedging bets we see.

The July quarterly campaign finance reports in the 51st legislative District have been filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

For the republican incumbent:

C111221: Committee To Elect Dean Dohrman State Representative

Party Affiliation: Republican

Information Reported On: 2014 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $18,011.33

Monetary Receipts + $7,375.00

Monetary Expenditures – $3,377.68

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $0.00

Subtotal     $3,997.32

Ending Money On Hand   $22,008.65

[emphasis added]

For the Democratic Party candidate:

C131137: Grigsby For Missouri

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Information Reported On: 2014 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $21,083.25

Monetary Receipts + $6,296.59

Monetary Expenditures – $1,073.73

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $0.00

Subtotal     $5,222.86

Ending Money On Hand   $26,306.11

[emphasis added]

Ah, parity.

And for the Libertarian:

C141421E: Bill Wayne

Party Affiliation: Libertarian

No Full Disclosure Reports with financial information have been filed for the current year.

Libertarians, occupying space on the ballot since…

Who’s making contributions?:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS RECEIVED

COMMITTEE TO ELECT DEAN DOHRMAN STATE REPRESENTATIVE [pdf] 7/15/2014

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

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

Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyer PAC

PO Box 1072

Jefferson City MO 65102

6/12/2014

$250.00

Paul Beykirch

2230 Woodington Dr

Sedalia MO 65301

County Distributing Company, Inc

6/12/2014

$75.00

Independent Electrical Contractors PAC

12704 Pennridge Dr

Bridgeton MO 63044

6/19/2014

$200.00

Citizens for Hoskins

PO Box 118

Warrensburg MO 64093

6/19/2014

$100.00

MBA Capitol Region PAC

207 E Capitol Ave

Jefferson City MO 65101

6/20/2014

$250.00

W K Chevrolet

3310 W Broadway

Sedalia MO 65301

6/20/2014

$200.00

Missouri State Assessors Association

PO Box 339

New London MO 63459

6/24/2014

$1,200.00

Citizens To Elect Rocky Miller

PO Box 393

Osage Beach MO 65065

6/27/2014

$500.00

Wallace Architects, LLC

120

Sedalia MO 65301

6/24/2014

$1,000.00

T J Berry Campaign

19800 128th St

Kearney MO 64060

6/27/2014

$400.00

William Riggins

225 E Harrison

Marshall MO 65340

Saline County Economic Development

6/27/2014

$400.00

Friends of Todd Richardson

PO Box 1226

Poplar Bluff MO 63902

6/30/2014

$500.00

Grow Missouri

308 E. High St., Ste. 301

Jefferson City MO 65101

6/30/2014

$2,000.00

Citizens for Hoskins

PO Box 118

Warrensburg MO 64093

6/15/2014

$120.00

[emphasis added]

That’s the entire list of contributions. It doesn’t quite inspire grassroots confidence, does it?

Some of the contributions for the Democratic Party candidate:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS RECEIVED

GRIGSBY FOR MISSOURI [pdf] 7/15/2014

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSON GIVING $25 OR LESS $6.00

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

Missouri NEA-PAC

1810 E. Elm Street

Jefferson City MO 65101

6/28/2014

$1,000.00

Better Schools For Missouri – MSA PAC

3550 Amazonas Dr.

Jefferson City MO 65109

6/30/2014

$600.00

Committee To Elect Tony Miller

PO BOX 7030

Kansas City MO 64113

6/30/2014

$250.00

Heavy Constructino Laborers’ Local #664 – PAC

7820 Prospect Avenue

Kansas City MO 64132

6/30/2014

$1,000.00

Teamsters Local #245 PAF

1850 E. Division St.

Springfield MO 65803

6/30/2014

$150.00

Teamsters Local #41 PAC

4501 Emanuel Cleaver II Blevd.

Kansas City MO 64130

6/30/2014

$190.00

Teamsters Local #541 PAC

4501 Emanuel Cleaver II Blevd.

Kansas City MO 64130

6/30/2014

$200.00

Teamsters Local #688 PAC

4349 Woodson Rd. STE 200

St. Louis MO 63134

6/30/2014

$200.00

[emphasis added]

Working people! But that’s not all. There were thirty-eight small(ish) dollar contributions from individuals:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS RECEIVED

GRIGSBY FOR MISSOURI [pdf] 7/15/2014

Miller Peg

102 E. Green Meadows Rd. # 6

Columbia MO 65203

Not Employed — None

5/11/2014

$25.00

Owsley J.C.

Rt. 91 BOX 1894

Cross Timbers MO 65634

Farmer — Self

5/12/2014

$25.00

Willmarth Paula

1516 Fox Moor Ct.

Jefferson City MO 65109

Retired — None

5/12/2014

$25.00

Weinschenk Kathleen

1504 Sylvan LN.

Columbia MO 65202

Retired — None

5/12/2014

$35.00

Grigsby Gary

110 E. Market St.

Warrensburg MO 64093

Small Business Owner — Self

5/12/2014

$0.59

Swisher Frank

22689 N Saline 65 Hwy

Marshall MO 65340

Retired — None

5/12/2014

$100.00

Brooks Doug

3734 Chipmunk

Joplin MO 64804

Psychologist — Self

5/12/2014

$100.00

Skaggs Billy G and Sandra

3509 N. Park

Kansas City MO 64116

Retired — None

5/12/2014

$50.00

Rubino Robert and Susan

2051 N. Carriage Dr.

Nixa MO 65714

Unemployed — None

5/22/2014

$50.00

Gilliam Mildred

600 E Yerby St

Marshall MO 65340

Retired — None

6/2/2014

$200.00

Holden Bob and Lori

1937 Windriver Dr.

Jefferson City MO 65101

Retired — None

6/14/2014

$100.00

Stephan Karol

405 W Seventh

Appleton City MO 64724

Retired — None

6/21/2014

$50.00

Kahoe Dick and Cathy

109 Grant Dr.

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/27/2014

$50.00

Wilson Paul O.

1402 Orchard St.

Alexandria VA 22302

Advertising — Wilson Grand Consultants

6/27/2014

$100.00

Brooks Deems and Babs

PO BOX 777

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$50.00

Yunt Terry and Mary

1407 Northfiled Park Blvd

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$50.00

Brown Peggy and Kenneth

614 Darrow St

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$30.00

Williams Deleta

110 E Hale Lake Rd

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$50.00

Wilson Fred and Geraldine Ann

108 Meadow Ln

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — IBEW

6/30/2014

$50.00

Yates Bob

207 W Market

Warrensburg MO 64093

Professor — University Central Missouri

6/30/2014

$50.00

True Wes and Marilyn

532 Hamilton St.

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$100.00

Wiss Kari and Matt

3024 S Black Forest Ave

Blue Springs MO 64015

Operations Director — Developing Potentioal Inc.

6/30/2014

$200.00

Penrose Brett and Monica

1693 NW 615 Rd.

Kingsville MO 64061

Dep. Prosecuting Attorney — Cass County

6/30/2014

$150.00

Doyle Ruth

302 Johnson Dr.

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$300.00

Beard Harold and Wanda

425 NE State Route 13

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$50.00

Brown Mary Lovell

348 E Gay St

Warrensburg MO 64093

Accounting Clerk — Assicuate Consumer Evaluations LLC

6/30/2014

$25.00

Caskey Harold and Kay

Rt 1 Box 172

Butler MO 64730

Attorney — Caskey Law Firm

6/30/2014

$100.00

Chapman Susan

1605 S. Market St.

Holden MO 64040

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$100.00

Curtis Barb and David

319 W Gay St

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$50.00

Dandurand Mary

1222 Pembrooke Dr

Warrensburg MO 64093

Realtor — Self

6/30/2014

$100.00

Duncan Donna

113 Grant Dr

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$30.00

Mitten Gina

1615 Hunter Avenue

Saint Louis MO 63117

State Representative — State of Missouri

6/30/2014

$100.00

Jaeger Gene and Maxine

712 S. Holden

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$50.00

Pentlin Floyd

515 Southwest Dr.

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$50.00

Seigfreid Jim and Nancy

1108 Kismet St

Warrensburg MO 64093

Retired — None

6/30/2014

$35.00

Self Kristen

208 Madison St

Jefferson City MO 65101

Campaign Director — Missouri Democratic Party

6/30/2014

$20.00

Squiric Rick and Laurie

903 S Holden St

Warrensburg MO 64093

Small Business Owner — Letter Craft Printing

6/30/2014

$25.00

Sullivan Cameron

1412 Karen Drive Unit B

Jefferson City MO 65101

Reasercher — Progress Missouri

6/30/2014

$25.00

[emphasis added]

There is a difference.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: Grigsby (D) and Dohrman (r) in the 51st Legislative District – 3rd Quarter 2013 (October 16, 2013)

Campaign Finance: the race in the 51st Legislative District is going to be quite interesting (January 1, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Grigsby (D) and Dohrman (r) in the 51st Legislative District – 4th Quarter 2013 (January 20, 2014)

Campaign Finance: this is what happens when Democrats fail to file for legislative seats (March 28, 2014)