Rumors say that Crosslink Strategy is currently calling St. Louis-based public affairs and public relations companies for assistance in the InBev acquisition of AB. So far, every company they have spoken to has turned them down.
Hugh Scott, a St. Louis regional businessman and civic leader is looking to run for state treasurer. He will join state senator Brad Lager in the Republican primary.
Scott is currently a Vice President: Managing Director of Investment Banking at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. He is the former Chairman and CEO of Western Diesel Services, Inc.
Besides his current position in investment banking, Hugh Scott has served as a director or advisory director to multiple financial institutions including U.S. Bank St. Louis, Firstar Bank St. Louis, Mercantile Trust Company and Boatmen's Trust Company.
He was Vice Chairman of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, past chairman of the Young Presidents Organization - St. Louis Chapter and is a member of the Chief Executives Organization.Hugh served as Alderman and Mayor of the City of Clayton and was a former director of the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.
He previously served as a Commissioner and Chairman of the St. Louis Zoo/Museum District, the St. Louis City/County Board of Electors, and BiState Development Agency.
His civic activities include serving as a director of St. Luke's Hospital, the Central Institute for the Deaf, Fair St. Louis Foundation, St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, St. Louis Municipal Opera Association and past president of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Association.
Hugh Scott is a graduate of Yale University, an Eagle Scout and has received numerous awards including the Boy Scouts: Silver Beaver Award and the Humanitarian award from the American Jewish Committee.
He is married to Ann Cady Scott and they have two children, Hugh Scott, IV, and Sara Cady Scott.
Both Republicans and Democrats have fluid fields of candidates to replace Kenny Hulshof (who is running for governor) in the 9th Congressional District.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Judy Baker had announced for the seat even before Hulshof switched his ambitions to the governor's mansion. Former House Speaker Steve Gaw is also a declared candidates as is Lynn Bode, a county commissioner from those parts.
On the Republican side, the field has narrowed a little. Greg Steinhoff has dropped out. I have heard that Jason Van Eaton, aide to Senator Kit Bond, is unlikely to run due to financial considerations. That leaves Reps. Bob Onder, Danie Moore, and Joe Smith.
Now comes a new name, former state senator Jon Dolan. Dolan would bring several strengthes. In addition to having represented the largest area of the 9th, he has a much stronger fundraising base (the membership of his current association could probably fund a good portion of a $1 million congressional campaign) than the other state representatives. Finally, he has clear conservative credentials from pro-life positions to the concealed carry issue.
I called Dolan about the rumor and he gave me a coy non-denial: "Why wouldn't I consider it?"
Rumors have Circuit Cleark Mariano Favazza talking about running his son against Michele Kratky in November.
Michele Kratky won (unopposed) the recent special election to succeed her husband, Fred, as state representative, district 65.
Favazza and Kratky have clashed on any number of races. For example, the 16th ward endorsed Joan Barry in the 3-CD race in which Favazza was a candidate. Kratky was committeeman of ward 16.
If the next round of municipal elections still seems far off, that not stopping the rumor-mill from chattering away.Placing aside the well-know state-rep races, here are other possible changes people are talking about.
9 – Committeeman Ron Auer is also on the move. He and his wife, Ann, are moving into a new house in 8.Pat Ortmann is the committeewoman.
21 – With the passing of arch-nemesis Myrtle French, Arthur Washington was able to consolidate the power of the ward for the first time in a long time.Rumors had Antonio French as a possible challenger to the aging Washington next August, but considering his duties navigating Rodney Hubbard’s senate race, those plans may now be on hold.
Those rumors also had Jamilah Nasheed running for the committeewoman; Nasheed has denied those ambitions.
23 – Rumors have Francis Slay Sr. handing over committeeman duties to Dan Hagerty.
Alderpersons
1 – Quincy Troupe could face a primary challenge from committeewoman and former state rep. Yaphett El-Amin.As a former state rep himself, history is not on Troupe’s side considering the short aldermanic careers of two other former state reps – Tom Bauer and O.L. Shelton.
7 – Alderwoman Phyllis Young has been the subject of occasional retirement rumors, but that looks doubtful given her upcoming fundraiser.
15 – Jennifer Florida is the lighting-rod of choice for the discontented in (and out) of her ward.McDonalds-gate led to a half-hearted recall attempt.But between her rift with Board President Lewis Reed and the background presence of soon-to-be-termed Rep. Mike Daus (who lost to Florida by a handful of votes in 2001), the primary talk has heightened.
23 – There's more than the standard grumbling going on in 23. In fact, there are already three names in the air. The only scenario where Kathleen Hanrahan avoids a primary is if she doesn't run for re-election. Mary Homan, Mike Sorth and Joe Vaccaro are the possible candidates. Vaccaro ran for the seat as an independent in May 2004 special election, and he pulled down 35%.
25 – Rumors have Dorothy Kirner retiring. If that holds true, one could imagine Committeewoman Maggie Lampe running. Or perhaps a second run by Steve Patterson, who lost to Kirner in 2005. Or both.
State Reps
60 – Jamilah Nasheed’s seat is said to be the latest target of former alderwoman Sharon Tyus’ comeback. Nasheed showed an impressive fundraising effort last quarter in anticipation of the challenge.
57 – Former alderwoman, and former mayoral candidate Irene Smith is mentioned as a possible primary opponent for Rep. T.D. El-Amin.
Citywides
No names so far to take on incumbents Jennifer Joyce, Jim Murphy and Larry Williams
House source tells ACC that representative reviewing the rushed and unvetted midwifery language in 818 have concluded that it would allow midwives to perform partial birth abortions, and are working on a legislative fix. If none comes, expect to see a statement from MO Right to Life urging the Governor to veto the bill.
The Missouri Democratic Party held a fundraiser downtown Friday night. The event was well-attended (968 paying). Politicians and activists came from across the state. Jo reports that $500,000 was raised. Here's what I heard:
Two new names for the 67th (Daus is termed) were circulating: Lori Becker and Greg Christian. They're both part of the Young Dems set, and have both worked at Vigilant. Becker ran Joan Barry's 3rd CD campaign in 2004. Christian ran Caccione's 6th ward race.
Judy Baker is looking at the Lieutenant Governor's race.
The House Democratic Campaign Committee has enlisted the aid of political consultant / fundraiser Vince Currao. Rachel Storch reports exceptional enthusiasm for their efforts.
Jake Hummel was on the scene handing out Hummel for State Rep business cards. He's running in the 108th. (Villa is termed.)
Don Calloway was shaking a lot of hands. He's running in the 71st. (Esther Haywood is termed) His April quarter will only show a couple of 000s. A second candidate, Vernon Harlan, recently started a committee in that race.
Word is that Fred Kratky has been offered a job as executive director of the Realtors Association. It's rumored that he will resign, and is politicking committeepeople to support his wife for the seat. Michele, Fred's wife, is a lobbyist for the same Realtors.
In other words, Fred is currently the Rep and Michele is the lobbyist. But if things go this way, Fred becomes the lobbiest, and his wife the Rep.
UPDATE: Look for John Paul Frisella as a potential challenger to Michele Kratky.
In response to flyers handed out at City Hall this morning warning of plans to "Bulldoze the Ghetto", Alderman Freeman Bosley, Jr., 3rd ward, said the concerns were overblown.
The anti-eminent domain groups are going, "off the chain," said Bosley. He said their actions were instigating fear among residents.
Bosley said no action to blight the land can happen without aldermanic approval and neither he, nor the other aldermen in the area have been asked.
"They are just wrong," said Bosley.
The flyers were passed out by members of Citizens for the Near Northside. Topped by the headline "Plans to 'Bulldoze the Ghetto'", the flyer includes a map sketching out a rough trapezoidal area bounded by Delmar to the south, Natural Bridge to the North, Interstate 70 to the East and North Grand to the west. The area at risk includes Bosley's 3rd ward, April Ford-Griffin's 5th Ward and the currently vacant 19th ward (soon to be occupied by Committeewoman Marlene Davis who is running unopposed).
The organization says the Blairmont Group–made up of a dizzying array of small real estate companies–is poised to reap the benefits of future development in the near north side. Northside urbanist and dedicated observer of developement, Michael Allen, has mapped out the numerous properties attributed to the group and written a history of his search on his blog.
The alleged linchpin in the effort is the future of the Pruitt-Igoe site. The 34-acre, city-owned property, is slated for future development and the St. Louis Development Corporation is expected to request proposals later this year.
In a move likely to add fuel to the speculation about Blunt's plans for the future, the Governor is spending the day in Boston visiting Gov. Mitt Romney at the presidential-hopeful's day-long, milllion-dollar fundraiser.
Poised on the top floor of Boston's convention center, Romney's fundapalooza brought together friends and supporters from around the nation in an effort, "to form a bond with each other, and chat with the governor." Romney's team hopes to pull in $1 million from around the country, the first step in an ambitious drive to raise $50 million by June.
Some of the current speculation surrounding Gov. Blunt's future (driven mostly by his non-committal comments regarding re-election) has Blunt as a possible V.P. nominee in a Romney Presidential run.
Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan lays out how Blunt could skip second-chair 2008 and go right for the center ring in 2012. Governors have had a great deal of success in rising to the land's highest office, but how does the speculation jive with Blunt's consistent–and unshakeable–low polling numbers.
McClellan is dead-on in that any potential future for the Governor will likely hinge on his handling of the Medicaid transition. President Bush made his mark in education reform, which he brought to the national level in the form of No Child Left Behind, which has received mixed-marks from educators (The NCLB's fifth anniversary was Sunday, January 8).
I'd previously heard that folks thought Roger Wilson would step down as McCaskill turned her attention to DC and Nixon prepared for his 2008 gubernatorial run.
It now appears Wilson will extend his stay as Party Chair.
UPDATE: Blunt also announced that his Communications Director Spence Jackson has accepted the position of Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Development for Communications and Community Development. Jackson, 35, of Jefferson City, has served as Blunt’s spokesman since the governor took office in January 2005 and held the same position while Blunt was Secretary of State.
Brian Hauswirth will serve as interim Communications Director. Hauswirth currently works as the Communications Director for the Missouri Department of Corrections and previously worked at St. Louis radio station KTRS and Jefferson City radio station KLIK.
Heard from two folks that Yaphett El-Amin is polling in the 4th.
They believe that it's hers because during the candidate bios, hers is the only one without anything negative. Negatives mentioned: for Amber Boykins was the high % of votes she missed as a rep.; for Jeff Smith was his putting the wrong address down on his filing form.
Take this with a grain of salt, this is like a game of telephone after all.
A GOP source tells ACC that James Harris, the governor's director of political appointments, will be resigning. The source says to look for it soon and believes that Harris will join Patek and Associates.
One 24th ward politico tells ACC that former alderman Tom Bauer is starting to make the rounds again at neighborhood meetings. He’s been spotted at Hi-Pointe, Franz Park and Clayton Tamm nabe meetings in recent weeks.
Reliable third-hand sources say: Kenny Jones, who led a recall that is the subject of grand jury investigation, will file today for the 4th State Senate.
Word on the street has the Coleman quarter looking weak - certainly in some part because of her late start. Still if the whisper number - around $30,000 - is true, her bid is in trouble.
