Elections Archives - Missourinet

Galloway to help Ashcroft with probe against Missouri Attorney General Hawley

December 14, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway-D

State Auditor Nicole Galloway says her office will help to investigate allegations that Attorney General Josh Hawley used public funds to fuel his successful U.S. Senate bid. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft requested Galloway, a Democrat, to help in the probe involving his Republican colleague.

Ashcroft is charged as secretary of state to investigate election violations. In a letter to Galloway Monday, Ashcroft cites Galloway having subpoena power, unlike Ashcroft. A routine closeout audit of Hawley’s office will begin after Hawley officially resigns for his U.S. Senate seat. Hawley is expected to step down on January 3.

“The goal of an independent audit is to get to the truth for taxpayers and not to proceed based on assumptions,” Galloway says in a letter to Ashcroft. “My office will review these concerns with heightened scrutiny.”

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (2017 photo)

Ashcroft has asked Galloway for records during her audit that are relative to the allegations against Hawley. He also wants his office to sit in on any interviews and depositions that Galloway’s office would conduct.

The allegations have been leveraged by the Democratic-leaning group American Democracy Legal Fund (ADLF).

The Kansas City Star first reported that outside political consultants directed and “gave guidance” to Hawley’s taxpayer-funded staff in the Attorney General’s Office. The newspaper said those consultants, who went on to run Hawley’s Senate campaign, continued to meet with the attorney general’s staff during business hours in his official offices in the state Supreme Court building in Jefferson City.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley – R

Hawley’s office has responded to the accusations. In a letter to Ashcroft’s office, Solicitor General D. John Sauer says the ADLF’s complaint is a “frivolous act of political harassment”. Sauer goes on to say that Brad Woodhouse, who leads the ADLF, is a well-known Democratic operative for a leftist political organization.

He says the group regularly attacked Hawley during Hawley’s recent successful campaign for the U.S. Senate and has filed multiple legal complaints against the attorney general in various forums. Sauer says Woodhouse filed this particular complaint seven days before the General Election—well within the ordinary blackout period for campaign-related complaints under Missouri’s ethics laws.

Read Galloway’s full response here. Galloway spokeswoman Steph Deidrick tells Missourinet they cannot comment beyond what’s in the news release.

Individuals with information that may be relevant to the audit can contact the State Auditor’s Whistleblower Hotline at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov or by calling 800-347-8597. Concerns may also be submitted anonymously online at auditor.mo.gov/hotline.

MoDOT director: rehabbing mid-Missouri bridge will cause three to eight-hour backups on I-70 (AUDIO)

December 14, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) director warned Thursday in Columbia about future massive traffic backups on I-70 in mid-Missouri, after the failure of a ten-cent gasoline tax increase on the November ballot.

Crews make repairs on the aging I-70 Rocheport bridge (2018 file photo courtesy of MoDOT’s Sally Oxenhandler)

MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says the agency only has funding for a $15 million rehabilitation on the I-70 Rocheport bridge. He says that will mean lane closures for seven to nine months and three-hour backups on a “good day”, and 25-mile backups to Kingdom City on a “bad day.”

The rehabilitation is scheduled to begin in about 2020.

“The Rocheport bridge is over 3,000 feet long,” McKenna says. “This is an extraordinarily large and valuable transportation move across, it’s one of the touchpoints in the national infrastructure.”

McKenna says the bridge, which was built in 1960, should be replaced.

Missourians rejected the November ballot measure, called Proposition D, by about 173,000 votes. During the campaign, McKenna had said Proposition D was crucial for Missouri, adding that MoDOT has about $8 billion in unfunded needs.

McKenna also warned about the backups in October, during a speech in Jefferson City.

McKenna addressed several dozen business leaders and reporters Thursday at the Columbia Chamber of Commerce headquarters.

Business leaders, including Columbia Chamber of Commerce President Matt McCormick, gasped when they heard McKenna warn about the three to eight-hour backups.

McKenna says MoDOT doesn’t have the $200 million needed to replace the bridge, due to the Proposition D’s failure. He says the Rocheport bridge needs what is currently happening at the Champ Clark bridge in northeast Missouri – replacement.

“We’re about halfway through the complete reconstruction of that (Clark bridge), and what you’re seeing is what we ought to be doing with Rocheport. We ought to be building a replacement right next to it, getting the remaining service life out of the existing bridge,” says McKenna.

The Champ Clark bridge, which is in Louisiana, is 90 years old. As for the Rocheport bridge, McKenna has said it’s scheduled to receive its fourth rehabilitation in about 2020.

Transportation will likely be a key issue again during the 2019 session. Outgoing Missouri House Majority Caucus Chair Glen Kolkmeyer, R-Odessa, told Missourinet this month that talks had been happening “behind the scenes.”

Click here to listen to Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna brief mid-Missouri reporters, including Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth, at the Columbia Chamber of Commerce on December 13, 2018:

McCaskill delivers sharp criticism of U.S. Senate in her final speech on chamber floor

December 13, 2018 By Jason Taylor

Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill had sharp words for her colleagues during her final prepared speech in the chamber’s floor Thursday.

Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill

The two-term office holder in the upper chamber of Congress is leaving her post in January after losing a bitter contest for reelection to Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley.

During her roughly 10-minute address, McCaskill spoke about what she called her three families – her actual family, her family of Missourians and her family of fellow Senators.

McCaskill was very direct in telling her colleagues that she’s worried about the Senate, calling it dysfunctional while quoting a British writer. “Peter Morgan, an author said no family is complete without an embarrassing uncle,” said McCaskill. “We have too many embarrassing uncles in the United States Senate.”

Without naming names or party affiliation, but likely referring the chamber’s operation under Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, she said the Senate had become secretive and closed off with a few Senators writing bills behind closed doors and then refusing to allow debate or amendments on the legislation. She claimed that “giant omnibus bills” of which Senators know few details are instead being presented to powerful lobbyists before being voted on.

McCaskill contended that power in the Senate had become dangerously centralized, noting that during her first year in the chamber in 2007, the Senate voted on 306 amendments compared to 36 as this year’s session is ending.

She claimed the chamber is run by a few Senators who write all the bills and make all the decisions and said the body needs to let its member engage in more debate and allow for more power to flow through committees.

McCaskill said the Senate is functioning in a similar fashion to the House and no longer stands on higher ground. “The United States Senate is longer the world’s greatest deliberative body, McCaskill said. “And everybody needs to quit saying it until we recover from this period of polarization and the fear of the political consequences of tough votes.”

She mentioned President Trump’s previous career while claiming his election was the result of public frustration with a dysfunctional Congress. “Something is broken, McCaskill said. “And if we don’t have the strength to look in the mirror and fix it, the American people are going to grow more and more cynical, and they might do something crazy like elect a reality TV star president.”

Six other Senators, including her fellow Missourian, Republican Roy Blunt, paid tribute to McCaskill on the chamber’s floor after she finished.

Blunt said his staff and McCaskill’s staff had worked closely on citizen and Missouri concerns. He noted that their families had gotten to know each other and mentioned he attended a memorial service for her mother during McCaskill’s reelection campaign and that McCaskill was at a service after his father passed away during his reelection campaign. Blunt said he and McCaskill had been friends for 30 years, but become especially good friends in the past eight years serving together in the Senate.

Fellow Democrat Diane Feinstein of California said she expects to hear political commentary from McCaskill through the media. “I expect to turn on my television set, turn on my radio and hear you many, many times, and take a lot of good advice,” said Feinstein.

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she admired McCaskill for working in a bipartisan way. “Senator McCaskill has demonstrated her belief that no party holds a monopoly on good ideas,” said Collins. “It has been such a pleasure to work with her across the aisle on so many issues.”

Democratic Senators John Tester of Montana, Bill Nelson of Florida and Dick Durbin of neighboring Illinois also took to the chamber floor to speak highly of McCaskill. Nelson, like the outgoing Missourian, lost his bid for reelection in November.

While speaking about her actual family, McCaskill choked up when she mentioned her siblings and remembered her mother’s motivating phrase when trying to get the kids corralled to take a trip – “last one in the car is a Republican”. She also defended her husband, Joseph Shepard, a wealthy businessman who was criticized for receiving government subsidies for his housing investments during her campaign. She said Joseph had a good heart which directed him to “do good” while “he did well.”

When focusing on her Missouri family, McCaskill stated that she loved every corner of the state, even areas that she said, “aren’t very crazy about me.”

She also paid tribute to her Senate staff and recited her office’s motto, “If you work hard you can do well, but if you’re having fun you’ll do great.” She said working with her staff was “heaven.”

AAA rep: Missouri gas tax proposal’s ‘bait and switch’ language might have led to its demise

December 13, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

The language could have led to the failure of November’s proposed fuel tax increase, according to AAA spokesman Mike Right. He tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly that Proposition D would have boosted the fuel tax by two and a half cents annually over four years.

Photo courtesy of MODOT

“A lot of people that I spoke with that actually voted no were concerned about the way the proposition was worded,” Right says. “Otherwise, they had no problem with the gas tax increase in terms of their additional spend or the need to have additional revenue. Their concern was a bait and switch.”

The measure asked voters if Olympic medals should be tax exempt for Missourians who win them and it would also have helped to fund State Patrol enforcement efforts.

He thinks the Legislature will make highway funding a key issue in the upcoming legislative session.

“We lost the election to increase the motor fuel tax at the November election, but that doesn’t solve the problem. We still have hundreds of millions of dollars of unmet needs in our Missouri highway system and they have to be addressed,” he says. “The Legislature can do some incremental things, but it’s not likely to have any dramatic impact on the overwhelming needs of the highway system.”

He says lawmakers could also choose to reword the ballot language and put the issue back before Missouri voters.

The session begins January 9 in Jefferson City.

Missouri GOP wants attorney investigating AG Josh Hawley to recuse herself

December 13, 2018 By Jason Taylor

The Missouri GOP has called for an attorney representing the secretary of state to recuse herself from an investigation of Attorney General Josh Hawley.

Missouri GOP spokesperson Chris Nuelle contends Secretary of State Deputy General Counsel Khristine Heisinger has a bias toward Democrats and shouldn’t be working on a case to defend Republican Josh Hawley.

GOP Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is investigating allegations from a Democratic organization that Hawley misused taxpayer money to aid his U.S. Senate campaign. Hawley beat Democrat Claire McCaskill in November’s election.

Nuelle noted in a statement yesterday that Heisinger donated $2,750 to McCaskill’s campaign this year and $750 to Teresa Hensley, Hawley’s opponent for Attorney General in 2016. He said Heisinger was creating a conflict of interest in representing Hawley.

Ashcroft has expressed confidence in Heisinger’s ability to be nonbiased.

Nuelle claimed that since 2006, Heisinger donated almost $23,000 to Democrat candidates, pointing out that she also worked for Claire McCaskill’s attorney, Chuck Hatfield for 11 years.

Former Missouri U.S. Senator among bipartisan group urging Senate to defend democracy – again

December 12, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

The Washington Post has released an opinion piece with 44 former U.S. Senators, including Missouri Republican Jack Danforth, saying the U.S is entering a dangerous period. Danforth tells MSNBC the bipartisan group’s comments are in response to Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump and Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Photo courtesy of Dowd Bennett law firm

“The concern that we have is that things are terribly divided now, but that it’s going to get much worse or at least it has the potential to get much worse, as the Trump problems continue to unfold,” says Danforth. “Our appeal is to the Senate to try to be more bipartisan. The country has become terribly polarized. This is not new for me. A lot of people have commented on it. Everybody seems to be mad all the time.”

The opinion column is titled “We are former senators. The Senate has long stood in defense of democracy – and must again”.

The group urges current Senators to work together to place the country, democracy and national interest above all else. They say America is headed toward a crisis if current Senators are not working in a bipartisan way and being “steadfast zealous guardians of our democracy”.

“It means the two parties communicating with each other and not just voting as they do say in the British Parliament – right along party lines. It means getting back to what’s known as the regular order, which means that the committee system works,” says Danforth.

He goes on to say that social interaction between lawmakers of opposite parties is also important.

“It’s important for people to know each other, know their families and to live in Washington,” he says.

Danforth says the Senate began to become very partisan after the 1992 election.

“A number of Republicans came over to the Senate from the House. In the House, they had not been treated well. So, they came over with a very hard edge to them. I believe it started there and I think it’s increased over the years,” Danforth says.

He cites the increasing divide is in part due to social media and the cable news networks.
“It’s not that politics in the old days was just as pure as the driven snow. It certainly wasn’t that, but you were able to have the legislative system work. It did work reasonably well. I don’t think it works at all now.”

Danforth served as U.S. Senator in Missouri from 1976 to 1995. He also served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush.

Hawley’s office calls funding allegations ‘frivolous act of political harassment’

December 10, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri Republican Senator-elect Josh Hawley speaks to supporters in Winchester, Missouri (file photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI)

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office has responded to allegations that Hawley illegally used public resources to help his U.S. Senate campaign. The allegations have been leveraged by the Democratic-leaning group American Democracy Legal Fund (ADLF).

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has launched an investigation into the accusations against the fellow Republican Hawley. Ashcroft is charged as secretary of state to investigate election violations.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (2017 photo)

In a letter to Ashcroft’s office, Solicitor General D. John Sauer says the ADLF’s complaint is a “frivolous act of political harassment”. Sauer goes on to say that Brad Woodhouse, who leads the ADLF, is a well-known Democratic operative for a leftist political organization.

Ashcroft has asked State Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Democrat, to work together to investigate the case. In a letter to Galloway today, Ashcroft cites Galloway having subpoena power, unlike Ashcroft.

Nicole Galloway (D)

Galloway is scheduled to do a closeout audit of Hawley’s administration, since Hawley successfully defeated Democrat Claire McCaskill in last month’s election. Ashcroft is asking Galloway for records during her that are relative to the allegations against Hawley. He also wants his office to sit in on any interviews and depositions that Galloway’s office would conduct.

Galloway is reviewing Ashcroft’s request.

Outgoing Missouri AG Hawley and incoming AG Schmitt hold joint press conference

December 7, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s incoming attorney general says he’s been conducting interviews with staff members of outgoing Attorney General Josh Hawley (R).

Outgoing Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley briefs incoming AG Eric Schmitt on December 6, 2018 in Jefferson City (Brian Hauswirth photo)

Hawley and Republican Eric Schmitt, who’s currently the State Treasurer, held a joint press conference Thursday in Jefferson City, after Hawley’s senior staff briefed Schmitt in front of reporters.

Schmitt is expected to be sworn-in as attorney general on January 3.

“We anticipate that, by and large, a lot of the great people that are working here (the Missouri attorney general’s office) today will be working here in January,” Schmitt says.

Schmitt tells the Capitol Press Corps there’s many great people working in Hawley’s office. He also says a website has been established for people to send their resumes and to apply for positions.

A reporter asked Schmitt about the multi-state lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Schmitt says it’s inappropriate for him to comment on pending cases, until he’s fully briefed on them.

Hawley told Schmitt and reporters that investigations into opioid manufacturers and opioid distributors continue. He also says investigations into Google and Facebook continue.

Attorney General Hawley also says the investigation into the nonprofit organization “Mission Continues” is ongoing.

Both Hawley and Schmitt were asked by reporters about the Confide App, after a recent report in the “Kansas City Star” that a former top Hawley staffer had used it.

Hawley says there’s a policy in the attorney general’s office that Confide is not to be used for public business. He says he takes it seriously and expects all of his staffers to abide by it, adding that using Confide would be considered a clear violation of office policy.

As for Schmitt, he says no one in government should be using Confide for public business.

Hawley also addressed several other big cases he’s been involved in during his two years as attorney general.

He says it’s time to restructure Missouri’s legal expense fund, which is used to make payments that stem from lawsuits against the state.

“My own view is that it is time to require (state) agencies, all agencies, to pay at least a portion of the judgments and settlements against them, out of their own budgets,” says Hawley.

Hawley says that when he took office in January 2017, there were about $450 million in pending claims against the fund. He says it’s now down to about $400 million.

Missouri lawmakers this year approved legislation from then-House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City, that requires the Missouri attorney general to submit a monthly report to lawmakers about the state legal expense fund.

While Hawley had already been doing that, Beatty wanted it to be state statute. She emphasized transparency, and her bill had wide, bipartisan support.

In a response to a Thursday question from Missourinet, Hawley says a popular recreational lake in southeast Missouri which has seen multiple deaths remains closed.

Mr. Hawley’s office filed a lawsuit in late July against “The Offsets“, which is a former quarry near Fredericktown. Hawley says the facility has been the site of at least nine deaths and numerous serious injuries.

“If ever there’s a public nuisance, this is it,” Hawley says. “And people think of barking dogs as public nuisances, this is people dying. It’s a very serious matter.”

The quarry is surrounded by 40-foot bluffs, where people jump in a lake. Hawley has called on the owners to fence off the highest bluffs and to place a dock on the water.

Hawley, who unseated Senator Claire McCaskill in November, will resign as attorney general on January 3.

Kolkmeyer: Missouri transportation talks are happening behind scenes (AUDIO)

December 2, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

One of the GOP leaders in the Missouri House is disappointed that voters rejected a ten-cent gasoline tax increase in November.

State Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer, R-Odessa, presides over the Missouri House on March 26, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer, who is the outgoing House Majority Caucus Chair, tells Missourinet talks are happening “behind the scenes.”

“I’ve been talking to some of the people in the (transportation) coalition about what is possible down the road,” Kolkmeyer says. “Some people want to wait, some people want to file something right away.”

Kolkmeyer supported Proposition D, saying it would have provided the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) with additional money, and would have provided the Missouri State Highway Patrol with a dedicated funding source.

Despite backing from Governor Mike Parson (R), Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R), the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the Teamsters and other labor organizations, Proposition D failed by about 173,000 votes statewide on November 6.

Kolkmeyer, who served for 20 years as chief of the Wellington-Napoleon Fire Protection District in western Missouri, says MoDOT needs additional funding. He says a snow-related crash last week in Bates City highlights how many people drive Interstate 70.

“We had to transport crossways in the middle of I-70 and also blocking an on-ramp of I-70 at Bates City, the 31-mile marker,” says Kolkmeyer. “And traffic was backed up over five miles for that.”

A Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crew plows snow on Highway 59 near northwest Missouri’s Oregon on November 25, 2018 (photo courtesy of MoDOT)

Kolkmeyer notes MoDOT has dealt with several rare November snowstorms.

“MoDOT, they’re doing a great job getting our highways cleaned as fast as they can. In our area we had five inches of snow on top of a thick layer of ice,” Kolkmeyer says.

Missouri’s 17-cent gasoline tax has remained the same since 1996. Proposition D supporters say that because of inflation, Missouri’s 17-cent gasoline tax is worth just seven cents of the value it had 22 years ago.

Kolkmeyer, who represents Jackson, Johnson and Lafayette Counties, was re-elected to his fourth and final House term in November. He received about 69 percent of the vote to defeat Democratic challenger Connie Simmons.

While he will return to the House in January, Kolkmeyer will not be part of the House GOP leadership team in 2019. The new Majority Caucus Chair will be State Rep. Sonya Anderson, R-Springfield.

One southwest Missouri lawmaker who’s leaving office at the end of December because of term limits predicts Missouri lawmakers will tackle the transportation issue again in January.

State Rep. Charlie Davis, R-Webb City, told Missourinet the day after the November election that lawmakers will have to make a decision about additional funding for road repairs for MoDOT.

“Because the last thing we want to do is have to do a lot of work after an accident happens and a bridge collapses etc.,” Davis said on November 7. “So I think the Legislature this next year is going to do some good things for transportation in Missouri.”

One possibility is a proposal that House Speaker-designee Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, pushed in 2018. His bill would have indexed vehicle user fees to the cost of inflation.

Haahr testified before a House committee in March, saying that his plan to index those fees would generate about $174 million annually for the state’s road fund.

Haahr has noted that Missouri’s current vehicle license and registration fees haven’t changed in more than 30 years.

The 2019 legislative session will begin on Wednesday January 9 in Jefferson City.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer, R-Odessa, which was recorded on November 28, 2018 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

Missouri Congressman Smith will be part of House GOP leadership team again (AUDIO)

November 30, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri congressman who’s been unanimously re-elected as the House GOP Conference Secretary wants to see Republicans retake the U.S. House in 2020.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, speaks to a farmer at Peterson Farms in Mountain Grove on July 20, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Smith’s office)

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, was also re-elected earlier this month to his third full term in Congress. He represents 30 counties across southeast and south-central Missouri.

“I’m very excited to be trusted by my colleagues to be elected as the Conference Secretary with the expectations to gain back the majority,” Smith says.

Republicans have lost control of the U.S. House, because of the November midterm elections. Democrats will control the chamber 235-200 in January.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) tweeted Wednesday that House Democrats will work to create a more open, transparent Congress committed to fighting corruption and rebuilding America’s infrastructure. She also says House Democrats will work for lower prescription drug costs.

As for Congressman Smith, he says it’s critical for Republicans to stand with President Donald Trump (R), if they want to retake the House in 2020. He notes Trump carried Smith’s district by 56 points in 2016.

“Everyone in this (House GOP) Conference knows that I’m a defender of the president and I stand by the policies of the president, and I think that we need to continue to do so,” says Smith.

President Trump campaigned for Republican Josh Hawley in Cape Girardeau on the night before this month’s election. Cape Girardeau is in Smith’s district, and Hawley unseated Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill in the election.

Smith’s sprawling district stretches from Ava all the way to Perryville and Sikeston. The 8th district also includes Rolla, St. James and Eminence.

Smith tells Missourinet he’s worried, now that Democrats will control the House for the first time since 2010.

“Because the other side (Democrats) has been campaigning on reversing a lot of the policies that we’ve been pushing forward, such as the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (of 2017) and reducing various regulations,” Smith says.

He says the federal tax cut has created about 1.5 million new jobs.

Smith’s colleague, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, disagrees. Cleaver has said the bill provides tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires and not enough for working families.

Republicans will control the U.S. Senate 53-47 in January.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, which was recorded on November 16, 2018: