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University of Missouri bows to Republican pressure and eliminates campus DEI division
The University of Missouri will eliminate its division focused on diversity, social equity and inclusion on the Columbia campus, completing the dismantling of administrative structures put in place after protests in 2015 brought national attention to issues of racial equality. The move coincides with the departure of division Vice Chancellor Maurice Gipson. It is designed […]
Missouri Senate feud spills into governor’s race as GOP leader’s PAC funds attacks on Bill Eigel
In the winter, Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin said she would vote to expel state Sen. Bill Eigel. This summer, a political action committee connected to O’Laughlin is working to stop him from becoming governor. On July 5, the NEMO Leadership PAC — which was created to support O’Laughlin — contributed $100,000 to the Great […]
Primaries will test incumbents in year of historic turnover for Missouri Senate
The Missouri Senate could look very different next year. Only 14 of 34 members are certain to be on hand for opening day 2025 as term limits force out some incumbents and others seek new offices. Half the Senate is on the ballot every two years, and this year there is a contest in every […]
Jay Ashcroft pitches biggest reorganization of Missouri’s finances in state history
A February poll of Republican primary voters showed Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft had the most recognizable name in the race for governor. That shouldn’t be surprising. Ashcroft has held statewide office for eight years, and his father John ran statewide seven times, winning five elections for state attorney general, governor and U.S. senator […]
Bill Eigel vows to slash budget, round up immigrants if elected Missouri governor
For most of his second term in the Missouri Senate, Bill Eigel has been a disruptor. First with a homegrown Republican faction called the Conservative Caucus, and then with a state chapter of the national Freedom Caucus, Eigel led a small group willing to torpedo legislation to make their points heard. It hasn’t won him […]
Kehoe campaign for Missouri governor riding on bus owned by lobbyist for Chinese pork producer
In his campaign for governor, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe has promised Republican voters he will stop China “from buying up our farmland.” He’s doing so while traveling the state in a bus owned by Jewell Patek, a former legislator who is the only Missouri lobbyist employed by the Chinese business that owns a significant chunk […]
Fundraising in Missouri governor’s race tops $21 million, with most going to Kehoe
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s campaign for governor has raised almost $13 million over the past two years and the two funds supporting him have lapped the field in the Republican primary. During the second quarter of the year, Kehoe raised $907,288 for his campaign and his joint fundraising committee, American Dream PAC, took in $3.6 […]
Missouri governor hopeful Ashcroft knocked off balance by complaint about use of ‘engineer’
The first words of Jay Ashcroft’s opening message for visitors to his gubernatorial campaign website jump out in bold: “I am an engineer.” Ashcroft earned a law degree from St. Louis University and bachelor and master’s degrees in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology. The Missouri secretary of state is licensed as […]
GOP credentials committee reinstates Missouri convention delegation at center of dispute
Tom Mendenhall of Columbia was just about packed and ready to drive to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention when he got word not to bother. Mendenall, who has attended seven previous conventions, was told that the convention’s Credentials Committee had voted unanimously to reinstate the delegation selected at the May 4 state convention in […]
Missouri taxpayers hit with penalties, interest after claims exceed cap on food pantry tax credit
For the third year in a row, taxpayers claiming Missouri’s food pantry tax credit found they didn’t get the full value when the state Department of Revenue reviewed their returns. The credit, up to $2,500 per taxpayer for 50% of qualifying donations to food pantries, homeless shelters and soup kitchens, is capped at $1.75 million […]
Missouri governor allows ‘flawed’ bill on drug discounts to become law
A bill favoring Missouri pharmacies and health care providers in a national dispute with drugmakers will become law without Gov. Mike Parson’s signature. The legislation, which passed both chambers with veto-proof majorities, bars pharmaceutical manufacturers from limiting where they will deliver drugs purchased at a discount under a federal program intended to help providers serving […]
Republican candidates trade barbs in Missouri gubernatorial primary debate
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel exchanged sharp attacks on each other and absent opponent Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe at one of the rare debates in the GOP gubernatorial primary Thursday night. Ashcroft and Eigel were joined on stage at Parkway West High School in Chesterfield by Chris Wright, a Joplin […]