Monday, March 31, 2008

Dueling Endorsements in the 44th


The 44th State House Seat is being vacated by Rep. Jenee Lowe (a wonderful Democrat!).

Two of the three candidates have brandished some dueling endorsements. Jason Kander has had a fundraiser headlined by City Councilwoman Jan Marcason (a CCP member). Amy Coffman has long held the endorsement of Rep. Beth Low (a CCP member). She recently picked up the endorsement of Sen. Jolie Justus (a CCP member).

So, for all you political science junkies, what effect will these endorsements have on this race?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's see - since the 44th is in Jefferson City and not Kansas City, wouldn't Rep. Low and Sen. Justus' endorsements mean a whole lot more? Won't Kander have a hard time working with folks who endorsed Coffman? Jolie's list of supporters is the envy of every Jackson County politican. Her organization was extremely strong, lots of person to person contact.

Dan Ryan said...

Really, I don't think the endorsements will sway many voters either way. They're both (and Mary Spence) going to have to win this race the old-fashioned way, by meeting the voters and impressing them. I don't think any of the three would be a bad representative, though I strongly support Jason Kander.

I greatly admire Senator Justus and her organization, but I think Jason Kander has the edge in money and local connections. Don't worry, Brookside Dem, about Jason's ability to get along with her. Heck, she even made a donation to his campaign!

Anonymous said...

The Great Dan Ryan can pick them. Remember Dan perfectly picking Jolie's race, preaching that money did not matter, just hard work? Jolie didn't have the money compared to Klumb, she wasn't from Kansas City (though lots of KC folk's vacation in Taney County), but she worked really hard.

Maybe Dan is right again; he's got a great track record. Amy Coffman doesn't have the money, but has that same Jolie Justus type of fight. Her years away from Missouri mirror's Kander's time away for college and grad school. Dan may be wrong about the winner, but is right that the ground game will win this race. Jolie's voters may be enough to put someone over the top.

- Fan of Dan

Anonymous said...

If Jolie works her base - as she should if she actually comes out with an endorsement - then Coffman is in. Beth Low has already been working for Coffman. If they don't work it hard to get her in, their endorsements are meaningless.

Marcason has her hands full with a city budget crunch. I would also bet that some other City Council members may endorse Coffman, especially with the public fight between Kander and Gottstein.

Anonymous said...

Either every D is a member of the CCP and/or there is some in-fighting. When do you knuckleheads endorse?