Archive for August 2024

Mark Osmack had been out of the electoral fray for a while, but he never completely abandoned his passion for Missouri politics.

Osmack, a Valley Park native and Army veteran, previously ran for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District seat and for state Senate. Now he’s the Democratic nominee for state treasurer after receiving a phone call from Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Russ Carnahan asking him to run.

“There’s a lot of decision-making and processing and evaluation that goes into it, which is something I am very passionate and interested in,” Osmack said this week on an episode of Politically Speaking.

Osmack is squaring off against state Treasurer Vivek Malek, who was able to easily win a GOP primary against several veteran lawmakers, including House Budget Chairman Cody Smith and state Sen. Andrew Koenig.

While Malek was able to attract big donations to his political action committee and pour his own money into the campaign, Osmack isn’t worried that he won’t be able to compete in November. Since Malek was appointed to his post, Osmack contends he hasn’t proven that he’s a formidable opponent in a general election.

“His actions and his decision-making so far in his roughly two-year tenure in that office have been questionable,” Osmack said.

Among other things, Osmack was critical of Malek for placing unclaimed property notices on video gaming machines usually found in gas stations or convenience stores. The legality of the machines has been questioned for some time.

As Malek explained on his own episode of Politically Speaking, he wanted to make sure the unclaimed property program was as widely advertised as possible. But he acknowledged it was a mistake to put the decals close to the machines and ultimately decided to remove them.

Osmack said: “This doesn’t even pass the common sense sniff test of, ‘Hey, should I put state stickers claiming you might have a billion dollars on a gambling machine that is not registered with the State of Missouri?’ If we’re going to give kudos for him acknowledging the wrong thing, it never should have been done in the first place.”

Osmack’s platform includes supporting programs providing school meals using Missouri agriculture products and making child care more accessible for the working class.

He said the fact that Missouri has such a large surplus shows that it’s possible to create programs to make child care within reach for parents.

“It is quite audacious for [Republicans] to brag about $8 billion, with a B, dollars in state surplus, while we offer next to no social services to include pre-K, day care, or child care,” Osmack said.

Here’s are other topics Osmack discussed on the show:

• How he would handle managing the state’s pension systems and approving low-income housing tax credits. The state treasurer’s office is on boards overseeing both of those programs.
• Malek’s decision to cut off investments from Chinese companies. Osmack said Missouri needs to be cautious about abandoning China as a business partner, especially since it’s a major consumer of the state’s agriculture products. “There’s a way to make this work where we are not supporting communist nations to the detriment of the United States or our allies, while also maintaining strong economic ties that benefit Missouri farmers,” he said.
• What it was like to witness the skirmish at the Missouri State Fair between U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce.
• Whether Kunce can get the support of influential groups like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which often channels money and staff to states with competitive Senate elections.

The Democrat running to be Missouri’s next Attorney General has a plan to act against scam calls.

Elad Gross said the top complaint that comes to the Missouri Attorney General’s office is the high number of scam calls.

One way Gross wants to act against them is hiring more staff to enforce the state’s Do Not Call list.

Another method is to develop a Missouri Attorney General phone app where constituents can report scam calls and messages to.

“We’re collecting evidence as it’s happening. It streamlines those prosecutions, and we can send warnings out to the public about the new scams that are out there,” Gross said

For those who wouldn’t want to download an app, Gross said people would be able to report scams through email, calling in or submitting information online.

Gross was a recent guest on the Politically Speaking Podcast. Here’s what else he discussed on the show.

• His background in Missouri politics, including why he decided to run again for Attorney General after losing the Democratic primary for the same position in 2020.
• Why he believes he can piece together the electorate he needs to win as a Democrat in the state.
• How he would enforce and modernize Missouri’s open records law.
• His plans to reduce violent crime in the state.
• His stance on some of the policy decisions made by current Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

Gross is a Missouri native who is a civil rights and government transparency attorney.

Ferguson exposed systems that disenfranchise Black St. Louisans and fail their basic mandates to provide safety, health and community to the people who depend on them. Inspired by the Uprising and driven by experience and anger, many people found their voices and created their own new systems designed to help their community thrive. In this episode, we explore the creation of Love Bank Park, the closing of the Medium Security Institution known as the Workhouse, and the restorative justice movement. 

Credits: This episode was produced by Danny Wicentowski and edited by Emily Woodbury. With production assistance from Chad Davis and Ulaa Kuziez. Greg Munteanu did the audio mixing and podcast design. Brian Heffernan provided editorial guidance. Kris Husted is the executive producer. Special thanks to Kameel Stanley.

The theme music is by Cassie Morgan and remixed by Mvstermind. Additional music was provided by Drake Stafford and Kai Engel.

We Live Here is a production of St. Louis Public Radio in collaboration with the Midwest Newsroom.

Ferguson exposed systems that disenfranchise Black St. Louisans and fail their basic mandates to provide safety, health and community to the people who depend on them. Inspired by the Uprising and driven by experience and anger, many people found their voices and created their own new systems designed to help their community thrive. In this episode, we explore the creation of Love Bank Park, the closing of the Medium Security Institution known as the Workhouse, and the restorative justice movement. 

Credits: This episode was produced by Danny Wicentowski and edited by Emily Woodbury. With production assistance from Chad Davis and Ulaa Kuziez. Greg Munteanu did the audio mixing and podcast design. Brian Heffernan provided editorial guidance. Kris Husted is the executive producer. Special thanks to Kameel Stanley.

The theme music is by Cassie Morgan and remixed by Mvstermind. Additional music was provided by Drake Stafford and Kai Engel.

We Live Here is a production of St. Louis Public Radio in collaboration with the Midwest Newsroom.