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Sean Soendker Nicholson, who is leading the campaign to defeat Amendment 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot, is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. Nicholson talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about why voters should reject the measure that overhauls Missouri’s state legislative redistricting system.

Nicholson is a Democratic political consultant who was part of the successful 2018 campaign to pass Clean Missouri. If Amendment 3 fails to repeal Clean Missouri, a demographer will hold much of the power to draw House and Senate maps with an emphasis on competitiveness and partisan fairness.

Opponents of Clean Missouri believe that the system will cause all sorts of unintended consequences. The primarily Republican detractors contend that the plan wasn’t about fairness, but instead was meant to give Democrats an advantage in a state that’s becoming more Republican.

Missouri Farm Bureau Chairman Blake Hurst recorded an episode of Politically Speaking about why voters should back Amendment 3. You can hear that episode here.

Here’s what Nicholson had to say on the show:

• He responded to mainly Republican contentions that Clean Missouri was inherently deceptive, since it paired popular ideas like curtailing lobbyist gifts and making it harder for lawmakers and staff to become lobbyists with a wholesale change of state legislative redistricting.
• Nicholson talked about some of the consequences of emphasizing compactness over competitiveness and partisan fairness, which is one of the biggest changes brought about by Amendment 3.
• He discussed why it was a bad idea to only count eligible voters, as opposed to the total population of voters. He said that the “eligible voter standard” wasn’t required under Amendment 3, but added having it as an option could mean that children aren’t counted during the redistricting process.
• He talked about why the state auditor’s office, as opposed to the governor or secretary of state, is involved in forwarding demographer candidates to the Senate’s majority and minority leaders. The involvement of the auditor has been a source of contention, since the current officeholder, Nicole Galloway, is the only Democratic statewide official in office right now in Missouri.

Amendment 3 is easily the most contentious ballot initiative up for a vote this November. Most of the money and organizational power has gone to defeat the measure, which has helped Nicholson’s side run television ads criticizing the proposal.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Sean Soendker Nicholson on Twitter: @ssnich

Music: “In The Meantime” by Spacehog

Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. Hurst spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about his organization’s support for Amendment 3, which would repeal and replace a state legislative redistricting system voters approved in 2018.

Amendment 3 would transfer redistricting responsibility from a demographer to either bipartisan commissioners or, more likely, appellate judges. It also changes the criteria for drawing House and Senate maps. For instance, compactness would go up on the priority list and substantially altered competitiveness and partisan fairness standards would go down.

During the program, Hurst talked about:

• His organization’s support of Amendment 3, primarily driven by fears the existing plan would lessen the influence of rural communities in the Missouri General Assembly.
• His response to contentions from Amendment 3 foes that moving up the compactness standards and moving down the changed competitiveness and partisan fairness formulas will result in less competitive state legislative maps.
• Arguments, even from several Republicans, that it’s premature to repeal the 2018 state legislative redistricting plan, widely known as Clean Missouri, before it actually goes into effect.
• The campaign to pass Amendment 3, which is being vastly outspent by a well-funded and well-organized campaign trying to persuade Missourians to vote down the initiative.

Hurst has served as president of the Missouri Farm Bureau since 2010. The Atchison County native runs a greenhouse business and also raises corn and soybeans with his family.

Sean Soendker Nicholson, one of the leaders of the opposition to Amendment 3, recorded an episode of Politically Speaking that will be posted in the coming days.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Blake Hurst on Twitter: @BlakeHurst

Music: “Jumper” by Third Eye Blind

Democrat Betsy Dirksen-Londrigan is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. She spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Eric Schmid and Jaclyn Driscoll about her bid against U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, which includes a portion of the Metro East.

Dirksen-Londrigan ran against Davis in 2018, narrowly losing to the incumbent Republican by 2,058 votes. The race is again expected to be close on Nov. 3. Davis handily won re-election in 2014 and 2016 by nearly 20 percentage points each time.

Here’s what Dirksen-Londrigan talked about during the program.

• Why she’s running to unseat Davis for a second time.
• The status of the Affordable Care Act and her support of “Medicare-X,” which would add a public option to the health care marketplaces.
• The national response to the coronavirus pandemic and her vision for how the federal government can help Americans make it to the other side of the pandemic.
• College costs and her ideas for how to make higher education more affordable

Dirksen-Londrigan was born and raised in Springfield. She was formerly a teacher and the director of Alumni Affairs at the University of Illinois in Springfield. She also worked on downstate fundraising for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

Davis appeared on Politically Speaking earlier this month.

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Eric Schmid on Twitter: @EricDSchmid

Follow Betsy Dirksen-Londrigan on Twitter: @BetsyforIL

Music: “On the Loose” by Europe

Democrat Betsy Dirksen-Londrigan is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. She spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Eric Schmid and Jaclyn Driscoll about her race against U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, which includes a portion of the Metro East.

Dirksen-Londrigan ran against Davis in 2018, narrowly losing to the incumbent Republican by 2,058 votes. The race is again expected to be close on Nov. 3. Davis won reelection in 2014 and 2016 by nearly 20 percentage points each time.

Here’s what Dirksen-Londrigan talked about during the program.

• Why she’s running for a second time to unseat Davis.
• The status of the Affordable Care Act and her support of “Medicare-X,” which would add a public option to the health care marketplaces.
• The national response to the coronavirus pandemic and her vision for how the federal government can help Americans make it to the other side of the pandemic.
• College costs and her ideas for how to make higher education more affordable.

Dirksen-Londrigan was born and raised in Springfield. She was formerly a teacher and the director of Alumni Affairs at the University of Illinois in Springfield. She also worked on downstate fundraising for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

Davis appeared on Politically Speaking earlier this month.

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Eric Schmid on Twitter: @EricDSchmid

Follow Betsy Dirksen-Londrigan on Twitter: @BetsyforIL

Music: “On the Loose” by Europe

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he spoke to St. Louis Public Radio’s Jaclyn Driscoll and Jason Rosenbaum about his campaign for a full four-year term.

Parson became governor in June 2018 after ascending to the post from the lieutenant governorship following Eric Greitens’ resignation. He easily won a GOP primary earlier this year and is squaring off against state Auditor Nicole Galloway in one of the most competitive gubernatorial elections in the nation.

Republican and Democratic groups that aid their respective gubernatorial candidates have sent millions of dollars to political action committees aligned with Parson and Galloway. The Democratic Governors Association has given more than $5 million to a Galloway-backed PAC, while the Republican Governors Association has provided about $12.5 million to a Parson-aligned PAC.

Galloway recently recorded an episode of Politically Speaking that can be heard here.

Here’s what Parson talked about on the show:

• Why Missourians should choose him over Galloway. He also touched on whether a lower margin of victory for President Donald Trump in the state would hurt his chances.
• His administration’s response to COVID-19, as well as a plan to roll out vaccines to combat the virus throughout 2021. Both Parson and his wife Teresa contracted the virus, but made full recoveries.
• During the August primary, Missouri voters chose to expand Medicaid under the auspices of the Affordable Care Act. Parson opposed that initiative, but talked about how he would follow through on it if he’s elected.
• His administration’s approach to violent crime, including whether he should have added measures aimed at bolstering police accountability to the recent special session. He also discussed what the state government should do to address economic and education racial inequities.

Parson is a U.S. Army veteran, businessman and farmer who became Polk County’s sheriff in 1993. After more than a decade in that role, Parson successfully ran for the Missouri House in 2004 to represent a heavily Republican district that includes a portion of southwest Missouri.

Parson captured a state Senate seat in 2010, and was re-elected in 2014. He briefly ran for governor in the 2016 election, but eventually chose to seek the lieutenant governorship instead. He won a bruising Republican primary against Bev Randles before easily dispatching former Democratic U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan in the general election.

Parson had served as lieutenant governor for a little more than a year before the Greitens scandal broke.

If Parson defeats Galloway on Nov. 3, he will be able to serve as governor through early 2025. But because of the way constitutional term limits for the governorship are structured, he will be ineligible to run for another four years in office.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Mike Parson on Twitter: @mikeparson

Music: “The Impression That I Get” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones