Pro-Missouri Medicaid expansion committee advised by Parson ally, aided by dark money
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has made it no secret he opposes a proposed constitutional amendment expanding eligibility for Medicaid. But as the campaign for the amendment gets underway in earnest, one of Parson’s longtime political advisers is among a bipartisan group pushing for its passage.
An expanded Medicaid program would cover an estimated 300,000 low-income Missourians. A hodgepodge of liberal activist groups and conservative consultants are working to win voter support for the initiative.
A campaign finance disclosure shows that since April, the Missourians for Healthcare committee has paid $20,000 to National Research Strategies LLC, a firm with the same St. Louis address as political consultant David Barklage’s company.
Parson’s own candidate committee, Parson for Missouri, paid National Research Strategies LLC $40,917 in 2019.
Barklage, a fixture in Missouri Republican politics for four decades, worked on Parson’s 2016 campaign for lieutenant governor and had a longstanding business partnership with his deputy chief of staff, Robert Knodell.
Barklage could not be reached for comment.
Overall, Missourians for Healthcare has raised $3,339,624 this cycle.
Jack Cardetti, the pro-expansion campaign’s spokesperson, characterized the initiative as a bipartisan effort.
“This broad base of support [for expansion] includes both Republicans and Democrats, business and labor, and multiple committees supporting the initiative,” Cardetti wrote in an email.
The pro-expansion campaign reported submitting nearly 350,000 signatures to Secretary of State John Ashcroft to get the cause on the ballot.
Originally slated for November, Parson rushed the Medicaid referendum onto the August 4 primary ballot in a move he said was “about policy, not politics.”
Dark Money
State filings show that the anti-Medicaid expansion committee, No on 2 in August, was organized on June 4 and has yet to report any contributions.
By contrast, the pro-expansion committee is well-established and has even accepted contributions from several Washington D.C.-based “dark money” groups. The Center for Responsive Politics defines dark money as “political spending meant to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of the money is unknown.”
Missourians for Healthcare has received $206,295 from the Fairness Project and $24,050 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund.
Asked to comment on the ethics of accepting donations from dark money groups, Cardetti skirted the issue.
“The campaign has received support from countless Missourians, including frontline healthcare workers. We also received support from the Sixteen Thirty Fund and The Fairness Project, organizations that share our commitment to increasing access to care and keeping rural hospitals and clinics open,” Cardetti wrote.
“All of the organizations and donors supporting the campaign know that now more than ever no Missourian should be forced to choose between life-saving care and putting food on the table, and we are thrilled to have their endorsements.”
In 2018, for the first time since the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision undid corporate restrictions on electioneering communication and candidate advocacy, liberal dark money groups outspent their conservative counterparts, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Last quarter, Missourians for Healthcare spent almost $283,300, including a $131,459 payment to the Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Collaborative for signature collection fees.
The committee paid out $48,000 for strategic planning and advising, including $28,000 to 270 Strategies in addition to National Research Strategies LLC’s $20,000.
The committee also paid Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action $23,591 for grassroots outreach.
