EXCLUSIVE — The Conservative Leadership PAC released two videos in support of the six-member Senate Conservative Caucus Tuesday, first shared with The Missouri Times.
The videos are for online and social media broadcast — at least for now. A third video, detailing priorities for the upcoming legislative session, is also in the works.
Members of the Conservative Caucus include: Sens. Eric Burlison, Bill Eigel, Denny Hoskins, Andrew Koenig, Cindy O’Laughlin, and Bob Onder.
“This is an effort for us to promote not only the vision and mission of the Conservative Caucus but also the work and support of the grassroots across the state,” Jim Lembke, senior advisor to the Conservative Leadership PAC, told The Missouri Times.
The goal is to “promote the values, more or less, the caucus elaborated on when it was formed,” he said. “Those values are all straight out of the Missouri GOP platform.”
In a two-minute spot, the six senators discuss their views on government and conservatism.
“I believe in the principles of limited government and freedom,” Onder said. “What really makes America unique in the history of our planet is that we, more than any other society have embraced the idea that the individual, not the government, is the solution to the problem.”
Eigel also praised the passage of HB 126, one of the most stringent anti-abortion laws in the nation, earlier this year. The legislation’s full implementation has been held up in court.
The other video, about 70 seconds long, features Missourians praising the Conservative Caucus for standing against a statewide prescription drug monitoring program and tax credits.
“The Conservative Caucus in the Senate is fighting to ensure all children receive a quality education regardless of their zip code,” one woman said.
Koenig is expected to face a tough re-election bid in 2020 with a challenge from state Rep. Deb Lavender, a Democrat. Eigel and Hoskins are also up for re-election, but both are expected to keep their seats.
The Conservative Leadership PAC reported more than $438,300 cash on hand in the October filings.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.