JEFFERSON CITY — A St. Charles County Republican has helped bring the business of the Missouri Senate to a standstill in the first month of the Legislature’s 2024 session.
As observers see it, it’s merely part of a strategic plan: State Sen. Bill Eigel wants to be governor.
Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, along with members of the newly formed Missouri Freedom Caucus, has employed an array of parliamentary maneuvers to shine a spotlight on himself and other members of the hard-line splinter faction, effectively grinding work in the chamber to a halt this month over slights perceived and real.
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He has tapped into social media to craft an image as a fighter for conservative causes. And his political action committee has accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars by aligning with former President Donald Trump via a fundraising scheme that has been called into question.
In pushing to raise his profile, however, Eigel has turned some fellow Republicans in the Capitol against him and three other members of the Freedom Caucus. They lost their committee chairmanships and parking spots last week, triggering a new round of outrage and delay.
At one point last week, a clearly frustrated Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin openly pondered what it would take to expel Eigel from the Senate, a trial balloon she later recanted.
“This was a childish reaction on my own part and as I think over the last few 11 weeks I realize the only thing I can control is myself,†the Shelbina Republican said in a social media post Sunday. “So I am going to resolve to do better. There is no effort to remove anyone from the Senate and to suggest it even in a joking manner was stupid.â€
Eigel, 46, has attempted to transform his punishment by Senate Republican leaders into a campaign of victimhood and grievance, arguing that the stripping of committee positions shows that the current Senate leaders who were elected by their colleagues to oversee Senate operations are not true Republicans.
It all fits in with his campaign platform, which was on full display Tuesday as members of the Freedom Caucus hosted supporters in a rally at the Capitol following a 16-hour, overnight filibuster in the Senate.
“I’m Bill Eigel. I’m the guy they call an obstructionist,†Eigel told about 250 people gathered in a Capitol hallway. “There are patriots all over Missouri who are tired of the status quo.â€
Among the caucus’ demands is the resignation of O’Laughlin and Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, whom they say are not moving fast enough on legislative priorities.
“Based on the public outcry, the senators believe a leadership change is imperative to restore trust and ensure the effective representation of the values and ideas of the Republican citizens of Missouri,†the caucus said in a joint statement.
Rowden, in a statement, said the delaying tactics used by the Freedom Caucus members had now pushed back the schedule for taking on other top GOP priorities, including immigration and education.
“I am hopeful these senators will recognize their efforts changed nothing for the positive, and that the will of the Senate can’t be dictated by a select few but by the will of the body,†Rowden said.
Eigel, who took office in 2017, has been critical of leadership on a range of issues, including the rapid growth of the state budget and efforts in 2022 to redraw Missouri’s congressional districts. He wants to crack down on funding for Planned Parenthood, even though abortion has been banned in the state for more than a year.
During his campaign kickoff in September, Eigel described himself as a “diehard conservative Republican.â€
“I happen to believe that one of the biggest problems that we have here in Missouri are all of those so-called Republicans, folks who campaign as Republicans and govern as Democrats,†he said.
Yet, his poll numbers outside the Capitol also have not moved significantly since he began running for the top spot in Missouri government last year when he announced he was exploring a bid to replace the term-limited Gov. Mike Parson.
In a survey of 806 likely voters from Jan. 17-18 on behalf of political newsletter, Eigel was still stuck at 4% in a matchup pitting him against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe. More than 40% of the voters remain undecided, according to the pollster, Remington Research Group.
That 4% level has been a constant in polls dating to last April. Undecided voters in the polling appear to be breaking toward Kehoe, who has amassed the largest campaign war chest among the GOP candidates.
Eigel acknowledged to rally attendees Tuesday that he does represent a small faction in the 34-member chamber but said that’s part of the challenge.
“You have a minority of the chamber that is slowing things down so they can have a broader amount of input to an issue,†Eigel said. “I think we’re on the right path.â€
Legislative efforts
Eigel, who is married and has two children, was born in Dayton, Ohio, where his father, a ºüÀêÊÓƵ native, was serving in the Air Force. He attended Purdue University from 1995 to 1999 and holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.
In his 20s, Eigel joined the Air Force himself, serving as an aircraft maintenance officer for nearly eight years. His final posting was at Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, where he was in charge of the fleet of B-2 stealth bombers.
He left the service in 2007 and bought a home remodeling business, settling into St. Charles County. He has since sold that company and says, except for a small, mostly passive real estate business, he and his wife live on the $36,000 he earns as a senator.
In the Senate, Eigel has raised eyebrows with some of the legislation he has promoted.
Last year, he sponsored legislation that would make gold and silver legal tender, which has been sought by people prepping for an end of government rule. It failed to advance.
Eigel also has introduced legislation that mirrors some of the debunked election conspiracies stemming from the misinformation spread by Trump, including a distrust of electronic voting machines.
Eigel filed a bill last year to require hand-counting of paper ballots, which experts say is expensive, burdensome, time-consuming and unnecessary because electronic vote tabulators are more accurate.
The measure stalled in a Senate committee last year after Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems more than $787 million in connection with a defamation case filed by the voting machine company.
Eigel also has won plaudits for trying to nix the state’s personal property tax, a tax that irritates automobile owners but also pays for many local government services, ranging from schools to nursing homes. He also wants to eliminate the state’s income tax and ban foreign ownership of Missouri farmland.
Firebrand
It’s not just within the Capitol that Eigel has generated controversy.
On the campaign trail in September, a video of Eigel using a flamethrower to torch a pile of empty boxes went viral at a time when Republicans have led a charge to purge libraries of books they believe are harmful to minors.
Although no books were burned in the incident, Eigel said he indeed would burn books he found objectionable and that he’d do it on the lawn outside the governor’s mansion if he is elected chief executive.
Eigel also has earned criticism over how he’s raising money for his campaign.
Since beginning his quest for governor, he’s received hundreds of small-dollar contributions from people throughout the nation, one of whom told the Post-Dispatch last year they had no idea who they were giving money to.
The campaign solicited support for Trump and asked for small-dollar contributions. The money went to Eigel, not the former president.
Although the Trump campaign team has publicly opposed the use of its name to raise money for other candidates, the practice has not stopped. In the most recent public filing, Eigel’s campaign reports show there are 65 individuals who gave at least 25 separate times between October and January. At least one contributor gave money more than 200 times during that period.
As the calendar turns toward February, O’Laughlin, a Republican from northeast Missouri, said she hopes to lower the temperature in the chamber in hopes of breaking the log jam.
“We actually all pretty much agree on priorities and we can get important things done if we work together and don’t care who gets the credit,†she wrote in her weekly newsletter. “We need to calmly and rationally approach our task with a willingness to listen to others and chart the best path forward. We can do this if we are willing to place our own self-interest last.â€