JEFFERSON CITY — When it comes to controversy swirling around Dean Plocher, Missouri Democrats have largely withheld judgment — a notable break with some of the embattled House speaker’s fellow Republicans.
Plocher has been facing scandal surrounding his push for new constituent management software, as well as his acknowledgement that he filed false expense reimbursement requests totaling nearly $4,000.
But unlike a faction of House Republicans who have called for Plocher’s ouster, no similar bloc of House Democrats has emerged, limiting the pressure on Plocher as he tries to navigate the various scandals.
“We just have popcorn and we’re watching the show,†Rep. Donna Baringer, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ, said on talk radio Friday.
Another Democrat said Republicans had political motivations in not giving Plocher the benefit of the doubt.
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In response, one of the Republicans calling for Plocher’s ouster said Democrats were motivated to keep the current speaker so that they can tell voters in swing districts that the Republicans “did not clean out their own, that they were OK with his corruption.â€
Plocher has so far been able to weather the storm — with his speakership surviving a closed-door Republican caucus meeting Thursday. A significant number of House Republicans are likely waiting on the results of a House Ethics Committee probe into Plocher before taking a position.
But four of 111 House Republicans haven’t been as patient:
Reps. Doug Richey, who is running for state Senate; Chris Sander, who has clashed with the speaker; Mazzie Boyd, who worked for outspoken Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene; and Adam Schwadron, who is running for secretary of state, have publicly called on Plocher to abandon the speakership.
Outside the House, a chorus of statewide Republican candidates has demanded that Plocher exit as they try to differentiate themselves from the pack to GOP primary voters.
“This is really the Republicans. This is all the Republicans,†Baringer said. “They are fighting amongst themselves, so we have found the crack in the party. And it’s between the ultra-conservatives and the moderates. And Dean Plocher is more of a moderate.â€
Rep. Peter Merideth, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said this week he feels like some Republicans may be inflating and politicizing the allegations against Plocher for next year’s statewide GOP primaries.
Plocher is running for lieutenant governor. So is state Sen. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston.
In the wake of the Plocher controversy, former state Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, has said he was also considering a bid for lieutenant governor. Onder has called on Plocher to resign.
“I have suspicions that it’s been significantly blown out of proportion by some of the loud voices on the far right who just see an opportunity to attack an opponent in an upcoming statewide primary,†Merideth said.
Merideth said he was “no apologist for Dean Plocher. I have been incredibly frustrated with him in so many contexts.â€
One of the controversies surrounding Plocher has to do with his push for $800,000 constituent management software opposed by House staff. The nonpartisan chief clerk of the House said in an email she had “growing concerns of unethical and perhaps unlawful conduct†surrounding the deal, tied to two Jefferson City lobbyists.
“They just generally believe that privatizing a thing is going to be better — while also, you know, making lobbyists happy who they like to make happy, and making someone a buck off of the government,†Merideth said.
“Yes, it is not how I wish government worked. But, with Republicans running our state government, that seems to be par for the course,†Merideth said.
Merideth said there were “red flags†with the expense reimbursements.
“But it also seems like it’s such a small amount that sloppiness is as likely the reason it happened as any corruption,†Merideth said.
In an Oct. 26 Facebook post, Merideth said it wasn’t “unreasonable†to call for Plocher’s resignation as speaker. But he said the “ridiculous disingenuousness†of far-right Republicans stood out.
“These guys act like they actually care about integrity and corruption and all these things, over a contract that never happened and a couple thousand dollars that has been repaid,†Merideth said.
Schwadron on Wednesday said his call for Plocher to resign was based on Chief Clerk Dana Rademan Miller’s job, the false reimbursements, and the possible who “may have had a whistleblower protection.â€
“When you take all three of those together, that right there tells me that there is an issue with the speaker,†Schwadron said.
Rep. Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat and minority party whip, said the developments so far were “concerning,†and said she wanted to see what the House Ethics Committee produces.
She noted that Republicans have given former President Donald Trump, who has faced , the benefit of the doubt. But the same hasn’t been true for Plocher.
“We have folks in the Republican caucus in Missouri calling for Dean’s resignation over this,†Aune said, “and it just doesn’t seem to make sense to us that they would be giving Trump the benefit of the doubt but not Plocher.â€
She added, “There are political motivations there.â€
Schwadron said, “I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do.â€
“I do have things that I still have to get across the finish line. And going after the speaker threatens†that, Schwadron said.
He said Democrats have political motivations of their own.
“Their motivation is to keep him in there,†Schwadron said, “so that way they can say to people in swing districts, or battleground districts, that they did not clean out their own, that they were OK with his corruption.â€
In response, Aune said, “regardless of whether or not the Republicans have a speaker ... embroiled in scandals, the Democrats can still point to the failures of the Missouri GOP in swing districts across the state.
“If you knock doors in a swing district like I do, you will hear from average Missourians who are tired of being at the bottom of the list,†Aune said.