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February 4th, 2024 Political Note #619 Elad Gross Missouri Attorney General
2024 General Election
I scan down my Down Ballot spread sheet for 2024 state Attorney General contests. The races fall into four categories:
No Republicans: Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, Washington
No Democrats: Indiana, North Dakota, West Virginia
Contests: Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania
Contests only lately. Oregon now has a Republican Attorney General candidate. Utah now has two Democratic Attorney General candidates.
In Missouri, the primary is not until August 6. Two Republicans are running. One Democrat is running – Elad Gross.
There was a time when Missouri was a competitive state. Now there are no state-wide elected Democratic officials. There is, however, a serious contest for the US Senate. (At least I think so.). And there may be a serious contest for Governor. And Elad Gross might create a serious contest for Attorney General. Perhaps Missouri could be a competitive state again?
Elad Gross is an earnest and persistent young man. He grew up in Clayton, Missouri, a prosperous St. Louis suburb. He was the kind of kid in elementary school who, when required to memorize the Preamble to the US Constitution, memorized all the Constitutional Amendments as well. He was the kind of kid whose nickname was “Potter.” The glasses did it. And the earnestness and persistence.
He was the kind of kid in high school who subbed for the school secretary for two weeks when she was out sick. And he was the kind of high school kid who tried out for the football team and hung on despite his lack of size and lack of talent. In college, he was a walk on who got cut from the Duke football team three times before he chose rugby.
Though the DukeEngage program supports activism around the world, Elad Gross went home for his activism. In 2008, he founded St. Louis’ Education Exchange Program. He is still the President and CEO. The Education Exchange Corp works with kids and families to help children achieve their potential. The organization runs a free summer academy, liaises with the public schools and other agencies, and created and uses a Global Leadership Simulation game that puts kids in charge of countries and challenges them to consider how to deal with current events.
Elad Gross sustained the Education Exchange Corp while getting his law degree at Washington University of St. Louis, while interning in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, working for the Justice Department, and becoming an Assistant Attorney General of Missouri. Among his responsibilities in the Attorney General’s Office was another version of education – helping to manage their internship program.
In 2016, Elad Gross considered running for public office, but did not, at least not for long. In 2020, he ran for Attorney General and lost in the primary. He founded another non-profit that year — Missouri for All, which focused on adults. As a volunteer Public Defender, in a well-publicized case, he was able to get a teenager who had been in jail for a crime she did not commit released. In 2020, he joined the St. Louis Mediation Project which focused on representing renters who faced eviction. ‘
Elad Gross is married to Tasha Kaminsky, founder of an alternativ3 minyan Ashreinu, a Jewish religious congregation. She is the former Director of Development for the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that combats anti-Semitism and other forms of racism. Shockingly, she became a target in the Attorney General race. Sarah Unsicker was the source. Unsicker, a state rep, is no longer Elad Gross’s opponent for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General. She is now running for Governor. She is also the object of a movement to expel her from the Democratic Party. She had claimed that Tasha Kaminsky was working for a foreign agent—Israel by virtue of her having worked for the Anti-Defamation League. Unsicker had gotten involved with Holocaust deniers and argued that, having worked for the Anti-Defamation League, Kaminsky would prevent her, Unsicker, from prosecuting human trafficking.
Elad Gross had decided to run for Attorney General after Republican Eric Greitens resigned as governor in 2018. Greitens had held his hair dresser captive for which he was indicted for felony invasion of privacy. When Greitens resigned, criminal charges were dropped as was a legislative probe of secret donors behind a dark money non-profit he had created. Elad Gross sued to make the names of the secret donors public. In a hearing on the lawsuit, Elad Gross argued that this search should not have been left to a private citizen, that the attorney general should have investigated and made the donors public if the legislature would not.
While Elad Gross was making his case, the opposing attorney reminded the judge that the attorney general had the power to intervene at any time. In retrospect, Elad Gross comments “The attorney general should have been in that room.” “It shouldn’t have been up to a private citizen to enforce the law.” Running for office in 2020, Elad Gross said he would bulk up the office’s public corruption unit, and use its role in regulating nonprofits to help rein in anonymous campaign spending in Missouri. He would also put a major focus on both enforcing the state’s disclosure law and educating government officials to ensure the law is followed.
In an interview for the 2020 race, Elad Gross described three main goals, goals which are consistent with his 2024 goals: to create and make operational a Civil Rights Division, to cooperate in a statewide effort to reduce and prevent violent crime, and to prosecute corruption in government.
Explaining the issues on crime, Elad Gross promised to work with other state agencies on crime prevention, to hire locals in various communities to work on mediation of conflicts, and to help the circuit courts create diversion courts – drug courts, veteran courts. He argued that Missourians should get the help they need rather than be incarcerated. He said that Missouri has far too many innocent people in jail; that he would create a conviction review division to examine past cases.
Elad Gross complained the previous attorney general was wasting the taxpayers money and taking the state in the wrong direction with a lawsuit to end the Affordable Care Act, by supporting predatory lenders, and ignoring the problems of educational inequality and the high maternal mortality rates in areas with hospital closures. He described these wrongs as corruption no less than the practice of keeping the names of donors to political campaigns hidden.
If anything, the current Attorney General, appointed by the Governor after his predecessor was elected to the US Senate, is even less appealing. Appointed Attorney General, culture warrior Andrew Bailey was quick to do what he could to protect his vision of Missouri society. He tried to modify the state auditor’s assessment of the cost of a proposed abortion-rights ballot initiative. The auditor had said the initiative, if it were successful, had no costs and no saving. Bailey wanted to describe the cost as $12 billion. The state supreme court ruled that Bailey had no authority to make the change.
The state supreme court had ruled that a state statute regulating cooperation with the federal government regarding firearms was unconstitutional. A ballot initiative to regulate firearms was also pending. Bailey wanted to change the cost estimate of that initiative as well.
Bailey’s office had an issue with a case about unregulated slot machines. Bailey’s predecessor had returned campaign contributions from the company that owned the slots. Instead, Bailey accepted the contributions and, he claimed, he withdrew from the case in the interests of integrity.
In 2023, Bailey’s office distributed a rule to health providers requiring them to screen anyone (adults included) seeking gender affirming health care – a first in the US to regulate adult transgendered people. The office withdrew the rule after Missouri passed a law setting requirements regarding youths receiving gender affirming care. With the new law in hand, Bailey’s office sought unsuccessfully to pursue people’s medical privacy. His office unsuccessfully tried to wrest information about patients from Children’s Mercy Hospital.
Will Scharf wants to replace Andrew Bailey as the Republican nominee. Governor Mike Parsons complained, on State of Missouri stationery, that the Republican Governors’ Association was not supporting Bailey. The press reported that individuals in the Association donated to Scharf. Scharf put up $500,000 of his own money for the campaign. The Club for Growth – a business oriented Republican group – will spend more on his behalf.
Scharf describes Bailey as one of the political insiders, lobbyists, and special interests who perpetually run Missouri’s government. What clique does Scharf belong to? He was an integral part of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation. He is part of the Leonard Leo oriented Judicial Crisis Network. He was a special nominations counsel for the Amy Barrett confirmation. He says he is running because of the culture of corruption that exists in Missouri. He is particularly looking forward to investigating school districts for violating state law as well as universities where there have been indications of anti-Semitism. He has been a political insider himself. He was a top advisor to Eric Greitens before the resignation. More recently, he has been on Donald Trump’s defense teams.
No matter which of these characters is the Republican nominee, Elad Gross is preferable enough to be worth an investment. DONATE TO ELAD GROSS. It could make a difference.
Support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
As we look toward November, 2024, help sustain the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaign. After polls earlier in January found him about even with Trump, Joe Biden is trailing again – by 8 in an Ipsos poll, by about the same in two HarrisX polls, and by 1 in a YouGov poll – all since January 20. Nevertheless, as Simon Rosenberg keeps reminding us – Democrats keep winning elections. Joe Biden, as a write-in, won the New Hampshire Democratic primary by a larger percentage than Trump won the Republican primary. So…..persist.
Every donation, large or small, does make a difference. Larger donations mean more money for the campaign. But many in the media count the number of small donations as a measure of enthusiasm for the candidate. Make a small donation if you cannot afford a large one. DONATE TO JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/web-bfp-december-2023 ‘
#4 in the Stephenson County IL list of Biden accomplishments: “Made a $369 billion investment in climate change, the largest in American history, through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022”.
Contested Attorney General Races
Missouri: Non-Profit Head Elad Gross will be running against either culturally conservative Republican incumbent Andrew Bailey or Attorney Will Scharf who is supported by the Club for Growth. DONATE TO ELAD GROSS
Montana: Commercial litigator and scion of a well-known Montana legal family BEN ALKE is running against Republican incumbent Austin Knudson. Knudson claimed it was politics when he responded to charges of prosecutorial misconduct filed in September, 2023 by the Special Counsel with the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel. DONATE TO BEN ALKE. 2024 could be a good year for Democrats in Montana. While we all worry about Senator Jon Tester’s possible vulnerability, we should all be conscious of his strengths (See Len’s Political Note #550) as well as the strengths of gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse (See Len’s Political Note #604) and of Montana 01 candidate Monica Tranel (See Len’s Political Note #603)
North Carolina: Congressman Jeff Jackson will be running against Republican Congressman Dan Bishop, the lead author of the so-called bathroom bill when he was a state legislator. That bill prohibited transgender people from using public restrooms other than those of their biological sex as defined on their birth certificates and led to protests and considerable loss of corporate events and funds to North Carolina. DONATE TO JEFF JACKSON See Len’s Political Note #597
Oregon: State House Speaker Dan Rayfield, backed by unions and conservationists is running against Will Lathrop, former pastor who spent 8 years leading a team in Northern Uganda working on justice reform and 7 years in Oregon prosecuting sex crimes. Lathrop has not commented on how the justice reforms he sought were connected with Uganda’s stringent anti-homosexuality laws. DONATE TO DAN RAYFIELD
Pennsylvania: Has five Democratic candidates for Attorney General. The primary is April 23.
Utah: Has two Democratic candidates for Attorney General. Defense Attorney and former Libertarian Rudy Bautista and former prosecutor and city attorney Dave Carlson. The Republicans have four candidates. The primary is June 25.
