Lost in the Shuffle: St. Luke's Health System Sues HRCC's Robocall Vendor
On the Friday before Election Day, within hours of Speaker-elect Steve Tilley's announcement that his Missouri House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) would stop running offensive and homophobic robocalls accusing Democratic candidates of not having "our Christian families values," St. Luke's Hospital filed a civil suit and temporary restraining order against the HRCC's vendor. According to St. Luke's filings (see them in full below the jump) voters in House District 5 complained that their called ID information said the robocalls were coming from St. Luke's facilities in Lee's Summit and Kansas City.
KHQA reported that same week that the Republican calls in Northeast Missouri told voters they were coming from the Adair County Ambulance District.
The HRCC vendor in question is Survey Saint Louis, which happens to be run by Tom Smith, Speaker Ron Richard's legislative director. All told, Smith's company was paid more than $865,000 by Republican committees this cycle, including $28,000 by the HRCC for robocalls in the month of October alone.
Smith has also run a host of campaign committees out of his St. Charles same office that houses the company. When asked last year the conflict of interest between Smith's campaign work and his official work in the Speaker's office, political scientist George Connor said "I can't imagine how this doesn't look wrong."
St. Luke's filings can be seen below the jump.
