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As thousands of Missourians sign onto a campaign to strike down the state’s gerrymandered congressional map, a mysterious consulting contract appears to signal a targeted effort to halt the vote.
A copy of the 13-page contract, obtained by The Star, offered up to $5,000 to a campaign canvasser if they would become a “consultant” for a company called Vortex Elite.
Under the contract, they would stop collecting signatures for the campaign and provide a slew of services, including “ground intelligence” on other campaigns and potentially leaving the state. The source of the contract remains a mystery. But its existence appears to illustrate a broader, tactical push to stymie Missouri from holding a referendum to repeal the map.
This comes amid a series of attacks from state officials and a new opposition group backed by national Republicans. Sean Soendker Nicholson, a political consultant working with the referendum campaign, called People Not Politicians, provided The Star with a copy of the contract. He suggested the effort could be illegal, pointing to the mystery behind its source and a lack of campaign finance reports detailing any alleged payments. “You’ve got to report this stuff,” Nicholson said, referring to campaign finance reports. “They’re spending cash money to get people to not work…somebody’s not following the law here.” Aggressive opposition to the referendum has once again thrust Missouri into the national spotlight amid a nationwide redistricting frenzy. Missouri Republicans have sought to stifle the campaign after lawmakers approved the map this fall under pressure from President Donald Trump.
The referendum campaign, launched shortly after that vote, must turn in enough signatures from across the state, roughly 106,000 by Dec. 11, to force a statewide vote on the map in November 2026. The copy of the contract obtained by The Star redacted the name of the person who received it, but it appears to be in effect from Nov. 2 to March 1, 2026. Richard Von Glahn, the campaign’s executive director, confirmed in an interview that the contract was provided to a paid canvasser who was collecting signatures on behalf of the campaign. The People Not Politicians campaign is working with both volunteers and a company called Advanced Micro Targeting to gather signatures. That canvasser signed the contract and is no longer working on behalf of the campaign, Von Glahn said.
Von Glahn did not provide the name of the person or where they were collecting signatures to protect them from potential retaliation, but he confirmed the contract’s authenticity. “It illustrates desperation from, I suspect, politicians who know that they have passed something that is not popular with the people of this state,” Von Glahn said. “This is desperation of people who are afraid of accountability.” Von Glahn said he has heard reports of similar opposition efforts in Kansas City, Columbia, Joplin and Springfield. “We think they’re trying to reach out to people all across the state,” he said. The contract being used in Missouri comes as so-called dark money, paid opposition campaigns and massive amounts of political spending for and against ballot measures have exploded in national politics on both sides of the aisle.
Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article312808885.html#storylink=cpy
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he Kansas City Star is reporting that a mysterious group hired a fake 'campaign canvasser' who'd join the effort to collect signatures to halt the GOP's gerrymander...but who'd be a spy on the inside