Are You Ready For 4 Years With A Republican License Collector?

August 3rd, I submitted a Complaint to the Missouri Attorney General against License Collector Mavis Thompson for releasing protected information for personal gain.

Nearly a month later, the Attorney General’s Office informs me that the Complaint is being sent to the Missouri Highway Patrol for investigation.

That’s significant because most Complaints receive a dismissal letter within a few weeks of filing.

This Complaint has legs. I know other similar Complaints have also been filed against Thompson. Blame me all you want, but the issues were going to get investigated. I was just the first, apparently, to the get things moving.

Mavis Thompson is the Democratic Party Nominee for License Collector. There is a Republican Candidate on the ballot. His name is Zachary M. Syberg. He has not filed a committee with Missouri Ethics Commission and did not reply to the League of Women Voters Survey.

The time to withdraw from the November 6th ballot is past. The time to file a petition as an Independent Candidate is past. If Thompson resigned today, she would still be on the ballot and she would win re-election. It’s safe to say that barring a unified Write-In Campaign, Mavis Thompson will be re-elected.

That should concern you because if  the Highway Patrol investigation finds criminal wrongdoing on the part of Thompson, the Attorney General then prosecutes. I say Attorney General because I really think the City’s Circuit Attorney would punt on this.

Charges would be filed. In the end, I think the Attorney General initiates Thompson’s removal by a Quo Warranto proceeding with the Supreme Court. If Thompson’s benefits are at risk, she would likely resign before the Court acted to remove her. Either way, there would be a new License Collector.

Under Missouri law, when a vacancy occurs in the License Collector position, the Governor appoints a replacement for the remainder of the term. There is no Special Election. There is no nominee chosen by political party Central Committees.

The current Governor being a Republican, the replacement will likely be a Republican. The replacement might also be someone who thinks the License Collector Office should be controlled by the Mayor. The replacement might be someone who would be an ally to Rex Sinquefield. In any case, the replacement will not be someone chosen by voters but instead chosen by a Governor no one elected Governor.

I do not see a way out of this other than A) convincing Thompson to announce she is no longer running despite being on the ballot and B) the Democratic Party launching a campaign to elect a Write-In Candidate.

The Deadline for Write-In Candidates is 5 pm Friday, October 26th. Here is the Declaration of Intent that would need to be filed with the Board of Election.

I think Dana Kelly certainly has the name recognition and organization potential to win a Write-In Campaign. Unfortunately, she is prohibited by law for running as a Write-In in an election she sought the Primary Election nomination.

My intent here is to warn everyone of the coming storm, not advance a particular candidate.

— Marie Ceselski, 7th Ward Democratic Committeewoman