Rural Caucus Newsletter September 4th 2026
Missouri volunteers showed what real people‑powered organizing looks like. Everyone who gathered signatures for Amendment 6 Missouri Supreme Court puts Respect Missouri Voters plan on November ballot | KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR and Prop A Missouri Supreme Court blocks gerrymandered congressional map, orders referendum vote • Missouri Independent helped make sure Missourians - not politicians - got their say, and the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling reflects that. The court not only put Prop A on the ballot, it also ordered Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to use the district lines drawn in 2022 for this year’s general election.
As we work to elect our candidates, we also have to make sure voters understand exactly what’s at stake with this year’s amendments and Prop A. The Rural Caucus has, once again, pulled together clear, plainspoken voter information guides (attached) for folks across Missouri to share. This is the education push - a real chance to help voters cut through the noise and see how these measures affect their communities.
Now comes the part that matters most, Rural Democrats: getting the facts onto every front porch, into every county, and into every conversation. When neighbors talk to neighbors, people get the truth instead of the spin. That’s how we make sure Missourians walk into the voting booth knowing exactly what they’re voting on and why it matters. And to help in your grassroots efforts to encourage people to register, we've attached Missouri's voting timeline.
Truman Dinner
Did you hear the fantastic news? Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin will be the keynote speaker at the Truman Dinner. If you haven't bought your tickets, now is the time: Truman Dinner 2026 – Celebrating 13 Years
Other Missouri News
A Republican legislative candidate Thomas Ross in Joplin schemed to plant cocaine & Adderall on his Republican primary opponent Louise Secker, to blow up her campaign: Missouri House candidate charged in plot to plant drugs on Republican primary opponent • Missouri Independent. That’s not “on‑brand.” That’s peak-brand, especially since Ross was GOP "vetted" as "Republican Value Approved." That’s the kind of mess where you don’t even blink - you just laugh, sip your coffee, and go, “Yep. That tracks.”
AI data centers are demanding gigawatts of electricity and acting shocked that the Missouri grid wasn’t designed for their bottomless servers: Missouri power grid faces costly upgrades as AI data centers drive electricity demand • Missouri Independent. Now utilities are warning about “costly upgrades,” which is code for tech giants getting the profits while Missourians get the bill.
When elected city officials in Missouri don't listen to their constituents, it's FAFO: Missouri Officials Ousted For Approving Massive Data Center - Newsweek.
Kehoe’s big A‑through‑F “report card” rollout is basically him slapping letter grades on schools after years of underfunding them: Missouri school leaders concerned ahead of ‘A’ through ‘F’ report card rollout • Missouri Independent. Public schools are supposed to get their letter grades in a matter of weeks and administrators still don’t even know how their districts will score or whether the state’s shiny new report card can be trusted. OH! And look who magically escapes getting graded - the private schools pocketing taxpayer money. Funny how the folks shouting that public schools are “failures” never want their own voucher buddies held to the same standard. Cut funding, make false claims, blame the schools you’ve been starving for decades…that’s been the Missouri Republican playbook.
We don't give a rat's ass what Hanway's position is on abortion. The real question is why is she burning taxpayer money from "consumer advocacy programs" like it’s her personal checkbook? Ahead of the Midterms, Missouri’s Anti-Abortion AG is Splurging on Videos Warning People About Abortion Clinics. She wrote it with a group that doesn’t believe abortion has ever been necessary to save a woman’s life. Florida already got caught doing this.
The Missouri Senate conducts public business in a public building, yet the footage of that work is a members‑only perk: Missouri activists want fewer cameras on citizens and more on politicians • Missouri Independent. If regular folks want to see what their government is up to, they have to file a request, wait around, and sometimes pay for the privilege.
National News
Wait...what? Trump makes affordability moves amid midterm dissatisfaction with prices. Trump has repeatedly said the word “affordability” is a fake issue, a hoax, or a Democratic con job. Now he's taking every available avenue to appeal to voters on affordability. That's gonna be a hard sell: Trump haunted by resurfaced post as fuel costs reach all-time high
In a not-so-surprising sign of just how much trust has been lost between the United States and its former allies, billions of dollars of gold reserves are being moved out of Trump’s reach: DNB: Netherlands bank moves billions in gold to London in 'crisis preparedness' move. It’s not a five‑alarm fire, but it matters. Diplomatic ties between European countries and Trump have grown more strained - partly because of the trade wars, and partly because Trump is PO'd that Europe won’t join his push for a war against Iran.
ICE has a $2 million contract with Paragon, maker of Graphite, powerful spyware capable of secretly hacking phones without a single click: What Is Graphite? The Zero-Click Spyware Linked to ICE's Paragon Contract. With the shock gloves 'A perfect tool for abuse.' Why experts are concerned about ICE's $17 million electric shock gloves contract | PBS News, the robot dogs DHS plans to spend $2M on robot dogs for ICE, and broad enforcement powers, the question isn’t if all these tools could be misused - it’s how soon.
Trump cut $1.73B already allocated for cycling improvements - calling them “Biden-era DEI bike lanes:." US push to defund ‘DEI bike lanes’ will make roads less safe, advocates say | Trump administration | The Guardian. Someone explain this to us like we're five: what the hell is a DEI bike lane? Is it just a strip of pavement for people who want to stay healthy and not get pancaked by a car? Since when is ‘not dying’ considered DEI?
The Trump administration quietly signed off on a deal to yank billions of dollars out of programs that keep Americans alive - HIV prevention, tuberculosis treatment, flu response - and reroute that money straight to the Pentagon for its war in Iran. The deal was cut without telling Congress or the public: Democrats slam secret deal to divert NIH funds to Pentagon. Think about that, folks: pulling money that saves people’s lives so it can be used to kill people.
The Trump administration is moving to strip federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands across the country: Trump Administration Takes Another Swing at Dismantling Clean Water Protections, If the Trump administration strips federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands, Missouri’s in the crosshairs. Our wetlands aren’t just duck habitat - they’re the state’s natural flood‑sponges and water filters. Lose those protections and developers can drain, fill, or bulldoze the very places that keep our rivers cleaner and our towns from flooding. And not to mention our drinking water. Those wetlands are the last line of defense between farm runoff, industrial waste, and whatever comes down the Missouri and Mississippi before it hits our taps.
In Other News
You know, it's bad when health care providers email patients with concerns about cuts to Medicare and how it will adversely affect their patients: American Academy of Dermatology Association - Advocacy. Your voice matters. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) has made it easy to speak up. Their pre-written letter takes less than a minute to send and can be personalized or sent as is.
In closing...
Mail‑in voting is in the headlines - and not in a good way. Trump is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to green‑light a Postal Service rule that would hand the federal government sweeping control over mail‑in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterms: What to know about mail-in voting and Trump’s order : NPR. This all stems from his March executive order, which tries to rewrite how mail voting works by putting USPS in charge of deciding which ballots even get into the mail. Here’s what the new USPS system would do:
States would have to upload information for every single mail‑ballot voter into a new federal USPS portal: name, address, and the unique barcodes tied to both the outgoing ballot envelope and the return envelope.
Before a batch of ballots is accepted into the mail, USPS would run those barcodes against the federal list. Postal workers would then physically scan samples from each batch to make sure they match.
USPS adopted a “zero‑failure” rule. According to a whistleblower, if even one sampled ballot fails verification, the entire batch - thousands of ballots - gets rejected and sent back to election officials to fix and resubmit.
The whistleblower says USPS started building this system around June 15 and pushed for a September 1 launch, even though a system this complicated normally takes a year or more to build and test. They warned that rushed development could lead to system crashes, mass delays, or widespread ballot rejection.
The Postal Service was created to deliver the mail, not to decide whether legally issued ballots are “acceptable enough” to enter the mail system. Trump’s order flips that on its head. If the Supreme Court signs off, USPS becomes a federal gatekeeper for mail‑in ballots before they ever reach voters. Heading into November, this is one of democracy's most important battles because When You Control the Mail, You Control the Nation.
Joshua Dunne
Chair
Jacqueline Farr
Vice-Chair
John Parks
Treasurer
