As you well know, I proudly wear the label of conservative Republican. Unfortunately, when I see the exploits of some of our Republican leaders in St. Charles County, I am ashamed to admit my political affiliation. I am truly at a loss to explain the actions of our own Republican Central Committee Vice-Chairwoman, Brandy Pedersen. I think it might be possible that she is a Democratic spy let loose in our midst to wreak havoc internally in Republican politics. In reality, her efforts to destroy fellow Republicans will only yield one logical result – a loss for Governor Matt Blunt in St. Charles County (and possibly statewide) when re-election rolls around.
How can I draw such a conclusion you might ask – well, it’s fairly easy. You need only look at her crusade against former County Councilman Jeff Morrison and the City of St. Peters (her hometown).
First, she decided to spearhead an effort to recall County Councilman Morrison (an elected Republican from St. Peters) for reasons including his opposition to the County suing the City of St. Peters over tax increment financing, and his pro-business philosophy.
Then, she fell off her bike while riding it on the sidewalk in the City of St. Peters, which is illegal. Pathetic Brandy Pedersen filed a lawsuit against the city because she hurt herself. The city settled with her out of court, but it seems it wasn’t enough to pacify her. She still appears to be holding a grudge.
Now, she’s a regular participant during St. Peters Board of Aldermen meetings where she rants and raves about a variety of completely unimportant issues – centering most of her criticism on Mayor Shawn Brown’s appointment of Jeff Morrison as Prosecuting Attorney. The appointment was perfectly legal and Morrison turned out to be a good City Prosecutor, but yet she returns to each meeting to attack the Board of Aldermen (most of whom are Republicans). The most amusing aspect of her “performances” in St. Peters involves which false hairpiece (the most recent resembling roadkill) she might choose to wear that evening.
I have some friends on the Republican Central Committee, and I have asked them how the Republican establishment can tolerate this sort of behavior from Ms. Pedersen. They laughingly tell me that it’s not that bad anymore since she keeps skipping Central Committee meetings in favor of television airtime during the St. Peters Board of Aldermen meetings.
I do not envy Central Committee Chairman Tom Kuypers as he tries to keep his troops in line. He seems to be making every attempt to present a unified front for the Republican Party in St. Charles County; however Pathetic Brandy Pedersen and her crusade against the City of St. Peters may be the downfall of the Republican juggernaut otherwise known as St. Charles County.
Last month, County Councilman Jeff Morrison resigned his posts as a County Councilman and as St. Peters Prosecuting Attorney to take an “unexpected professional opportunity” that he could not refuse. Apparently, according to his estranged wife, he has taken a job with a law firm out east. In any case, I think I speak for my journalistic colleagues in saying that he will be dearly missed, and we hope that he remains a fixture in local politics.
The unanimously elected GOP nominee to succeed Morrison, Darrel Lackey (a Wentzville Alderman), is an incredibly likable fellow with an outstanding resume. Like Morrison, Lackey is staunch pro-business Republican. It seems like it should be a “slam dunk” for Republicans to retain this county council seat. In addition to the democratic challenger, two candidates have filed as independents in the special election. Ironically these “independent” candidates, Joe Cronin (an active participant in the first unsuccessful recall attempt against Councilman Morrison) and Harry Bogart (an active participant in the second unsuccessful recall attempt against Councilman Morrison) both originally sought the Republican nomination.
Joe Cronin, no doubt at the urging of Ms. Pedersen, has decided to file a lawsuit and contest the results of an election in which he did not receive even a single vote. His theory of the case is that apparently there should be no Republican nominee. The proxy exercised in the special election was approved and witnessed by Central Committee Chairman Tom Kuypers. The proxy holder, Amanda Darnell (from St. Peters), is a duly qualified registered voter in the O’Fallon Township. She exercised the proxy of Terry Hawkins (a St. Peters Alderman and Morrison ally). Either way, all the votes were for Darrel Lackey. The only problem with the process appears to be that Pathetic Brandy Pedersen was unhappy with the outcome because she thinks Morrison had a role in Lackey’s selection. Since no one seems to have heard anything at all from Morrison since his resignation, this seems unlikely at best. It is much more likely that the participants selected the best candidate, Darrel Lackey, to be the Republican nominee.
The Democrats should be rubbing their hands together with glee this holiday season. Ms. Pedersen may have gift-wrapped a victory in the special election for the Democrats. Last year’s democratic victory for County Councilman Joe McCulloch is a harbinger of things to come and a new page from the Democratic playbook: select conservative candidates and work the elections, one race at a time, on the grassroots level. Democrats will begin to force every race into a referendum on an unfortunately unpopular young Republican governor, and Republican candidates statistically pay the price during off-year elections, especially when the party is not unified behind the Republican nominee.
I don’t know what Santa’s political affiliation might be, but assuming that he is a Republican (he certainly fits the demographic with all that charitable giving before the end of the tax year), I think Pathetic Brandy Pedersen should be expecting a lump of coal in her stocking this Christmas.
After all, as we like to remind the kids: “he’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice…Santa Claus is coming to town…”
From the Spencer clan to you and yours: Merry Christmas!
