Rod Jetton, a prominent political consultant who was Speaker of the House, told various news agencies today that he would shut down his firm - Rod Jetton & Associates - to focus on defending himself against accusations of felony assault.
The move brings about some questions about the future of Republican electoral politics.
Before and since leaving the Missouri House, Jetton operated a consulting business that counted a number of major politicians as clients. Included on that list were House Speaker-designate Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, Rep. Tim Jones, R-Eureka, Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, and Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville. Jetton also did consulting work Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
Along the way, a rivalry of sorts emerged between Jetton and several other Republican political consultants, including Jeff Roe, David Barklage and James Harris. It was becoming somewhat common for rival clients to spar, which was explained a bit in this St. Louis Beacon article I wrote a few months ago.
The rivalry spilled out into the electoral arena. Jetton, for instance, was the consultant for Bob Onder's unsuccessful congressional campaign. Barklage, Harris and Roe teamed up to assist Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Republican who eventually went on to win the general election. The consultant skirmish even became a side story in the 2008 election cycle, to some extent.
So now that Jetton's consulting business is no more, what happens now? It's hard to say.
In Missouri, there are numerous parts of the state where a political party is dominant. For Democrats, that's in the major cities. And for Republicans, it's in the rural areas of the state and some of the suburbs.
Therefore, it's not out of the question that multiple candidates emerge when there's an electoral vacancy. There will be numerous Republican candidates seeking Sen. Delbert Scott's Senate seat, for instance, because winning that primary essentially assures the winner of an eight-year state Senate term. That's the same reason why a number of Democrats are seeking Sen. Joan Bray's seat.
Major candidates are going to spend a lot of money. And since a political consultant isn't going to work for multiple candidates in a single contest, there will probably be a inter-party competition within the GOP. A similar situation will likely continue within the Democratic Party as well.
And so, it would not be surprising if another Republican political consultant emerges out of Jetton's ashes. For the record, I'm predicting it will be this guy.

KBIA Commentary: Rosenbaum in Arkansas
This week's KBIA commentary touches on my historic trip... to Arkansas.
More specifically, the piece takes a look at how Democrats in Arkansas and Missouri have moved to the right of their national party. It also looks at whether such a move could spark a backlash.
Take a gander:
Posted at 10:51 AM in Ike Skelton, KBIA Commentary, Obama | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)