The Republican candidate for Governor responded emotionally to the charge that he left his small western Iowa hometown years ago. Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack says Gross claims to be from Defiance, Iowa, when he actually moved away from the town years ago and settled in Des Moines.Gross says he’s every bit a man from Defiance as Vilsack is a man from Pittsburgh. With his voice cracking from emotion, Gross says Vilsack should have been on Main Street in Defiance the night before the primary when 300 of the town’s 345 residents showed up for a rally. Gross says he’s proud to be from Defiance, and pledges to build rural Iowa up if elected.Vilsack also charges that Gross has sided with those who want to “super-size” the livestock industry by doing legal work for clients like Iowa Select Farms. Gross rejects that argument.Gross says Vilsack, who’s also a lawyer, represented some unsavory clients, too. He says the bottom line is, if Vilsack makes an issue of his client list, he says he do the same for the governor’s client list.Gross made his comments on an Iowa Public Television program that airs at noon on Sunday.
