Ed Fallon, one of the Democrats running for governor, is again questioning the campaign contributions collected by one of his competitors. Last week, Fallon, who is a state representative from Des Moines, criticized Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge for accepting donations from individuals who own big hog lots. This week, Fallon is criticizing Chet Culver, Iowa’s Secretary of State, for taking over three-hundred-thousands dollars from people who live in the Washington, D.C. Beltway.
Fallon says his average donation was just over 52 dollars, while Culver’s average donation was just over six-hundred-58 dollars. “Let’s put it this way: my average donation was the cost of a night out on the town for an Iowa couple, say pizza and a movie,” Fallon says. “The average donation to Chet’s campaign was the cost of a monthly payment on a Mercedes Benz.”
Fallon says it’s “obvious” that donors who gave Culver tens of thousands of dollars, and who live in places like Chevy Chase, Maryland, would have more influence on a Culver Administration than the people from Creston or Cresco who gave 25 bucks. Culver’s campaign manager says Republican gubernatorial candidates Jim Nussle and Bob Vander Plaats probably “enjoy watching Ed Fallon spend more time attacking Democrats than he does Republicans.”