Republican congressional candidate Rod Blum got campaign help Tuesday from Texas Governor Rick Perry as the two made stops in Hiawatha and Dubuque. It marks Perry’s first trip to Iowa since felony charges were filed in Texas, accusing Perry of abusing his power as governor — charges Perry is fighting.
“This is standing up for the next govenror of Texas, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican and protecting their right to veto,” Perry said in Hiawatha.
The grand jury indictment Perry is fighting accuses Perry of vetoing the money for investigations of government corruption after the lead prosecutor was arrested for drunken driving, but refused to resign. Blum said he and his staff “hardly discussed” Perry’s legal fight prior to Perry’s visit on Tuesday.
“What little I’ve read about it, you know I think it’s rallied Republicans to the governor’s side,” Blum said.
In mid-August, Republican Governor Terry Branstad told reporters he thought Perry’s legal predicament probably wouldn’t hurt his chances in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses should Perry decide to run again for president.
“It could well help him that you have this kind of, you know, an attack being leveled against him,” Branstad said. “It is an attack and it also is coming out of a particular county where you wouldn’t exactly expect even-handedness.”
Members of the grand jury who handed down the indictment against their Republican governor live in the Austin, Texas area where President Obama won 60 percent of the vote in 2012 compared to Mitt Romney’s 36 percent. However, Republicans are so dominant in Texas that a Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race there since 1996.