May 22, 2013

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King, Grassley speak of “once-in-a-generation” chance to seat GOP senator from Iowa

May 12, 2013 By

Congressman Steve King spoke to a gathering of more than 500 eastern Iowa Republicans Friday night and explained his decision not to run for the U.S. Senate.

“I will tell you that one of the reasons that I said no on the race of the United States Senate was I cannot take myself out of the arena of the United States House for the next 18-20 months,” King said.

King said he’ll stay in the House to fight Democrats and other Republicans who are pressing for “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. King said he is ”dedicated” to helping elect another Republican from Iowa to the U.S. Senate.

“Puts an end to this Tom Harkin cancelling out Chuck Grassley’s vote for a generation of a time,” King said. “What sense did that ever make?”

Senator Chuck Grassley also talked with the crowd about the “once-in-a-generation” opportunity Republicans have at an open U.S. Senate seat after Democrat Tom Harkin announced he won’t run again in 2014.

“Washington is long, long overdue to get its fiscal house in order and gettin’ rid of a liberal U.S. Senator and getting us a Republican senator will go a long ways to change that,” Grassley said.

Listen to the speeches from Grassley and King here.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, was the event’s main speaker.

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Harkin says proposed farm bill mirrors one passed last year

May 9, 2013 By

Work is set to begin on a new farm bill in both chambers of Congress next week. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee, says they’ll take up the legislation on Tuesday.

Harkin, a Democrat, got his first copy of the committee bill last night and has looked it over. “It’s basically the same kind of bill that we passed in the Senate last year,” Harkin says.

“We passed it with a strong bipartisan vote, so it’s basically the same bill that we had last fall.” Farm and food bills have typically been renewed by Congress every five years and the last one passed in 2008.

“I’m very happy about the conservation provisions in it, the conservation compliance provisions, the fresh fruit and vegetable program that we have in there, so I think our bill looks pretty good,” Harkin says. “I hope we can get it through.”

The full Senate passed its version of the farm bill last year and another version passed the House Ag Committee, but it never went before the full House. Congress chose to extend the current farm bill into September of this year. Harkin is not highly optimistic about a resolution, given that Republican Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is still chair of the House Budget Committee.

“The Ryan budget in the House that’s going to be controlling over (their version of the farm bill),” Harkin says, chuckling, “It would just be abysmal for agriculture. I’ll have more to say about that later.”

One sticking point last year was the House version of the farm bill cut the food stamp program by billions more dollars than the Senate version.

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Grassley votes no, Harkin votes yes on internet sales tax

May 7, 2013 By

Legislation that would force all internet-based businesses to collect local and state sales taxes passed the U.S. Senate on Monday, a bill that could bring Iowa millions of new tax dollars a year. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, voted against the measure. Grassley counters those who say it would level the playing field so brick-and-mortar businesses could compete against online giants.

“It would, put do you want to put the small internet businesses out of business because they can’t abide by it?” Grassley asks. “It seems to me, that’s an important consideration as well.” Some business owners say it’s difficult to compete with online retailers which don’t have to collect the taxes.

A similar internet sales tax measure before Congress last year was touted as being able to generate 24-million dollars a year for Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Revenue. Grassley says if the state wants those dollars, state legislators can act.

Grassley says, “Don’t forget, the state of Iowa has the capability of enforcing the use tax laws in collecting any of this money, if they want to.” The legislation, called the Marketplace Fairness Act, passed the Senate 69-to-27. It heads next to the House. Grassley isn’t optimistic about the bill’s chances of being enacted.

“There’s a lot of questions about how the legislation would work as a practical matter,” Grassley says, “questions about enforcement, even on foreign-based businesses and what kind of costs and administrative burdens it would put on businesses.” While Grassley opposed the measure, Iowa’s other U.S. senator voted for it.

Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, issued a statement saying the legislation would help businesses on Main Street. Harkin said: “It also means a more level playing field for our state and local governments, which are experiencing a loss of revenue that has to be made up with fewer services or higher property or other taxes.”

Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican, says he’d support passage of the bill. Even key internet retailers are on opposite sides of the issue — eBay is against it, while Amazon backs it.

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Lieutenant Governor encouraging Ernst to run for U.S. Senate (AUDIO)

May 6, 2013 By
Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds during her weekly meeting with reporters.

Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds during her weekly meeting with reporters.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says she is encouraging the woman who took her seat in the Iowa Senate to consider running for the U.S. Senate.

“I’ve always been involved in encouraging and strengthening the bench of the Iowa Republicans Party and especially encouraging females to get involved in the political process,” Reynolds says, “and so I don’t think it would be uncharacteristic of me to reach out to Senator Ernst.”

Republican Joni Ernst of Red Oak won a special election in January, 2011 for the state senate seat Reynolds left when Reynolds became Iowa’s lieutenant governor.

“I encouraged Joni to seek that position and she was successful and really it goes back further than that,” Reynolds says.

“When she was deployed…through email we were connecting back and forth and I was encouraging her to run for the county auditor’s position, so our history goes way back in working together and really just encouraging qualified people to run for office, so she just hits it out of the park on both issues.”

AUDIO of news conference at which Reynolds made her comments, runs 9:26

Ernst, a member of the Iowa National Guard, was deployed to Kuwait 10 years ago. Ernst served as Montgomery County’s Auditor for six years, from 2005 through 2011. Ernst said in late April that she was considering a run for the U.S. Senate, but waiting for Congressman Steve King’s decision.

King announced late Friday night that he would not run for the Senate. Republican Congressman Tom Latham, State Ag Secretary Bill Northey and the lieutenant governor herself have all decided against entering the Senate race. Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley is the only announced candidate. Senator Tom Harkin announced in late January that he would not seek reelection in 2014.

Photo courtesy of Lt. Governor’s office.

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Iowa Ag Secretary Northey will not run for U.S. Senate

May 2, 2013 By
Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey. (file photo)

Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey. (file photo)

Cross another name off the list of potential Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate. 

State Ag Secretary Bill Northey issued a written statement this morning, announcing he has decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat. Northey wrote that he feels he can “be more effective serving Iowans as Secretary of Agriculture rather than engaging in a Senate campaign.”

Last week, during an interview with Radio Iowa, Northey indicated his analysis of the political landscape in Iowa suggested to him he had a shot at the senate seat, but personal considerations were a concern. Northey said his family’s been farming the same ground near Spirit Lake since the 1930s and it would be hard for him to turn the operation over to someone else.

In his written statement today, Northey indicated he would endorse Congressman Steve King – if King decides to run. If King doesn’t, Northey said there are “many qualified and exciting” Republican candidates considering a run. 

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds announced last week that she had decided against running for the Senate. Democratic Senator Tom Harkin announced in late January that he would not seek reelection in 2014. Bruce Braley, the Democratic congressman from Waterloo, launched his race for the Senate in early February.

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Branstad on Senate race: “The last thing we need is another congressman” (AUDIO)

April 29, 2013 By
Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds.

Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds.

Republican Governor Terry Branstad seems to be suggesting Republican Congressman Steve King either is not running or should not run for the U.S. Senate.

“I really believe that Iowans want somebody that will serve in the Senate that will be an Iowa problem solver, not another congressman,” Branstad said this morning during his weekly news conference.

“You know congress is a mess. We’ve seen them spend a trillion dollars more than they take in every year and so the Democrats have decided, ‘Well, we’re going to send up another congressman.’ That’s the last thing we need is another congressman in the United States Senate.”

Democratic Senator Tom Harkin announced in January that he would not seek reelection in 2014. Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley started running for the Senate in February, but no Republican has stepped forward. Several in the GOP have said they’re considering it, including Congressman King, state Senator Joni Ernst of Red Oak and state Ag Secretary Bill Northey.

“The contrast of having an Iowa problem solver versus somebody who that’s had all of their service in Washington, D.C. in the congress would be a very good thing for Republicans,” Branstad said.

Steve King served six years in the state senate before being elected to congress in 2002. While Branstad told reporters this morning that King was a “very effective” state legislator, the governor then doubled down on his anti-congressman pitch.

“That last thing we need is another congressman in the United States Senate,” Branstad said. “The congress is so messed up. They are so unable to make tough decisions. They are so far out of touch with the public in terms of their spending policies that we just need somebody that’s going to come there with fresh ideas and we’ve got some of those in Iowa.”

King, in a written statement to reporters seeking comment, said: “There’s no way to respond to the inquiry while maintaining the necessary verbal discipline.”

 Senator Harkin served 10 years as a congressman before he was elected to the Senate in 1984. Republican Chuck Grassley had been a congressman for six years before he was elected to the Senate in 1980.

AUDIO of governor’s weekly news conference (discussion of US Senate race begins at 19-minute mark)

(This story was updated at 6:48 p.m. with additional information.)

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State Senator Joni Ernst considers bid for U.S. Senate

April 25, 2013 By
Joni Ernst

Joni Ernst

A Republican from southwest Iowa who has been a member of the Iowa Senate since 2011 is considering a bid for the U.S. Senate. Forty-two-year-old Joni Ernst of Red Oak also serves as a major in the Iowa National Guard.

“Most of my adult life has been service-driven through the National Guard, the Reserves, public service,” Ernst told Radio Iowa. “This is one way to take it a step further and try and be part of a solution to what I see as a problem right now in Washington, D.C.”

Ernst said if she were a member of the U.S. Senate, tackling the federal deficit would be her top priority.

“We haven’t had a federal budget in four years now. That to me is a huge issue, so that’s number one,” Ernst said. “But with the budget concerns and our deficit, then it ties into national security which is something that I am very, very concerned about as a member of the military. My husband’s retired military. This is an issue we talk about daily.”

Ernst and her husband have three daughters. Their youngest is 13 and will be entering high school next year.

“That’s something that my family and I discussed,” Ernst said. “My husband is a very good father/mother when I am away and I have a very tight-knit family also with a brother and sister that are close and a mother that just lives up the street. My father still lives in the area and all are very active with my family.”

Ernst hopes to make a final decision about running for the U.S. Senate in 30 days.

“I really would like for Congressman King to make his decision because if he says he’s pursuing this, I will not be pursuing it,” she said.

Republican Congressman Steve King has been considering a bid for the U.S. Senate since Democrat Tom Harkin announced in January that he would not seek reelection. Earlier this week King said he was “still on the bubble” about the race.

Ernst served six years as the Montgomery County Auditor before running in a special election for the state senate seat Kim Reynolds gave up to become Iowa’s lieutenant governor. The district changed for the 2012 election. Between the two districts, Ernst has represented 10 different counties in southwest Iowa.

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