Jack Hatch, the Democratic candidate for governor, was pulled over for speeding this morning.
Hatch issued a statement a couple of hours after the traffic stop along Interstate 80, near Altoona, saying he’d been ticketed for going 10 miles above the posted speed limit. You may remember a Hatch campaign commercial last summer that criticized Republican Governor Terry Branstad for being “above the law” when Branstad’s official vehicle was clocked doing a “hard 90” — but the trooper driving wasn’t pulled over.
Hatch said he offers “no excuses” for his own speeding and will pay the ticket in full when he gets back to Des Moines Tuesday. Hatch could have been charged a higher fine for speeding in a construction zone, but officials say none of the vehicles pulled over in that area Monday got the additional construction zone fine because road workers were behind concrete barriers all day.
Hatch filed his campaign fundraising report today, showing he raised just over $262,000 from January through mid-May. Campaign records indicate Hatch has about $312,000 cash on hand. That figure is dwarfed by the $4.5 million in cash Governor Branstad has in the bank.