REMINDER: GOP Gov Candidates Want to Follow in Kim Reynolds’ Footsteps and Make Government Even More Corrupt
DES MOINES – As Iowans are subjected to an economy that’s last in the nation, underfunded public schools, and health care that’s harder to access and more expensive thanks to Kim Reynolds and a decade of one-party rule, all of the Republicans running for governor want to make government even more corrupt and less accountable.
From Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Terra Hernandez:
“Between siphoning taxpayer dollars away from public schools, refusing to speak out against Kim Reynolds’ shady political joyrides on the taxpayer dime, protecting predators, and using government funds to bankroll political ads, the Republicans running for governor have proven they answer to powerful insiders and special interests, not Iowa’s working families. Randy Feenstra, Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, Brad Sherman, and Eddie Andrews would be only too happy to continue Reynolds’ failed record of using the governor’s office for their own personal gain rather than lift a finger to make life better for Iowans ready for a change.”
What to know about the GOP gubernatorial field making government less transparent:
- Unaccountable school vouchers: The field supports private school vouchers that drive up costs and rip away taxpayer dollars from the vast majority of our students, teachers, and parents to foot the bill for Iowa’s wealthiest families. Feenstra voted for Reynolds’ unaccountable voucher scheme in the state legislature and voted in Congress to rip public funds away from public schools to fund unaccountable private schools, while Steen and Lahn want to go even further by attacking public school funding and oversight for vouchers. Sherman and Andrews have both praised Reynolds’ vouchers.
- Secret taxpayer-funded state plane: Recent reporting reveals Reynolds used a $4.7 million dollar secret state-owned plane to attend multiple political events on the taxpayer’s dime, something not one GOP gubernatorial candidate has said was wrong. Steen was Reynolds’ right hand man as former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director, bragged about serving as a “C.O.O. type of role for the state,” and said “I support everything that Governor Reynolds is doing,” but has refused to say what he knew about the plane, when he knew it, and whether he signed off on it.
- Protecting predators: Feenstra has repeatedly voted against transparency and accountability for politicians and powerful elites. He voted to protect sexual predators and bury records on sexual misconduct cases in Congress after standing in the way of bipartisan efforts to release the Epstein files. As an insider in the Reynolds administration, Steen also buried information on sexual harassment and hostile workplace complaints against government employees — putting powerful elites who are committing these crimes ahead of victims of assault.
- Funding campaign with taxpayer dollars: Before the midterm caucuses, Feenstra spent $33,000 in taxpayer-funded resources on statewide radio ads to “make a good impression on activists” and shore up support for his campaign. Despite that, he still flopped and finished a distant third in straw polls. A taxpayer even asked Feenstra point-blank why he misused her money on campaign ads, but Feenstra shamelessly refused to give a straight answer about his shady and unethical behavior.
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