In my post yesterday I had a couple questions that I wanted answered once I heard that she was the nominee. One I found the answer to one question myself, but another question I didn’t have an answer for. What was State Senator Kim Reynolds position on eminent domain? There was a controversial land grab in her district that was for commercial development, and she didn’t get involved.
Did that mean she is in support of imminent domain on those grounds?
I asked Governor Terry Branstad’s campaign to address this, and this morning Tim Albrecht emailed me a statement from State Senator Reynolds:
I fully support the 2006 legislation that curtailed the use of eminent domain to take private property. I do not support eminent domain for commercial development purposes. I support eminent domain only for essential public services.
Question answered as far as I’m concerned.
Update: The Branstad campaign tweeted me with related information in a press release (not sure when it was released), State Representative Jeff Kaufman (R-Wilton) who came on Steve Deace’s radio show on WHO Radio defending the landowners had this to say in his endorsement of the Branstad/Reynonlds ticket:
“Over the last two years I have worked with Senator Reynolds and I know her to be a passionate advocate for fiscal responsibility and common sense, transparent budgeting,” said Kaufmann. “She shares my strong belief that rural schools are a key to Iowa’s long term economic recovery.”
“I remain dedicated to the fight for private property rights in this state,” said Kaufmann. “The last four years of Democratic control of the Legislature has yielded no strengthening of these rights. The Democratic majority has not allowed debate of a single property rights bill despite overwhelming support for the 2006 landmark legislation.”
“Our attempts to protect property rights will be thwarted, as usual, by Governor Culver and Democratic leadership without Republican control of the Legislature,” added Kaufmann. “To me, all other property rights discussions are secondary to that goal. I look forward to working with Kim Reynolds in the future to protect property owners in the future.”
Typically people who make endorsements will not specifically mention items in which they disagree with the candidate.