Which Iowa Candidate Is Receiving the Most PAC Money?

Do you ever wonder why there are infinitely more political commercials complaining about Joni Ernst’s support from the Koch Brothers than there are commercials by the Koch brothers supporting Joni Ernst?

That made me a little curious. Just who is getting the most PAC support in the current elections? Not Republican Ernst.

Ernst’s opponent in the Senatorial race, Democrat Rep. Bruce Braley, took in a whopping $1,191,380 in PAC money through June 30, 2014, according to OpenSecrets.org. In comparison, Ernst took in only $423,035 in the same time period.

Braley seems to be the favorite candidate of big spenders, too. Ernst had $456,215 from small contributions, while Braley, with three times as much total funding, only had $8,714 in small contributions, according to OpenSecrets.org.

PAC money spent against

These numbers contributed to the candidates are chicken feed (sorry, Bruce Braley) when you look at what some of the Super PACs are spending on negative advertising against the candidates.

The liberal Senate Majority PAC spent $2,050,416 against Joni Ernst as of 9/19/14, including recent media buy. Senate Majority PAC only spent $549,164 in favor of its own candidate, Bruce Braley. Talk about negative advertising!

Super PACs spending money against Ernst

• Senator Majority PAC – $2,050,416
• Planned Parenthood Votes PAC – $ 466,582
• NextGen Climate PAC – $ 297,980

And that’s just a sample. (Source: OpenSecrets.org)

Ernst keeps getting labeled as “Tea Party” (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Do you know how much Ernst got from the Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund Super PAC? Zero. They did spend $56,000 against Bruce Braley, though. How does all this compare with the much-maligned Koch Brothers? The Koch Brother’s Freedom Partners Action Super PAC spent $1,115,753 for Ernst. Oooooooooh. So why all this big evil, corporate hub -bub, when the Democrats with their Senate Majority PAC spent almost twice that against Ernst? Looks like the larger problem is fat-cat big spending pro-abortion Democrats.

Pro-abortion Rep. Dave Loebsack, incumbent in the race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, has $551,100 in PAC contributions—over 50% of his total contributions vs. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ $39,000 in PAC money.

Abortion activist candidate Staci Appel (wife of Iowa Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel—just sayin’, since her website doesn’t, for some reason), earned more than three times the PAC money than her Republican opponent David Young. Appel netted $293,438 in PAC money, compared to Young’s $82,891.

More noteworthy is Appel’s top PAC contributor: Emily’s List, which focuses solely getting radically pro-abortion women elected. Emily’s List boosted Appel’s coffers with a $69,665 contribution. If you think Appel’s going to reach across the aisles on the life issue, think again.

David Young’s top contributor was Senator Chuck Grassley’s Hawkeye PAC, with $15,000. To understand how far outside the mainstream Emily’s List is, you must understand their leader. Emily’s List President, Stephanie Schriock, previously managed the 2008 Senatorial campaign of Minnesota way left Sen. Al Franken.

Appel’s third largest donor was Des Moines-based Knapp Properties with $11,150. The Knapps are notorious for their support of Planned Parenthood in Iowa and owner Bill Knapp’s wife, Susan Knapp, even has a Planned Parenthood center in Des Moines named for her in the Drake University neighborhood. But that is just the beginning. There was even more pro-abortion money to be had.

More Pro-Abort PAC money

NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC

• Staci Appel $5,000
• Bruce Braley $5,000

Planned Parenthood Action Fund Inc. PAC

• Bruce Braley $5,340
• Staci Appel $1,088

Washington Women for Choice PAC

• Bruce Braley $5,000

Emily’s List PAC (in addition to the $69,665 received from Emily’s List)

• Staci Appel $5,000

Nancy Pelosi’s PAC to the Future

• Staci Appel $10,000
• Jim Mowrer $ 5,000
• Pat Murphy $ 5,000
• Dave Loebsack $ 2,000

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s Democrats Win Seats PAC

• Bruce Braley $5,000
• Pat Murphy $5,000
• Staci Appel $2,500
• Dave Loebsack $1,000
• Jim Mowrer $1,000

Braley also received $10,000 each from PACs run by darlings of the abortion industry: Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Elizabeth Warren (DMA), Dick Durban (D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Al Franken (D-MN).

From Braley’s own Bringing Leadership Back PAC

• Dave Loebsack $10,000
• Pat Murphy $ 5,000
• Jim Mowrer $ 1,000
• Staci Appel $ 1,000

(Sorry Staci—don’t you know there’s a War on Women going on?)

Republican Rod Blum, challenging Democrat Pat Murphy for Braley’s former House seat, in District 1, has the least PAC money
of the House races at $21,000. Murphy’s $201,572 in PAC contributions seems hefty by comparison.

Only Republican Rep. Steve King had more PAC contributions than his pro-abortion opponent—and just barely. King had $235,824 in PAC contributions compared to Democrat Jim Mowrer’s $195,668. Still, Mowrer has three times as much as Steve King in out-of-state contributions: $328,008 for Mowrer vs. King’s $101,780.  77% of King’s contributions were from Iowa vs. only 50% of Mowrer’s contributions from Iowa.

So the next time you see a Letter to the Editor in your local paper or online comments bemoaning Joni Ernst and the Koch Brothers, don’t stay silent. Write them and fight back. The pro-abortion Democrats have cornered the market on PAC money.

To find even more, go to www.OpenSecrets.org.