(DeSoto, IA) At a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa Tuesday evening, chairman Jeff Kaufmann and co-chairman Cody Hoefert announced that the party has exceeded its initial fundraising goal of $300,000 raised in the first three months of his tenure. In just over a month, the Iowa GOP has raised more than $315,000—more than RPI raised in the last year.
Kaufmann, speaking alongside Gov. Terry Branstad, Sen. Chuck Grassley and U.S. Sen. nominee Joni Ernst, announced a renewed effort to build on that initial fundraising success to execute the best get-out-the-vote operation for GOP candidates in Iowa history.
“Folks, it’s morning again in the Republican Party of Iowa,” Kaufmann, a seventh generation farmer and former Iowa House leader, told the crowd of more than 250 party activists and donors at the farm of Jim and Patty Cownie. “We are not a debating society. We are not a lawmaking body. We help to elect lawmakers. If you are a Republican and you’ve won your primary, you are my new best friend.”
Since July 1, RPI has increased its Victory offices in the state from two to 11, and for the first time in recent history, the party will spend significant resources on a targeted GOTV campaign.
“I want to do everything we can possibly do to lead this team to victory,” said Gov. Branstad. “I only have one speed: overdrive. We’re not going to concede any county, any precinct. We want Iowa to be the envy of the nation. We’re not done. We’ve just gotten started.”
Hoefert, a Rock Rapids small business owner, said he looks forward to raising more resources for Republican candidates up and down the ballot.
“I’m seven feet tall, so I appreciate a big tent,” Hoefert said, noting that the party is unified in its efforts to win races across the board Nov. 4. “I want you all to know that the state party has your back. And as a chiropractor, that means something.”
Kaufmann also noted the strong female candidates on the Republican ticket, including two military leaders with private sector experience, a CPA, a dynamic lieutenant governor and an experienced Iowa House leader.
“We’ve got a response to the ridiculous Democratic claims of a Republican war on women,” Kaufmann said. “Republicans are about action, not rhetoric. Our response to that is: Joni Ernst, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Mary Mosiman, Kim Reynolds and Linda Upmeyer.”
