Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Iowa Rep. Kim Pearson not only returned 2010 campaign funds given to her by the Republican Party of Iowa, but has made it clear that she’s willing to recruit and support candidates who will run against some existing members of her own political party.
Pearson, a legislative freshman, spoke with Randall Terry, founder of anti-abortion rights group Operation Rescue and a Republican turned Democratic candidate for the White House, during his recent visit to Des Moines and dished nearly exclusively on her differences of opinion with other GOP state lawmakers and the RPI itself.
In discussing her 2010 run for office, Pearson goes straight to the throat of state party leaders, noting that “even though the Republican establishment told me not to talk about social issues” she did so anyway.
“I stayed to the right because that’s where my principles are even in the primary,” she said. “After the primary, they said, ‘OK, you’ve won the primary, so come over to the left if you want to win.’ I said no, I’m not hiding who I am. You’ll vote for me if you like me and won’t if you don’t. I stayed way to the right and I was able to, by God’s grace, win.”
When asked by Terry what type of support she received from the Republican Party during the general election, Pearson’s first response was laughter.
“You know, toward the end, they gave me some money. I got $2,500,” she said.
Pearson said that after spending one month in the Legislature, she returned the money to the party.
“I wrote a check, gave it to them and they came running after me, asking, ‘What does this mean?’ and I went, ‘I don’t owe you a thing,’” Pearson said.
“I am shocked with what happens behind closed doors when I have grown men that will stand up and say that they have all of these problems with a bill, but if leadership tells me to vote for it I’ll do it.”
Speaking specifically about an anti-abortion measure sponsored by Pearson and 27 other Republican House members to outlaw all abortion services in Iowa, Pearson noted that the measure would be returning and will keep returning until it passed and signed into law. And, if current Republicans won’t get on board, Pearson said she’s willing to help replace them with Republicans who will.
“We have revealed the hypocrisy,” Pearson said, referring to herself and a few other unnamed Republican lawmakers. “Now we have people coming to us who actually want to run against some of the [GOP legislative] leaders. It’s an amazing turn-around.”
When asked specifically if she would publicly endorse an opponent of a sitting Republican in a primary, Pearson responded “absolutely.” Redistricting, she added, has already created situations where one Republican will face another “and I already know who I will be supporting in some of those races and I will do so publicly.”
The video is embedded below, and the discussion with Pearson begins at roughly the 12 minute mark:
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