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 Senate District 18 Democratic candidate Liz Mathis raked in $64,306 between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1 and took in-kind contributions worth $269,898, outraising Republican Cindy Golding.
Golding raised $42,038 and took in-kind contributions totaling $94,061 during that same period.
Liz Mathis
Mathis also spent more than Golding and had more cash on hand at the end of the reporting period. She spent $46,519 over those two weeks and had $58,629 on hand, while Golding spent $36,656 and had $14,640 on hand.
Mathis’s largest expenditures were for advertising, including $13,500 to The Pivot Group, Inc., of Washington, D.C.; and $10,115 to KCRG in Cedar Rapids. She also gave $20,000 to the Iowa Senate Majority Fund.
The Iowa Democratic Party accounted for nearly all of Mathis’s in-kind contributions, mostly for printing, postage and advertising. Arvind Dandekar, the husband of former State Sen. Swati Dandekar (D-Marion), contributed $300 through holding a fundraiser for Mathis.
Dandekar stepped down from her position representing the district in order to take a position with the Iowa Utilities Board.
Cindy Golding
Mathis took $5,000 from Justice For All Political Action Committee in Cedar Rapids, as well as large contributions from worker-backed political action committees:
* $10,000 from IAFF FIREPAC Non-Federal in Des Moines
* $10,000 from Great Plains Laborers’ District Council Iowa PAC in Des Moines
* $3,000 from Operating Engineers Local 234 Political Fund in Des Moines
* $2,500 from Laborers’ 309 Political Action Committee in Rock Island, Ill.
* $2,500 from Heavy Highway Political Action Committee in Des Moines
* $2,000 from Laborer’s Local #340 in Elkader
* $2,000 from Laborers’ PAC in Des Moines
* $1,500 from United Union of Roofers Pol Ed and Leg Fund of Iowa in Marion
* $1,000 from Civil Servants Political Education League in Des Moines
* $1,000 from I.B.E.W. Local 1362 Political Action Fund #6216 in Cedar Rapids
* $1,000 from Ironworkers Local #89 Political Education Fund in Cedar Rapids
* $1,000 from Laborers Local 430 Political Fund in Sioux City
* $1,000 from International Brotherhood of Boilermakers in Kansas City, Kan.
Mathis and Golding are locked in a special election that will determine control of the Iowa Senate, in a race that has attracted from groups like the National Organization for Marriage. Democrats hold a slim 25-24 advantage in the Senate, and last year succeeded in blocking controversial legislation – like a ban on same-sex marriage and increased abortion restrictions – from the Republican-dominated Iowa House.
The election is Nov. 8.
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