Stories

One of three Democrats vying to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is calling on the veteran lawmaker to decline all contributions from federal lobbyists and political action committees (PACs).

First District Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, topped  Iowa’s congressional delegation in third-quarter fundraising, bringing in more than $182,000. He now has $446,842 cash on hand.
Congressional campaigns had to turn in their quarterly fundraising reports this week, documenting money raised and spent between July 1 and Sept. 30. Information about other elected officials and challengers is below.

More than 25 percent of funds raised by Rep. Tom Latham’s political action committee during the 2008 election cycle paid for trips to resorts around the country, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

A golf outing in West Virginia and a weekend getaway to Atlantic City, N.J., are just two of the trips taken this year by U.S. Rep. Tom Latham of Ames that have garnered the attention of campaign finance watchdogs.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is taking heat for touting his opposition to health care reform legislation to a group of donors at a Miami fundraiser last week.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has feigned open-mindedness to Democratic health reform proposals for months, but, in a strongly-worded fundraising letter “Air-Gram”, he makes his opposition plain.

Third District Rep. Leonard Boswell was the top fundraiser of Iowa’s U.S. House delegation so far during 2009, pulling in more than $300,000, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

As the saying goes, once elected, a member of Congress must raise $10,000 a week to get re-elected. It sounds like hard work, but it doesn’t always have to be.

From the nonpartisan web site OpenSecrets:
According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his [...]

It’s doubtful that anyone running into Cedar Rapids resident Jason Hedges would move to the other side of the street to let him pass. He’s young, tall and attractive, with bright eyes and bouncy brown curls atop his head. Until a few weeks ago, however, he was political hired gun, pitching a Republican message in [...]