GOP calls on Culver to return contributions

The campaigns of Gov. Chet Culver and former Gov. Terry Branstad traded allegations about each other's contributors, alleging corruption and “pay-for-play” scandals.

“They would be good to remember that those in glass houses shouldn't cast the first stone,” Culver campaign manager Donn Stanley said the Republican Party of Iowa called on Culver to return contributions made by a Rhode Islander whose companies have received millions in taxpayer-financed contracts with the Iowa Association of School Boards.

According to news reports, Michael Perik has contributed $55,000 to the Culver re-election effort at the same time he is in negotiations for multi-million-dollar taxpayer-funded projects.

“By repeatedly accepting questionable donations from people with conflicts of interest, Culver has built a culture of corruption here in Iowa,” Iowa GOP Executive Director Jim Anderson said. “First, he took money from casino supporters who were vying for a state casino license. Now we learn one of Culver's East Coast donors has made millions from Iowa taxpayer-funded projects.”

When Branstad takes office, Anderson said, “He will send a clear message that ‘pay-to-play' is off the table. Branstad will restore honest, open politics to Iowa.”

Stanley called the party's demand that Culver return the money a “desperate attack you would expect to see from a campaign that is seeing it's lead melt away.” Culver's campaign released a poll last week indicating it has reduced Branstad's double-digit lead to 8 percentage points.

Stanley went on to say Branstad's four terms as governor was marked by 20 different scandals in 12 agencies. Among them, Stanley said, Branstad accepted $8,000 in illegal contributions from former Des Moines University President Leonard Anzeer and refused to return $3,100 from former Lisbon Mayor Steve Goldin, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and bribery in connection with Cedar Rapids sewer solvent scandal in the 1990s.

“And pay-for-play was alive and well in the Branstad Administration,” Stanley said. “Why else would Clark McCleod host a fundraiser for Branstad one month after receiving a $25 million grant from the Branstad Administration?”

The Branstad campaign joined the fray, saying “Chet Culver's Illinois-style politics really has no place in Iowa.”

“We realize that allegations of impropriety have gripped this administration in an unprecedented way, but lobbing baseless, angry press releases from Des Moines will not clean up his administration,” Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht said.

But even in the current campaign, Stanley said, Curt Beason, who was charged with the most serious offense in connection with Culver contributions from casino interests, co-hosted a fundraiser and contributed to Branstad's campaign earlier this year.

Iowans are too smart to fall for the GOP's “frivolous and silly attack,” Stanley said. “They know that when it comes to open and honest government, the only choice for governor is Chet Culver.”

Albrecht rebutted: “Terry Branstad will put his focus on creating jobs for Iowans, as opposed to Gov. Culver, whose time lately is spent cleaning up political messes in the Statehouse.”