First calls made for Dix to quit as Iowa Senate GOP leader

By Erin Murphy, Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES - A $2.2 million judgment likely will cause some collateral damage.

Some think that should include Bill Dix's job as the Republican leader in the Senate.

A Polk County jury last week awarded $2.2 million to Kirsten Anderson, a former staff worker for Senate Republicans in the Legislature. The award was the result of Anderson's lawsuit in which she asserted her 2013 dismissal was retaliation for her complaints of sexual harassment.

The state - more specifically, Senate Republican staff - argued Anderson was fired for poor work performance.

But the jury ruled in favor of Anderson, and the $2.2 million award will be forked out by Iowa taxpayers at a time when the state budget is seriously pinched.

When a lawsuit results in seven-figure damages, often the impact is felt beyond the checkbook.

Already two public calls have been made for Dix to resign, including one from a fellow Republican senator.

Sen. Rick Bertrand from Sioux City issued a statement Wednesday calling for Dix to resign.

'Sen. Dix has a pattern of retaliation, we all know that, and unfortunately power has that effect on some people,” Bertrand wrote. 'This jury did not believe that Ms. Anderson was justly fired, and ultimately her dismissal was Bill Dix's decision, and that lack of judgment has consequences.”

Dix recently removed Bertrand as a chairman of the Senate's transportation budget committee.

Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich reached the same conclusion about Dix.

'By failing to provide a professional work environment and even minimally competent management, Senate Republicans failed in their duty to protect taxpayers. Now every Iowan has to pay the penalty with their tax dollars,” Obradovich wrote week. 'Every one of the people with responsibility in this case, from Dix on down, should resign.”

Dix did not respond to Bertrand's call for his resignation, according to a Senate Republican spokesman. But Dix did defend himself and his staff in response to the jury's decision.

He maintained the defense that Anderson was fired 'only for her poor work product and absolutely no other reason.”

'During my leadership of the Senate Republican Caucus, harassment and inappropriate behavior was addressed immediately and effectively and it will continue to be addressed in that manner in the future,” Dix said in a statement. 'The Senate Republican Caucus is now a safe environment and there is no tolerance for any and all types of harassment.”

Anderson testified that she first began complaining of sexual harassment in 2010, according to the Des Moines Register, and she was fired in 2013.

Dix was voted Senate Republicans' leader in 2012.

The jury's ruling and calls for his resignation come at an otherwise heady time for Dix. In the 2016 elections, he helped Senate Republicans gain the majority - and, as a result, control of the legislative agenda - in the Iowa Senate. Then, in 2017, he led Senate Republicans as they joined with House Republicans and then-Gov. Terry Branstad to pass myriad pieces of conservative legislation long sought by the GOP.

LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker last week endorsed Kim Reynolds in Iowa's 2018 gubernatorial election.

Reynolds will be the successor incumbent in the race - she ascended from lieutenant governor after Branstad resigned to become ambassador to China. But Reynolds faces a GOP primary challenge from Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett.

GOP leaders have been lining up behind Reynolds - earlier this month, Iowa's Republican U.S. senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, announced their support.

'Gov. Reynolds is a strong leader whose bold vision promises a bright future for the people of Iowa,” Walker said in a statement issued by the Reynolds campaign.

Walker's support means more than just a news release: it likely means the Wisconsin governor and conservative hero to many nationally will be willing to do what he can - i.e. raise money - for Reynolds.

Of course, Walker has his own re-election campaign in 2018. For now, he does not have a serious primary challenger.

Erin Murphy covers Iowa politics and state government. His email address is erin.murphy@lee.net.