Ahead of campaign visit, Florida’s Rick Scott praises Iowa Republicans

DES MOINES — Ahead of a campaign swing through Iowa, Florida’s U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s re-election is important to building a Republican Senate majority in the November elections.

Scott, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee in charge of electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate, is joining U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for her second annual “MMM Tailgate Celebration” in Iowa City on Saturday.

Miller-Meeks, a Republican, is seeking re-election in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Scott said Grassley is dedicated to representing Iowa in the U.S. Senate, pointing to his commitment to speaking on votes in late-night “vote-a-ramas,” an occasional procedure in which the Senate spends hours voting on dozens of amendments to a bill.

“He is a tireless advocate for the state of Iowa and for conservative principles,” Scott said. “And so I enjoy working with him because you know exactly where he stands. He’s not a compromiser. He’s somebody that has principles, and he lives his principles every day.”

The fundraiser Scott is headlining, which precedes the Iowa-Iowa State football game on Saturday, will be held at Streb Construction in Iowa City and feature Grassley and Gov. Kim Reynolds in addition to Scott and Miller-Meeks.

“Floridians appreciate and value Rick Scott’s common-sense leadership and conservative principles, but Iowans will also appreciate his Midwest roots and I’m sure they will (like) hearing his vision for America’s future,” Miller-Meeks said in an August news release announcing the event.

Miller-Meeks is challenged by state Rep. Christina Bohannan, a Democrat and University of Iowa law professor from Iowa City. The most recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed voters in the district preferred a Republican to a Democrat by a margin of 50 percent to 40 percent, with 10 percent undecided or voting for another candidate.

In a news release on Friday, Bohannan criticized Miller-Meeks for votes she said hurt the University of Iowa, including voting for abortion restrictions in Iowa and against the CHIPS Act, which includes funding to train university students in STEM fields.

“The University of Iowa educates our young people — the next generation of our workforce — and is a major economic driver in the state," Bohannan said. "It is the largest employer, by far, in southeast Iowa. Yet, Rep. Miller-Meeks consistently votes against essential interests of the university."

Vilsack questions

Former Iowa governor and current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack questioned Scott’s motives for visiting the Hawkeye State in a Democratic National Committee press call on Friday.

“It’s surprising that he’s doing an event with Rep. Miller-Meeks, running for re-election in the House,” Vilsack said. “We obviously have a Senate race in Iowa. It’s surprising that he’s not spending time with Senator Grassley.”

Scott is one of many national Republicans thought to be considering a run for president in 2024. He visited Iowa last November for the state Republican Party’s Lincoln Dinner.

Vilsack said the visit raises questions t may be tied to Scott’s own political aspirations and said Scott needs to “explain to Iowans why he thinks it’s a good idea to sunset Social Security and Medicare.”

In a plan for Senate Republican policy released in February, Scott suggested that all federal legislation should sunset every five years, requiring Congress to pass laws again before that period to keep them alive. This would ostensibly include popular federal programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Grassley will be at Saturday’s event, and Scott said helping an Iowa House race will help get the vote out for candidates like Grassley higher on the ballot.

Franken remarks

Scott also went after Grassley’s Democratic challenger Mike Franken, a retired Navy admiral, for comments made about rural Iowa highlighted in a recent digital ad from Grassley.

“This makes you wonder why this guy wants to be a U.S. senator, and if this is what he thinks about the people of Iowa, why is he running?” Scott said.

Franken, who has run on a message of putting “country over party” and “people over politics,” has accused Grassley of putting Republican politics and corporate interests over the interest of Iowans. The July Iowa poll showed Grassley with an 8-point lead over Franken, 47 percent to 39 percent.

"Senator Grassley’s ridiculous attacks on Mike Franken give away the game: He's running scared,” Franken’s spokesperson C.J. Petersen said this week. “While Mike Franken was serving as captain of the USS Winston Churchill, Chuck Grassley was fighting to keep Medicare from lowering prescription drug prices."