Campaign Almanac:

Max Baucus, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Montana, endorsed Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley for re-election Wednesday.

Baucus, who served in the Senate with Grassley for more than 30 years, said in a news release from the campaign that he and Grassley became friends over the years, as the pair traded chairing the Senate Finance Committee between 2001 and 2011, depending on which party had a Senate majority.

In a news release, Baucus said the two would meet weekly over the years they were on the Finance Committee.

“We worked together,” Baucus said in the news release. “Never argued, we looked for solutions. We got them, too. Almost all legislation reported out of our committee was not partisan. Iowans benefit tremendously from Chuck’s character, integrity, and work ethic.”

Baucus left the Senate in 2014 after being appointed ambassador to China by President Barack Obama.

Touting Grassley’s endorsement from a Democrat, the campaign said Grassley has worked to get bipartisan bills signed into law. It noted the Lugar Center’s bipartisan index ranks Grassley 12th out of the U.S. senators in the most recent report for bipartisan cooperation.

“Sen. Baucus and I got so much done together with legislative initiatives and policy challenges for 10 years on the Finance Committee,” Grassley said in the release. “We shared a determination to find ways to help farmers, retirees, working families, adoptive parents, manufacturers, transportation workers, energy producers, and innovators across our economy.”

SENATE DEMOCRATS’ AD: The Iowa Senate Democrats unveiled a new campaign ad attacking Republican state Sen. Jake Chapman, who is facing Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone-Garriott in one of the most competitive Senate campaigns.

Redistricting put the two senators into the new Senate District 14, which includes much of Dallas County, including much of West Des Moines, a portion of Clive, and all of Waukee and Adel.

The Democrats’ ad criticizes Chapman for his legislation that would have created a path for lawsuits against educators who use materials deemed to be obscene; his stance on abortion restrictions, including his proposal to make abortion a hate crime; and his support for Republicans’ most recent round of state income tax cuts.

Of those positions, only the tax cuts were passed into law.

RATINGS CHANGE: An Eastern Iowa congressional race is tightening a month ahead of the election, according to a leading election forecaster.

The Cook Political Report on Wednesday changed its forecast for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.”

Democrat Christina Bohannan, an attorney and state legislator from Iowa City, is challenging first-term Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s new 1st Congressional District.

Miller-Meeks won by just six votes in 2020 after a recount — the narrowest margin of victory in a U.S. House race since 1984 — besting Democratic former Iowa state Sen. Rita Hart for the open seat.

Bohannan was named to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program that supports top-tier candidates running in swing districts that Democrats see as key to retaining or growing their slim five-seat majority in the U.S. House.

MATHIS FUNDRAISING: Democratic congressional candidate Liz Mathis raised more than $1 million during the recent three-month federal reporting period, her campaign said.

Mathis ended the period, which closed Sept. 30, with nearly $1.2 million in her campaign account, her campaign said. Mathis raised more than $3.7 million in the cycle with an average donation of $100 and Iowans representing 62 percent of donors, according to the campaign.

Mathis, a state senator from Hiawatha, is running to unseat first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, in Eastern Iowa’s new 2nd Congressional District.

Hinson, by comparison, has raised more than $5.2 million for the cycle and had more than $2 million cash on hand as of the last three-month federal reporting period, which closed June 30.

ERNST TO DONATE FUNDRAISER PROCEEDS: Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst will donate the proceeds from this year’s Roast and Ride to a foundation in honor of the Iowa man who was killed in the 2021 bombing of the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

Ernst announced on Tuesday proceeds from the event would go to the Cpl. Daegan Page Foundation, a foundation in honor of Daegan William-Tyeler Page, a Red Oak native. Page was one of 13 U.S. service members who died in the airport bombing as civilians were being evacuated from Afghanistan.

"The work the foundation is doing in Daegan's honor will help countless veterans and their families. We look forward to honoring Daegan's life and legacy on Oct. 22," Ernst, also of Red Oak, said in a news release.

The foundation aims to “Help others live the Dae way,” according to its website, by providing funding to nonprofits and organizations. Recipients of grants include a Nebraska-based German shepherd rescue group and a Nebraska veterans hockey team.

The Roast and Ride is an annual fundraiser involving a motorcycle ride, hog roast and rally. This year’s event also includes a “ruck march,” a military-style march usually done with weighted gear.

"The Ruck and Ride are great examples of the Dae way — experiences, adventure and overcoming challenges,” Page’s mother Wendy Adelson said in the news release.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau