Campaign Almanac: Farm prosperity topic of latest Mike Franken ad

Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Franken, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Iowa, released a new ad on Monday accusing his opponent, Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, of failing family farms.

Sporting a Navy cap in front of a cornfield, Franken says in the ad that Grassley is beholden to large agriculture corporations at the expense of small farmers. Franken who was born in the small northwest Iowa town of Lebanon, notes in the ad he worked on a small farm growing up.

“Since Chuck Grassley took office, Iowa has lost half our farms,” he says in the ad. “Chuck has taken over a million dollars from Big Ag, and he’s passing laws to help them squeeze out the little guy.”

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, Iowa had 84,900 farms in 2021, about half the number of farms it had in 1960 when Grassley was first elected to the Iowa House. It had 119,000 farms in 1980 when Grassley was first elected to the U.S. Senate.

In an emailed statement, Grassley’s campaign spokesperson Michaela Sundermann said Grassley has been endorsed by farm groups like the Iowa Farm Bureau and leaders from commodity associations such as the Iowa Corn Growers and Iowa Soybean associations.

“Is Mike Franken really suggesting he knows better than actual farmers? Mike Franken supports higher taxes and more federal regulations on farmers,” Sundermann said. “There’s no stronger champion for Iowa ag than Chuck Grassley. Mike Franken’s new ad is dishonest and desperate. Iowans will see through his attempts to mislead voters.”

HINSON, MATHIS ADD DEBATE: A pair of former Iowa broadcast journalists running for an Eastern Iowa congressional seat will participate in a debate hosted by their former employer.

KCRG-TV will host an hourlong debate between Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ashely Hinson of Marion and Democratic challenger Liz Mathis of Hiawatha at 7 p.m. Oct. 12.

Hinson and Mathis are running for Iowa’s newly drawn 2nd Congressional District.

The debate also will be carried by KWQC in the Quad Cities, KCCI in Des Moines and KTTC covering Mason City and Rochester, Minn. All four stations will carry the debate on their broadcast and streaming platforms, according to KCRG.

Hinson, a former KCRG anchor and reporter, is serving her first term in the U.S. House after unseating first-term Democratic congresswoman Abby Finkenauer in 2020.

Mathis, also a former anchor and reporter at both KCRG and KWWL, has spent the past 10 years in the Iowa Senate.

The pair also will participate in an Iowa PBS debate at 7 p.m. Oct. 18.

MATHIS RELEASES NEW AD: In her second ad, Democratic state Sen. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha focused on protecting Social Security and Medicare benefits for Iowa seniors.

Mathis is seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, in Iowa’s newly drawn 2nd Congressional District. It’s Mathis’ second ad in what the campaign said would be a $350,000 TV ad campaign across broadcast and cable from Aug. 23 through Sept. 19.

In the ad, Mathis talks about her parents being part of the “greatest generation,” who relied on Social Security and Medicare benefits. Both her parents served in World War II. Her father farmed and her mother was the town nurse. Mathis has talked about serving as a caregiver to her ailing parents on the campaign trail and navigating insurance and red tape with her parents’ care.

“So when I hear talk out of Washington (D.C.) about cutting Social Security and Medicare, I know who will pay the price,” Mathis says in the ad. “ … My family depended on those benefits. I’ll make sure they’re always there for yours.”

Hinson released her first ad last week as part of what her campaign said would be a more than $2 million ad campaign through Election Day.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau