Campaign Almanac: Scholten joins Franken campaign

DES MOINES — J.D. Scholten, the western Iowa Democrat who nearly unseated Republican former congressman Steve King, has joined Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken’s campaign as political director, the Franken campaign announced this week.

Franken is running against longtime incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

“(Franken) is such a unique candidate. I wouldn’t have signed up for just any campaign,” Scholten said in a news release from the Franken campaign. “His work ethic, authenticity and his integrity are inspiring. He will be an amazing representative of our state in the Senate.”

Scholten, a former minor league baseball player from Sioux City who is running for the Iowa Legislature this fall, ran for Congress in 2018 and came within 4 percentage points of defeating King in deeply conservative western Iowa.

“This race reminds me so much of our 2018 campaign. The big difference is that the numbers statewide are way more favorable to Democrats than the old 4th (Congressional) District,” Scholten said. “I am looking forward to turning a lot of heads come November.”

The general election is Nov. 8.

FRANKEN FUNDRAISING: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken raised $2.8 million in campaign donations in the second quarter of 2022, according to unofficial numbers provided by his campaign Tuesday.

The amount came from 84,000 unique donors and brought the total the campaign has raised to $4.63 million. Franken's campaign has $1.1 million in cash on hand, the release said.

Franken is challenging longtime incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in Iowa’s U.S. Senate campaign.

The one-quarter amount is more than any previous challenger to Grassley raised during their entire campaigns, and more than Grassley has raised in a single quarter, the news release said.

Grassley’s campaign has not announced second-quarter fundraising numbers. He raised close to $1.7 million last quarter and ended the quarter with $4.6 million cash on hand. The campaign had received nearly $6.9 million in donations and transfers through the first quarter, according to the Federal Elections Commission website.

“Our campaign is a people-powered campaign, and we haven’t taken one penny of corporate PAC money while Sen. Grassley has taken more than $11.5 million from corporate PACs over his time in Washington,” Franken campaign manager Julie Stauch said in the news release.

MATHIS ENDORSEMENT: The Human Rights Campaign PAC, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization working to elect “pro-equality” candidates who support “the rights and lives of LGBTQ+ people,” has endorsed Democrat Liz Mathis in her race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

Mathis, a state senator and former journalist and nonprofit leader from Hiawatha, is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson. Mathis was one of 14 congressional candidates endorsed by the organization.

“These leaders have an exemplary record of advancing equality in their respective states, and we’re confident that they will advocate for nationwide policies that work for all Americans, including the LGBTQ+ community,” Human Rights Campaign Interim President Joni Madison said in a statement.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau