Judge ad reignites fight over Iowa flood recovery office

CEDAR RAPIDS - In her first ad of the Democratic U.S. Senate primary campaign, former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge cites 'courage and cooperation” as keys to recovering from the state's devastating 2008 floods.

'Our recovery began by working together,” she says in the 30-second online ad that features scenes of a flooded Cedar Rapids. 'Nobody had time for pointing fingers.”

That came later, and her 30-second spot has reignited a seven-year-old political battle over the flood relief efforts Judge says she coordinated in her role as the state Homeland Security adviser.

'Missing from the story, however, is the complete ineptitude with which she managed her high-profile role,” according to the Republican Party of Iowa. 'One of her first duties wasn't to help flood victims, but to replace the carpet with $19,000 in money intended for said victims.”

The expenditure for new carpet, in space where the Rebuild Iowa Office was headquartered in the Wallace Building, provoked criticism from legislators, including then Rep. Jeff Kaufmann of Wilton, now chairman of the RPI.

'The condition of the Wallace Building is better than some of my flood victims' homes before the flood,” he said back in 2009.

However, her campaign manager Sam Roecker pointed out the office moved into vacant space in the Wallace Building, instead of continuing to lease expensive office space in Urbandale.

That didn't satisfy Kaufmann. Judge has never apologized for 'letting down flood victims … and this latest ad is an insult to those she was supposed to help.”

That's not the spirit Judge talks about in the ad that her campaign said will begin running later in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids media markets.

'I'm proud of the way Iowans responded to flooding in 2008 and the way our communities came together to recover,” she said.

Then she contrasts that 'partnership and problem-solving” that defined the flood recovery efforts with what she sees in Washington, where incumbent Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has been in office since 1975.

'Unfortunately, this kind of cooperation isn't happening in Washington today,” she said. 'Iowans are frustrated with the obstruction and inaction, and I think it's time for a change.”

Judge is in a four-way primary with former state legislators Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause, and State Sen. Rob Hogg. The primary election in June 7.