U.S. Senate candidate Ernst not meeting with Iowa newspapers’ editorial boards

DES MOINES - Joni Ernst, the Republican candidate for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat, canceled her meeting with the Des Moines Register's editorial board Thursday morning and has not scheduled meetings with three more of Iowa's largest newspapers.

Ernst, a state senator from Red Oak, is running against Bruce Braley, a Democratic U.S. House member from Waterloo.

In addition to canceling her meeting with the Register's editorial board, Ernst has not scheduled meetings with the Quad-City Times, The Gazette or Dubuque Telegraph Herald, despite repeated attempts by those newspapers, their editors confirmed Thursday.

Election Day is Nov. 4, less than two weeks away.

'Joni is barnstorming the state, visiting all 99 counties and talking face-to-face with voters about the issues they care about most,” Ernst campaign spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel said in an emailed statement. 'Recent editorials in the Des Moines Register make their position in this race perfectly clear, and it's one that many voters across our state seem to disagree with. With less than 12 days to go, time is precious and Joni wants to spend every minute talking to undecided voters, hearing their concerns, and demonstrating why we need a change in Washington.”

Ernst met Oct. 15 with the Sioux City Journal editorial board. That may wind up being her only interview with the five largest newspapers in the state that seek such meetings.

Braley met with all five newspapers. His campaign criticized Ernst for not interviewing with those editorial boards, which make candidate endorsements.

'Now that Bruce has successfully focused this campaign on the issues Iowans care about most, Joni Ernst is scrambling to avoid having to explain her plans to put millionaires, billionaires, and special interests before Iowa's middle class families,” Braley campaign manager Sarah Benzing said in an emailed statement that included multiple criticisms of Ernst as a candidate. 'Any candidate running for the U.S. Senate should be able to take questions on their plans for the state, no matter how out-of-step they may be.”

Des Moines Register publisher Rick Green issued a statement regarding Ernst's decision to cancel her meeting with the paper.

'We were disappointed by the Ernst camp's decision to not spend an hour with the editorial board and share her vision for our state and the rest of the country,” Green said in the statement. 'This has been an incredibly nasty, competitive race where both sides have spent millions and aired tens of thousands of TV spots. Undecided voters I talk to want Sen. Ernst to break through the rhetoric and cacophony of campaign ads about hogs, Obamacare and balanced budgets. It's a time for sharing specifics. It's a chance to have a serious conversation about vision, priorities, the economy, national security, foreign relations and Social Security.

'I'm not angry she snubbed the Des Moines Register editorial board, which is in final deliberations about our Senate endorsement. It truly isn't about us. We wanted to discuss the future of the state and allow Joni Ernst to share insights and specific responses to the concerns and questions of Iowans and voters. It's unfortunate that cannot happen.”

Candidates typically agree to meetings with editorial boards without incident, said Elizabeth Schott, director of editorial relations for The Gazette.

'I can think of zero times that this has happened,” Schott said. She said of the roughly two dozen local and federal candidates The Gazette invited to editorial board meetings this year, Ernst was the only one the paper was not able to schedule.

The Gazette endorsed Braley on Sunday.

Quad-City Times Editorial Page Editor Mark Ridolfi extended the Times' first editorial board invitation to the Ernst campaign during preparation for its April primary debate.

'We reiterated it personally to Sen. Ernst immediately after that debate,” Ridolfi said.

The Times followed up with phone calls to Ernst campaign staffers through the summer and again through August and September as the newspaper worked with staff on its Oct. 11 debate between Ernst and Braley.

'We did again when Ernst campaign aide Gretchen Hamel contacted us Oct. 2 to ask about scheduling an edit board meeting,” Ridolfi said. 'Finally, we extended a verbal invitation directly to Sen. Ernst the day of the debate. She replied she, too, was eager to meet with us and staff would follow up.”