Sen. candidate Fiegen questions Conlin spending on make-up artist, car wash, trip

DES MOINES – U.S. Senate candidate Tom Fiegen is taking aim at Democratic rival Roxanne Conlin's spending on a make-up artist, car wash, and rent for her campaign office..

Fiegen, a bankruptcy attorney, said the Conlin's spending on her campaign should give Iowa taxpayers pause.

Conlin, a wealthy trial lawyer, and Fiegen are in a three-way race for their party's nomination in the U.S. Senate race; candidate Bob Krause of Fairfield is the other Democrat in the race. The winner takes on Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Fiegen circulated campaign finance documents showing Conlin's campaign paid $180 for a makeup artist for a campaign video and $21.19 for a car wash in Des Moines.

Those documents show another $3,300 was paid in rent, in comparison to the $350 office rent Grassley's campaign paid.

“If she is elected to the Senate, will Conlin ask the taxpayers to pay for her makeup, car washes and first-class winter trips to Hawaii?,” Fiegen said in a statement. “Iowa taxpayers have every reason to be wary of Conlin's approach to the deficit and her use of other people's money to fund her lavish lifestyle.”

Mark Daley, Conlin's campaign manager, accused Fiegen of playing fast and loose with the facts and said Fiegen put out a press release that is “clearly a lie.”

“If you look at the forms he sent around it clearly shows she is making the rent, travel and numerous other campaign expenditures personally as in-kind contributions to the campaign,” Daley said in a statement. “Tom Fiegen would much rather throw wild accusations with no basis in fact than talk about his anti-choice position or anti-farmer position on ethanol.”

Daley said Conlin paid for the trip and her national travel personally, not through the campaign, and was not reimbursed by the campaign.

“She had a fundraiser in Hawaii, and she personally paid for it,” Daley said. He said he had no idea whether it was a first-class ticket.

He said they did use a make-up artist for Conlin and others when they shot a television ad and campaign announcement video, which the campaign paid for.

He said it wasn't “a John Edwards haircut,” referring to the former presidential candidate's $400 trims.

The campaign rents space in a building Conlin owns as part of a partnership and which she also pays personally, Daley said. Daley said she felt she couldn't pay herself with other people's money.

Daley said the charge for a car wash was to clean the campaign van after one of the trips on the 99-county tour.

“I'm not going to dispute that we got the car cleaned. We drove to 99 counties in January. Do you know how filthy the car gets?” Daley said.