Big donors boost Iowa Republicans’ election fundraising

DES MOINES - Iowa Republicans and their biggest donors are serious about grabbing full control of the Statehouse in this fall's election, if last year's campaign fundraising is any indication.

GOP legislative leaders Bill Dix and Linda Upmeyer tallied record-setting fundraising hauls in 2015, setting the pace for the 2016 campaign.

Their efforts - Dix's in particular - were aided significantly by big-money individual donors.

Campaign donations to legislative leaders are critical because leaders share those resources to help their party's Statehouse candidates get elected.

At the Iowa Capitol, Republicans occupy the governor's office and control the House of Representatives. The only obstacle to an unfettered GOP agenda in Iowa is Democrats' razor-thin advantage in the Senate: There are 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans in the chamber.

Democrats have held that slim edge since the 2010 elections, and Republicans tried unsuccessfully to flip control in the 2012 and 2014 elections.

With another opportunity coming this fall, Dix's 2015 fundraising appears to indicate Senate Republicans and their donors are putting forth their strongest effort yet to seize control.

'I think that the biggest thing that signals is that Iowans are ready for a change,” Dix, the Republicans' Senate minority leader, said of his fundraising. 'The leadership the Senate Democrats have been providing is one of stalling and overspending of Iowa taxpayer money, and we need to look at the opportunities we have and how we can move forward with an agenda that provides new career opportunities for Iowans.”

Dix raised almost $530,000 in 2015, which was a Senate fundraising record, according to the Republican Party of Iowa.

It's more than triple what Dix raised in 2013, the most recent pre-election year, when he raised $156,000. He received 20 donations of $10,000 or more, plus 10 more $5,000 donations.

Only four of those 30 large donations came from political organizations; the rest came from individuals.

Those big donations account for more than three-fourths of Dix's total haul. The biggest contributor was James Cownie. The Des Moines businessman cut a $50,000 check to Dix in 2015.

Cownie co-founded Heritage Communications, which was sold in 1987 for nearly $900 million, and later, he owned the real estate company SJC Properties. His son Peter is a state legislator, and his wife, Patricia, serves on the Iowa Board of Regents.

Dix's list of large donors is composed mostly of Iowa business leaders, including the owners of Kum & Go and Casey's as well as business owners in concrete, agriculture, guns, real estate and publishing.

Upmeyer, who is in her first session as the newly-minted House speaker, raised nearly $435,000 in 2015, which the state Republican Party said was a House fundraising record.

Upmeyer also benefited from big-money donors, with 19 donations of $5,000 or more.

Democratic Statehouse leaders lagged behind their Republican counterparts in 2015 fundraising.

Mike Gronstal, the Democrats' Senate majority leader, raised $218,000 last year.

That's slightly more than Gronstal raised in 2013, when Senate Democrats took their 26-24 advantage into the 2014 general election and held on, despite a nationwide wave for Republican candidates.

Gronstal said he thinks Democrats' resources are 'growing well” and that elections are about candidates, not money.

He noted only one Senate Democrat is not seeking re-election, and the lone retiring senator is in a safely Democratic district. He thinks each Democratic incumbent will win re-election.

He also thinks the presidential election will provide a boost; Democratic voters historically turn out better during presidential elections.

'We have recruited great candidates. That is 90 percent of every election cycle, is having great candidates,” Gronstal said. 'Everybody always gets nervous about the money, but it isn't about the money. It's about the issues. It's about who's standing up for working families in the state of Iowa.”

Mark Smith, the Democrats' House minority leader, raised $119,000 last year.