Supreme Court issue, GOP presidential nominee could affect Grassley re-election

DES MOINES - Sen. Chuck Grassley doesn't know which Democrat he'll face in the November election, but he knows what he's up against.

'It's not because of any one Democratic candidate, it's because of the environment we're in, and the answer is ‘yes,' ” the six-term Republican said Friday when asked whether this race will be his toughest.

The four Democrats - former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, state Sen. Rob Hogg and former legislators Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause - who are seeking their party's nomination are just one factor.

Another factor is his decision as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with 51 other GOP senators, not to have hearings on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee until after a new president is elected.

Whether that will affect the outcome for Grassley, who has cruised to easy victories in his five re-elections, is a question he can't answer. Iowans are divided on whether he should hold hearings.

'Sometimes the majority leans toward moving ahead and other days, the opposite,” Grassley said about opinions registered with his office. 'It kind of is related to what we call robocalls,” he said, referring to interest groups making automated calls to voters and connecting them to his office.

'I don't know whether you get a very good sample of how those things go. It varies from day to day,” he told a Des Moines Rotary club.

There's another unknown for Grassley - the presidential race, especially the GOP nominee.

'What's the impact of the top of the ticket?” Grassley said about the three remaining candidates - Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and businessman Donald Trump. 'It's too early to make that judgment.”

Even without the Supreme Court issue, he added, 'it's the top of the ticket.”

He knows Cruz and Kasich 'reasonably well” but has never spent much time with Trump. He knows him only through news coverage, Grassley said.

If asked about Trump's impact on other GOP candidates in a few months, Grassley said he hopes he could answer 'that Trump is an entirely different person as the person who might be our nominee, he's speaking out on issues more, I know where he stands. It would be easier for me to answer your question.”

He compared the GOP race to the 1980 contest when there were concerns Ronald Reagan would be bad for down-ballot candidates.

People wondered, 'How could a movie star be president?” Grassley said.

Reagan didn't hurt other GOP candidates, Grassley said. In fact, in Iowa, Grassley received 100,000 more votes in his first Senate race that year than Reagan.

The question this year is, 'Can an entrepreneur, a billionaire like Trump, be president?” Grassley said. 'You have to see how people react to it.”