Before last year’s election, Bleeding Heartland noted that Sandy Greiner was unique among Republican statehouse candidates. Only Greiner was running for office while also leading a political advocacy group that raised and spent millions of dollars from undisclosed donors.
Next week, Greiner will represent Iowa Senate district 45 as the state legislature begins its 2011 session. She also appears set to continue as president of the American Future Fund, a 501(c)4 organization that does not disclose its donors. More background information and thoughts about Greiner’s dual role are after the jump.
The American Future Fund spent nearly $10 million during the 2010 election cycle, taking seventh place on the Open Secrets chart of “Outside Expenditures in 2010 Elections, Excluding Party Committees.” Open Secrets listed nearly $7.4 million of the American Future Fund’s spending as “independent expenditures,” defined as “ads that expressly advocate the election or defeat of specific candidates and are aimed at the electorate as a whole.” About $2.2 million in American Future Fund spending qualified as “electioneering communications,” defined as
* broadcast ads (television or radio)
* airing within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election
* that mention or refer to a federal candidate
* and are aimed at 50,000 or more members of the electorate of the office the candidate is seeking.
All of the American Future Fund’s targets during the general election campaign were Democrats. The group spent more than $1 million against Representative Bruce Braley in Iowa’s first Congressional district. As I wrote during the campaign,
Greiner’s leadership role in a secret political fundraising operation raises obvious conflict-of-interest problems. As board president, she must know where the American Future Fund’s money comes from, even if journalists and her constituents do not. If Greiner is elected to the Iowa Senate, she’ll be in a position to support legislation that benefits certain individuals or corporations. The public will have no way to know whether she’s returning a favor to someone who’s been generous to the American Future Fund. Iowa law has long prohibited corporate donations directly to candidates, but corporations can donate to 501(c)4 groups like the American Future Fund.
Greiner didn’t mention her involvement with the American Future Fund in her official campaign announcement and downplayed the importance of that role in her official bio. When Craig Holman of the Washington-based Public Citizen group criticized her for wearing two hats, Greiner objected that she wasn’t an elected official yet:
“That is clearly a conflict of interest, and it would violate campaign finance law if she were running at the federal level,” Holman said. “This is a big concern; I mean this is the source of corruption in politics, when candidates and office holders are at the helm of secretive slush funds.”
Greiner disagreed, arguing that as a private citizen, it doesn’t constitute a conflict of interests. She said that if she wins the election, she will re-evaluate the situation.
“I’m a private citizen until I’m sworn in,” Greiner said.
The Iowa Senate begins work next week, and as of this morning, the 501(c)4 group’s website lists Greiner as president of the three-member board of directors. (The other two are Darrell Kearney and Barbara Smeltzer.)
Sandra Greiner, Director and President
Sandra is an Iowa State Senator and an Iowa farmer. In addition to serving in the State Legislature, Sandra is a volunteer for a variety of agricultural groups and grassroots political organizations. While in the Legislature, Sandra fights against tax increases and works to preserve conservative, free-market ideals for all Iowans.
Meanwhile, the American Future Fund has already launched its first shot of the 2012 election cycle. On the opening day of the 112th Congress, the group started running a radio commercial targeting Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. In keeping with the American Future Fund’s style, the radio spot doesn’t mention any upcoming election but is clearly aimed at hurting a Democratic incumbent’s standing with his constituents. The senior senator from North Dakota is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2012, and has not announced whether he plans to seek another term.
By the way, Nick Ryan, who used to be American Future Fund board chairman, is no longer listed as a member of the board on the group’s website. He continues to be actively involved and spoke for the fund when announcing the new radio ad campaign in North Dakota. Ryan was the largest individual donor to Greiner’s Iowa Senate campaign in 2010.
When the state legislators submit their updated personal financial disclosures, it will be interesting to see whether Greiner draws a salary as president of the American Future Fund. During her previous terms in the Iowa House and Senate, her personal financial disclosure reports all listed her as a self-employed farmer. But whether or not Greiner personally profits from her work with the American Future Fund, Iowans and especially her constituents have a right to know who is paying for the group’s political advocacy. Those donors could include individuals or corporations with a stake in the Iowa legislature’s decisions on the state budget or tax code.
Share any relevant thoughts in this thread.
P.S. Governor-elect Terry Branstad also has deep connections to the American Future Fund. Branstad’s inaugural co-chair and largest individual campaign donor was Bruce Rastetter, a key backer of the American Future Fund. Nick Ryan was also among the top ten individual donors to Branstad’s campaign. His campaign hired two staffers away from the American Future Fund, including communications director Tim Albrecht, who will continue in that role for the Branstad administration.