Latest deep dive by Tyler Higgs on money in Iowa politics. -promoted by desmoinesdem
There’s nothing more Iowan than farming, and there’s nothing more dangerous than a corrupt politician. Those idyllic Grant Wood images of Iowa farms and hard-working Iowa farmers are being replaced by logos of the Big Ag monopolies that exploit the Iowa family farmer for financial gain. That is how you corrupt Iowa agriculture.
In this article, I will show the finances of both candidates for Iowa secretary of agriculture, Republican Mike Naig and Democrat Tim Gannon. You can decide who is fighting for the family farmer and who is in the pocket of big agribusiness companies.
Naig has accepted $427,590.05. His average contribution was $588.97. Individuals gave 54.80 percent of the money he raised. Naig’s contributions from companies or other entities are, as follows:
| Donor | Amount | Description |
| #9161 Republican Party of Iowa 621 East Ninth Street Des Moines, IA, 50309 | $79,232.62 | |
| #6234 Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Political Action Committee 808 SE Shawver Dr Grimes, IA, 50111 | $50,000.00 |
This was best explained in desmoinesdem’s excellent article about Farm Bureau influence in this race
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| #8540 Republican State Leadership Committee 1201 F Street NW, Suite 675 Washington, DC, 20004 | $25,000.00 | |
| #6027 Deere & Company PAC – Iowa (Deere PAC-Iowa) One John Deere Place Moline, IL, 61265 | $5,000.00 |
John Deere is an agricultural equipment and machinery company that made $29.738 billion in revenue in 2017
|
| #8028 Monsanto Citizenship Fund Monsanto, 1300 I Street, NW, Ste 450E Washington, DC, 20005 | $5,000.00 |
Monsanto is an agrchemical/biotech company that made $14.64 billion in revenue in 2017
|
| #8537 Iowa Renewable Fuels Association PAC – IRFA 5505 NW 88th Street, #100 Johnston, IA, 50131 | $5,000.00 | Ethanol and Biodiesel advocates |
| #8313 Archer Daniels Midland Company – ADM PAC 4666 Faries Parkway, PO Box 1470 Decatur, IL, 62526-5666 | $3,000.00 |
Archer Daniels Midland is a food processing and commodities trading company that made $62.346 billion in revenue in 2016
|
| #8363 Syngenta Corporation Employee PAC Syngenta Corporation, 3411 Silverside Road, Ste 100 Wilmington, DE, 19810 | $2,500.00 |
Syngenta is a agrichemical/genomic research/seed company that made $12.65 billion in 2017.
|
| #8384 Smithfield Foods, Inc. PAC 2001 K Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC, 20006 | $2,000.00 |
Smithfield foods is a meat processing company that made $14.4 billion in 2017.
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| #9676 Iowa Corn Growers Association State PAC 5505 NW 88th Street #100 Johnston, IA, 50131 | $2,000.00 | |
| #9785 Iowa Cattlemen’s Association PAC P O Box 1490, 2055 Ironwood Ct Ames, IA, 50014-1490 | $2,000.00 | |
| #6160 Community Bankers of Iowa Political Action Committee Suite 202, 521 E. Locust Street Des Moines, IA, 50309 | $1,000.00 |
A group that lobbied for, among other things, HF 2234 allows banks to foreclose on property about twice as fast as previously allowed by cutting the time a person has to redeem their property.
|
| #6300 Fareway Stores, Inc. PAC (FASPAC) 2300 E. 8th St. Boone, IA, 50036 | $1,000.00 | A grocery company |
| #8052 Dupont Good Government Fund Experimental Station 328/407, 200 Powder Mill Rd Wilmington, DE, 19803 | $1,000.00 |
DowDuPont is the 4th largest chemicals company, bringing in $25.268 billion in revunue in 2015
|
| #8531 Western Iowa Energy LLC PAC PO Box 399, 1220 S. Center St. Wall Lake, IA, 51466 | $1,000.00 | Energy company |
| #8560 Absolute Energy PAC 1372 State Line Road St Ansgar, IA, 50472 | $1,000.00 | |
| #9751 Iowa Quarter Horse Racing PAC 2309 Timber Ridge Ave St. Charles, IA, 50240 | $1,000.00 | Horse racing advocates |
| #6069 Iowa Industry Political Action Committee or IIPAC Iowa Assn. of Business and Industry, 400 E. Court Ave., Ste 100 Des Moines, IA, 50309-2027 | $500.00 | |
| #8100 Faegre Baker Daniels State – Registered Political Fund Faegre Baker Daniels, 2200 Wells Fargo Center, 90 S 7th S Minneapolis, MN, 55402 | $500.00 | An international law firm that brought $466 million in revenue in 2015 |
| #8478 Siouxland Energy & Livestock Cooperative PAC 645 6th St, NW Sioux Center, IA, 51250 | $500.00 | |
| #8553 Western Dubuque Biodiesel PAC Locher & Locher, PO Box 7 Farley, IA, 52046 | $500.00 | |
| #8558 Iowa Renewable Energy PAC PO Box 2, 1701 E 7th St Washington, IA, 52353 | $500.00 | |
| #8782 Bayer U.S. LLC Political Action Committee 801 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 745 Washington, DC, 20004 | $500.00 |
Bayer is a pharmaceuticals/plastics/ag chemicals company that made $13.4 billion in revenue in 2013
|
| #8791 Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation Political Action Commit 900 Ridgebury Rd Ridgefield, CT, 06877 | $500.00 |
A German pharmaceuticals company that made €18.1 billion in revenue in 2016.
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| #9108 Jones County Republican Central Committee 12753 228th Ave. Anamosa, IA, 52205 | $500.00 | |
| #9726 Golden Grain Energy State PAC 1822 43rd St SW Mason City, IA, 50401 | $500.00 | An energy company that also gave $500 to Gannon |
| #9761 IWDA PAC 2400 170th St Charles City, IA, 50616 | $500.00 | Iowa White Tail Deer Association |
| #6072 NAIFA-Iowa IFAPAC 600 State St, Ste A Cedar Falls, IA, 50613 | $250.00 |
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors
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| #8552 LSCP PAC 4808 F Avenue Marcus, IA, 51035 | $250.00 | Little Sioux Corn Processors |
| #8610 Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC- SIRE PAC 10868 189th Street Council Bluffs, IA, 51503 | $250.00 | |
| #9150 Palo Alto County Republican Central Committee 301 Harrison Emmetsburg, IA, 50536 | $250.00 | |
| #9061 Dickinson County Republican Central Committee 557 DAM ROAD, PO BOX 436 ARNOLDS PARK, IA, 51331 | $200.00 | |
| #25085 Iowa Farm Team PAC PO Box 282 Des Moines, IA, 50301 | $150.00 | |
| #9003 Adams County Republican Central Committee 821 Benton Ave Corning, IA, 50841 | $100.00 | |
| #9193 Winnebago County Republican Central Committee 306 N Best St Forest City, IA, 50436 | $100.00 |
In comparison, Gannon has accepted $376,122.65. His average contribution was $322.63. Individuals gave 91.46 percent of the money he raised. Gannon’s contributions from companies or other entities are, as follows:
| #8794 Big Sky Values PAC 3242 Cummins Way Missoula, MT, 59802 | $15,000.00 |
Montana Governor Steve Bullock’s PAC. their website highlights advocating for overturning the Citizen’s United decision, raising the minimum wage and other progressive issues.
|
| #9098 Iowa Democratic Party 5661 Fleur Drive Des Moines, IA, 50321 | $4,000.00 | |
| #8798 Let America Vote PAC 611 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Num 143 Washington, DC, 20003 | $1,370.97 |
Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander’s PAC, advocating for fair voting practices and against efforts to restrict the right to vote.
|
| Pass the Hat PO Box 13374 Des Moines, IA, 50310-0374 | $1,165.45 |
This is Gannon’s office address. Pass the Hat doesn’t seem to be the name of an organization. These are probably a collection of unitemized “Pass the hat” type contributions. I’m unsure why he didn’t list them as “unitemized”.
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| #6089 Operating Engineers Local 234 Political Fund 4880 Hubbell Avenue Des Moines, IA, 50317 | $1,000.00 |
Local union for operating engineers
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| #8804 Opportunity & Renewal PAC PO Box 14172 Portland, OR, 97293 | $1,000.00 |
A PAC set up by Senator Jeff Merkley to elect progressive candidates
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| #9787 United Food & Commercial Workers Iowa Active Ballot Club 2411 W. Central Park Avenue Davenport, IA, 52804 | $1,000.00 |
Local union for workers in hospitality, agriculture, chemicals, etc.
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| #6139 United Steelworkers of America Local 310 Cope Account 125 NW Broadway Des Moines, IA, 50313 | $500.00 |
Local union for steelworkers
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| #6439 CWA Council of the State of IA COPE Fund 6200 Aurora Avenue, Suite 503E Urbandale, IA, 50322 | $500.00 |
Local union for communication workers
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| #8697 Win Back Your State 421 M Street NW Washington, DC, 20001 | $500.00 |
Martin O’Malley’s PAC to help down-ticket Democrats
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| #8802 Opportunity First 611 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Num 143 Washington, DC, 20003 | $500.00 |
Julian Castro’s PAC for young, progressive candidates
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| #9060 Dickinson County Democratic Central Committee 15183 215th Ave Spirit Lake, IA, 51360 | $500.00 | |
| #9672 Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 125 Political Education Fund 4192 Pikeview Drive Center Point, IA, 52213 | $500.00 |
Local union for plumbers
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| #9726 Golden Grain Energy State PAC 1822 43rd St SW Mason City, IA, 50401 | $500.00 |
An energy company that also gave $500 to Naig
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| #9028 Cass County Democratic Central Committee 1409 East 17th Street Atlantic, IA, 50022 | $400.00 | |
| #9871 Asian & Latino Coalition 1900 Cedar St. Norwalk, IA, 50211 | $400.00 |
Asian and Latino advocacy group
|
| #8738 The Majority Rules PAC PO Box 13196 Des Moines, IA, 50310 | $350.00 |
A PAC founded by Jim Mowrer, originally dedicated to electing candidates who support abolishing the electoral college
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| #6467 Communication Workers of America Local 7102-Closed Account 3612 SW 9th Des Moines, IA, 50315 | $300.00 |
A local union for communication workers
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| #9070 Franklin County Democratic Central Committee 503 7th Ave NE Hampton, IA, 50441 | $300.00 | |
| #9133 Mitchell County Democratic Central Committee 615 Pine St. Osage, IA, 50461-1313 | $300.00 | |
| #9018 Buchanan County Democratic Central Committee 1550 240th St. Independence, IA, 50644 | $200.00 | |
| #9597 Democratic Women of Buchanan County 920 W 8th Ave Marion, IA, 52302 | $200.00 | |
| #9088 Henry County Democratic Central Committee 206 East Madison Street Mt. Pleasant, IA, 52641-2007 | $100.00 | |
| #9159 Poweshiek County Democratic Central Committee 1816 Prince Street Grinnell, IA, 50112 | $100.00 | |
| #9840 C2E2 2489 Birchwood Dr. Asbury, IA, 52002 | $100.00 |
Based on a google search, this is either a PAC in Iowa or a comic book convention in Chicago. Assuming it’s the PAC, I can’t find anything on what they stand for. They’re registered at someone’s home address and haven’t accepted any contributions other than interest on their bank account since 8/22/2014. Maybe some old PAC that is just donating the last of its funds?
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| #9113 Lee County Democratic Central Committee 2125 343rd Avenue Wever, IA, 52658 | $50.00 | |
| #9176 Taylor County Democratic Central Committee 2830 235th St Bedford, IA, 50833 | $50.00 |
1 Comment
This is a good informative chart and a public service...
…and it definitely shows what’s going on. Thank you.
We really need a new better term than “family farmer,” however. When a “family farm” consists of several brothers and their adult kids owning and operating thousands of acres of conventional rowcrops and doing no conservation whatsoever except the bare minimum needed to get crop insurance subsidies, that is not my idea of the kind of farming I want to generously support with tax dollars. The same is true for the regenerative-agriculture advocates I know.
What really matters is the kind of agriculture that is being done, far more than whether the people who are doing it are related to each other. I don’t know what the new term should be, but we need to find it.
PrairieFan Wed 31 Oct 4:58 PM
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