Candidates for the Iowa legislature were required to submit campaign finance disclosure reports on October 19 and November 2. The Schedule E forms on “In-Kind Contributions” contained the most interesting numbers, because they showed how Democratic and Republican party leaders are allocating resources across the battleground districts.
After the jump I’ve enclosed in-kind contribution figures for the Senate districts expected to be in play tomorrow. Candidates running in other Senate races did not report large in-kind contributions from their respective parties.
Republican candidates for the Iowa Senate received the bulk of their in-kind contributions from the “Republican Party of Iowa and its Eisenhower Club.” For brevity, I’m calling that the Iowa GOP below. Senate Minority Leader Jerry Behn reported giving $60,000 to the state party on his October 19 filing and more than $185,000 to the party on his November 2 filing. Senate Minority Whip Brad Zaun gave just $5,000 to the Polk County Republican Party and $11,500 to his party’s Senate majority fund–a heck of a lot less than I’d expect for an ambitious politician. Keep in mind that Zaun represents wealthy precincts in Urbandale and doesn’t have a general election opponent this year. I thought he would follow the example of his Senate colleague Bill Dix, who spread his campaign cash around to several GOP Senate challengers in the fall of 2010.
Democratic candidates for the Iowa Senate received the bulk of their in-kind contributions from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund or from the Iowa Democratic Party. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal donated more than $900,000 from his Senate campaign account to the state party.
All of the numbers given below reflect in-kind contributions.
Senate district 6
Mary Bruner reported $106,526.72 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and did not file a November 2 disclosure.
Mark Segebart reported $3,467.10 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $31,306.68 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).
Senate district 8
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal reported $135,072.44 from the Iowa Democratic Party (October 19 disclosure) and $57,597.02 from the Iowa Democratic Party (November 2 disclosure).
Al Ringgenberg reported $73,281.10 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $74,943.06 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).
Senate district 26
Mary Jo Wilhelm reported $224,922.92 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and $157,288 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (November 2 disclosure).
Merlin Bartz reported $35,605.84 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $65,462.05 from the Iowa GOP plus $7,545.47 from the Team Iowa PAC (November 2 disclosure). Nick Ryan runs the Team Iowa PAC; he is better known to Bleeding Heartland readers as the leader of the 501(c)4 group American Future Fund.
Senate district 28
John Beard reported $144,752.56 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and $138,284.72 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (November 2 disclosure).
Mike Breitbach reported $39,149.27 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $43,721.41 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).
Senate district 30
Senator Jeff Danielson reported $27,000 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and $118,913.00 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (November 2 disclosure).
Matt Reisetter reported $48,433.80 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $105,153.70 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).
Senate district 32
Senator Brian Schoenjahn reported $60,527.56 from the Iowa Democratic Party (October 19 disclosure) and $49,179.36 from the Iowa Democratic Party (November 2 disclosure).
Elliott Henderson reported $36,977.91 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $44,442.59 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure)
Senate district 34
Senator Liz Mathis reported $40,455.24 from the Iowa Democratic Party (October 19 disclosure) and $20,670 from the Iowa Democratic Party (November 2 disclosure).
Republican challenger Ryan Flood did not report in-kind contributions from the Iowa GOP.
Senate district 36
Senator Steve Sodders reported $134,281.10 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and $224,972.93 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (November 2 disclosure).
Jane Jech reported $32,041.26 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $14,636.04 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).
Senate district 42
Rich Taylor reported $144,531.64 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and $106,309.12 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (November 2 disclosure).
Larry Kruse reported $26,315.33 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $12,128.17 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).
Senate district 46
Chris Brase reported $166,469.54 from the Iowa Democratic Party (October 19 disclosure) and $157,452.28 from the Iowa Democratic Party (November 2 disclosure).
Senator Shawn Hamerlinck reported $30,318.61 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and did not file a November 2 disclosure report.
Senate district 48
Nate Willems reported $236,773.38 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and $41,000 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (November 2 disclosure).
Dan Zumbach reported $22,952.00 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $54,148.16 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).
Senate district 49
Rita Hart reported $186,598.07 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (October 19 disclosure) and $103,322.80 from the Iowa Senate Majority Fund (November 2 disclosure).
Andrew Naeve reported $24,323.82 from the Iowa GOP (October 19 disclosure) and $10,155.66 from the Iowa GOP (November 2 disclosure).