DES MOINES – The Jack Hatch campaign fired away at Governor Branstad Wednesday, pointing to hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Branstad political appointees.
Earlier Wednesday, a report from a liberal political group exposed data that shows the governor raised more than $800,000.00 from people he appointed to positions in state government.
“Let that sink in,” said Grant Woodard, Hatch’s Campaign Manager. “The Governor of Iowa accepted nearly a million dollars from people he put into jobs in his government.”
Woodward didn’t stop there. He reflected on the numerous scandals that have marred Branstad for months.
“This is the same administration in which employees were fired and given secret settlements, longtime public servants were pushed out to make room for the Governor’s friends, and hush money was paid to keep it all quiet.
“It’s easy to see now why Terry Branstad would allow this culture of corruption to run rampant in his administration.”
Woodward said “those who ‘pay’ get to ‘play'” and Branstad is “racking up record-breaking fundraising numbers with this tactic.”
According to Woodward, the Des Moines Register reported many state jobs in the administration remain “hidden” from the public.
“If Branstad’s appointees want to find a candidate for an open state position, all they have to do is flip through the Branstad campaign contributors list.
“Branstad loves to say Iowa isn’t like Illinois. But with Branstad in charge, it’s getting hard to tell the difference.”
Woodward claims that Hatch will “restore the honesty and integrity Iowans have rightly come to expect from their government” but didn’t elaborate on how he would accomplish this.
