$50 gets you on board: For Five Grand, you can co-Host; Longtime GOP funder Blodgett assembles Iowa’s “A-Team” for the Governor –
July, 2012.
CLEAR LAKE – Dr. Gary Blodgett and his wife, Sandy, will host Gov. Terry Branstad on ‘The Lady of the Lake’ passenger boat, to raise money for the Branstad/Reynolds re-election campaign. The two-hour event will take place on Friday, July 18th, from 5 pm to 7 pm, in Clear Lake. The Blodgetts have brought together what truly appears to be Iowa’s ‘A-List’ of the Republican Establishment, a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of the Iowa Republican Party financial backers, including prominent GOP supporters from north Iowa, Des Moines, and even Lake Okoboji.
Co-hosting the event will be 6-term Des Moines city Council member Christine Hensley and her husband, Steven. The Hensleys own a summer home on Clear Lake, where the Blodgetts have owned property for nearly 45 years. According to the invitation (shown here), each of the 39 ‘co-hosts’ and ‘Sponsors’ paid between $1,000 and $5,000 to participate in the event, but the “requested contribution” amount is only $50. Gary Blodgett is a retired Mason City orthodontist and businessman who represented Cerro Gordo county in the Iowa Legislature from 1992-2001, where he served as Deputy Majority Leader.
Since the mid-1970s, Dr. Blodgett has been one of Iowa’s top Republican fundraisers, beginning with his efforts on behalf of President Gerald R. Ford’s 1976 campaign. President George W. Bush appointed Blodgett in 2001 to the position of Federal administrative Judge, in which Blodgett served until 2008, in Washington, D.C. Dr. Blodgett adjudicated legal cases relating to health care law, under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.
‘The Lady of the Lake’ is a paddle wheel steamboat that’s been cruising on Clear Lake since 1987. The ship’s capacity is 150 passengers, and among its amenities are a dance floor, two restrooms, a fully stocked bar, an open-air upper level, a stage and sound system, and what the vessel’s website says are “the services of North Iowa’s finest caterers” for on-board functions.
Christine Hensley was first elected to the Des Moines City Council in 1994, and is now serving her sixth term. She and her husband are primarily summer residents of Clear Lake. Lining up substantial sums of campaign cash is nothing new for Gary Blodgett, who has also raised funds for U. S. Senator Charles Grassley, Congressmen Steve King and Tom Latham, and former Congressmen Jim Nussle, Fred Grandy, and candidates for the Iowa Legislature, and various county-level offices in north Iowa. When contacted by NorthIowaToday.com, Gary Blodgett said he hopes to “raise as much money for Terry Branstad and [Lt. Gov.] Kim Reynolds as we can. In politics”, Blodgett said, “campaign cash is an excellent barometer of support, and Iowans are solidly behind Terry Branstad.”
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An NIT subscriber who was invited to the Blodgett’s reception/cruise with Governor Branstad
provided her invitation to NIT, which is reprinted here:
I hope people go to the lake they will picket Brain-dead and the Blodgett’s, it is time for these Republitard’s to go!!!!!!!
They don’t want a person with terminal cancer to have any pot! Now pour everyone another round of drinks and let’s laugh about it.
I could give a rat’s about all the big money Gary Blodgett give to Braindead, raise for him. What bug’s me, is doc has our supervisers under his Republitard thumb he keeps them in there that is for shit. Chris Watt would of beat Dougherty last time then Blodgett pays for letters they say, your tax will go up if Watt wins. Now Gary he plays for keeps, he wants to get this Callahan kid in he use to work for him. One man don’t need so much power, specially a rich Republitard.
If Chris could win he would have. IO would have voted for him if I could. But to blame Dr. Blodgett who is only one vote is flat stupid.
From what I heard Chris screwed himself when he backed out of a promise he had made. Get your facts right before shooting off your big mouth.
Is this the Jim Stanton (listed as a host/sponsor) who gave up his law license so he could keep that old lady’s money? If so, it speaks volumes of Branstad’s ethics.
This is rich. A bunch of people drinking on a boat who support putting cancer patients in jail over cannabis. Ain’t that America for you and me-John Mellencamp. Just one more reason why Iowa sucks.
If Jay Urdal sees this what do you bet he will go to begging Blodgett’s for a free ticket. Then if old doc let’s Jay in, he will stuff his pocket’s with every donut and frito can fit.