DES MOINES – The Iowa Association of Business and Industry’s (ABI) political action committee has announced its Friend of Iowa Business endorsements for 2016. The endorsements come after what it calls “a rigorous review process”.
Candidates are evaluated based on support for a competitive business climate and a focus on a regulatory climate conducive for job creation. Criteria used to make the Friend of Iowa Business designations include candidates’ positions on issues based on interviews, stated approach to general business community concerns, voting records for incumbent candidates, as well as input from ABI members and contributors to the Iowa Industry Political Action Committee (IIPAC).
“ABI and IIPAC strive to identify candidates for the Legislature on both sides of the aisle who understand and appreciate the challenges businesses are up against on a daily basis,” ABI President Mike Ralston said. “Our organization is confident these candidates will approach their role as elected officials with job creation and economic stability in mind.”
IIPAC is nonpartisan and endorses both Republican and Democratic candidates for legislative offices. The IIPAC committee, which is comprised of IIPAC contributors and makes the final Friend of Iowa Business selections, encourages voters to consider these endorsements when evaluating which candidates will focus on economic issues and help bring jobs to Iowa when voting this November.
A list of the endorsed candidates was published. In North Iowa, for House District 53, the ABI chose Republican Barb Hovland over Democrat incumbent Sharon Steckman.
