Statewide Republican Nominees Headline Tassel Ridge Winery Event

From Left to Right: Bill Northey, Brenna Findley, Dave Jamison, Terry Branstad, Dave Vaudt, Matt Schultz

Editors Note: Osky News strives to be fair and balanced in its political news coverage. We try to cover every Democrat and Republican event but can’t make it to them if we are not notified in advance. If you have any future political event you want covered, please e-mail us at info@oskynews.org

The top 6 Republicans nominated for statewide office hosted a meet and greet event at Tassle Ridge Winery this evening merely 1 week before the election. Republican Governor nominee Terry Branstad, Secretary of State nominee Matt Schultz, State Auditor David Vaudt, Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, State Treasurer nominee Dave Jamison, and Attorney General nominee Brenna Findley all headlined the event. The candidates each took time to speak with us at Osky News. All candidates were asked the same three questions. Note- We did talk to Dave Jamison but due to technical problems his interview was not available. We will post his response to our questions when it is available.

Mahaska County Supervisor Willie VanWeelden (left), Mahaska County Supervisor Candidate Ken Rozenboom (center) and State Treasurer Candidate Dave Jamison at October 25 Tassel Ridge Event.

What are your feelings on the use of state funds for apparent personal campaign ads?

Schultz: “I hate it. It’s wrong. When I am elected Secretary of State you will never see my face, my picture, you won’t hear my voice, you won’t see my name on any public service annoucment using tax payer dollars. If I am going to be doing that, I am going to use my campaign funds to do that.”

Northey: “I just think that especially close to an election, we should not be using state funds for those kinds of activities.”

Branstad: “I think that’s wrong. I don’t think that somebody that is in political office ought to be using that to benefit their campaign.”

Findley: “I think that taxpayer dollars need to be guarded. I don’t think it’s right when elected officials use our tax dollars to run their campaigns.”

Vaudt: “I think that is really important that we spend taxpayer money wisely. I think it is so important that if you truly feel that you have a civic duty to talk about your office and what you do, you can do that without mentioning your name.”

What makes your qualifications better than your opponent’s?

Schultz: “People don’t realize that the secretary of state’s office has a huge business aspect. My opponent has no business experience. I have had to sign the front of a payroll check. I have employees. As a city councilman, we have worked hard to bring businesses to Council Bluffs like Google. I have experience in economic development and business.”

Northey: “A long history of being involved in agriculture and being around state government. I feel good about understanding agriculture, understanding ethenol production, understanding livestock production, and understanding the way most folks do agriculture.”

Branstad: “I served the people of the state of Iowa before. When you want to compare candidates, look at what they have achieved. I took Iowa from 8.5% unemployment to 2.5% unemployment and I left the state with a balanced budget and a $900 million surplus.”

Findley: “I am the same age my opponent was in 1978 when he was elected and I have the same amount of legal experience, but the parallels stop right there. I will join the lawsuit to stop the federal government from taking over our health care laws and dictating to us the type of insurance we have to have as private citizens. My opponent has a different view on that matter.”

Vaudt: “As most people know, I am the only CPA running for state auditor and it’s so important that a Certified Public Accountant serve as the state auditor. A primary function is to audit and only Certified Public Accountant’s can conduct audits and my opponent is not.”

What has been your biggest challenge to overcome in this election?

Schultz: “Kissing my babies goodbye as I am driving across the state. It takes a real toll on a family. It’s quite a sacrifice and until you run for office you don’t realize how hard it is.”

Northey: “We certainly have had challenges around the state of Iowa. The budget is the biggest concern. The last two years 2008 to 2010 we have had a budget cut of 23% and so to manage that and still do the responsibilities that the department is responsible for: the meat inspection, dairy inspection , the fertilizer inspection, the other activities, conservation. (We) still had to do those. We  now have 77 less people than we did two years ago.”

Branstad: “I don’t know that there has been any real big challenge. It’s been a lot of fun. I have been to every county. I am in the process of going to every college and university in the state. We have gotten great reception. This is the first time that I have ever had people say ‘thank you for running’.”

Findley: “The biggest challenge is that Iowa is a big state and I have campaigned in all 99 counties and continue to do so to listen to Iowans because I know that in order to serve as their attorney, I have to do what I do in private practice which is: I listen to my clients and serve their need.”

Vaudt: “The biggest challenge has been just trying to serve Iowans the best I can. It’s very challenging when you have a lot of (inaudible) across the state of Iowa and so you have to spend a lot of time focusing on those misdeeds.”

Posted by on Oct 26 2010. Filed under News, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

2 Comments for “Statewide Republican Nominees Headline Tassel Ridge Winery Event”

  1. […] Statewide Republican Nominees headline Tassel Ridge Winery Event- October 26th […]

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