A new group called “Iowa Pays the Price” has formed to “educate” Iowans about the need for reform of campaign finance laws that allow donors to spend unlimited amounts to try to influence elections. Five Iowans are co-chairs of the effort. Two are Democrats, two are Republicans and one is an independent. Democrat Brad Anderson ran Barack Obama’s 2012 Iowa campaign. He points out that mostly because of Iowa’s key U.S. Senate race in 2014, campaign spending in Iowa increased 350% compared to 2010 and, for the first time, the candidates themselves spent less than outside groups.
Former Hampton Mayor Shawn Dietz is also part of the “Iowa Pays the Price” effort. He’s chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party.
Over the next several months “Iowa Pays the Price” plans to release “detailed studies” about the outside groups that spent nearly $112 million in 2014 trying to influence federal races in Iowa.
