Gibbons Wins Over GOP Heavy Hitters
- Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 4:33
- Iowa, News Center, Top Story
- 4,509 views
- 57 comments
This evening, Denny Elwell is hosting a holiday party for Jim Gibbons’ campaign for Congress. Gibbons is one of four official candidates who is seeking the Republican nomination in Iowa’s third congressional district. Along with Gibbons, State Senator Brad Zaun, retired airline pilot Dave Funk, and retired architect Mark Rees are all competing for the opportunity to take on Congressman Leonard Boswell in the 2010 general election.
Elwell, a commercial real estate developer, is a well-connected donor who has given to a number of Republican candidates over the years. The Elwell event will provide the first glimpse of how well Gibbons can raise money for his campaign. With the crowded primary field, donor money will be at a premium.
Thus far, Gibbons seems to have leg up on his competition. For the event tomorrow, Gibbons has recruited 85 individuals to serve on his host committee. Members of the host committee have contributed $250 or more to his campaign.
Gibbons told TheIowaRepublican.com, “We’ve only been doing this for a few weeks, but we’re off to a great start. I’m humbled by the outpouring of support from the community. Everything I’ve ever done in my life I’ve dedicated 110 percent to, whether it was a preparing for a match, working to be successful in business, or now running to beat Leonard Boswell. Iowans are hungry for change, and I will work day and night to ensure the people of the 3rd district will have a conservative voice representing them in Congress.”
While the size of his host committee is impressive, so are some of the names on the list. In addition to Elwell’s support, other prominent Republican donors such as Gary Kirke, Bruce Rastetter, and John Ruan are listed as early supporters of Gibbons’ congressional campaign.
While those donors have a history of supporting a number of candidates, Gibbons has also earned the support of the last Republican Congressman to represent Polk County in Congress, Dr. Greg Ganske. Ganske, a former wrestler, is joined by two other well known grapplers, college wrestling legend Dan Gable, and Perry Hummel, a three-time All-American from Iowa State who was Gibbons’ college roommate. Hummel is currently the Vice President of Hummel’s Nissan in Urbandale.
In a phone interview with TheIowaRepublican.com, Hummel stated his reasons for believing Gibbons is the best candidate to take on Congressman Boswell.
“Having been Jim’s college roommate and teammate, I can attest to his tremendous work ethic. As a wrestler and later as a coach, I’ve seen Jim excel as a leader, motivator, and communicator. Like Jim, I’m also concerned with the out-of-control spending in Washington and the massive amount of debt we are leaving to our children. Jim will be an exceptional member of Congress, and [he]has what it takes to be successful in this endeavor.”
Another name on the list that will be helpful to Gibbons’ campaign is former State Senator John Putney. Putney represented three and a half out of the eleven counties in the third district. These counties include Grundy, Benton, Tama, and three precincts in Iowa County. With all five candidates being from Polk County, having the support of a well-respected former legislator who served with one of your main primary opponents is an impressive feat.
In addition to helping Gibbons in his old legislative district, Putney is also well connected to donors all across Iowa. Putney serves as the Executive Director of the Iowa State Fair’s Blue Ribbon Foundation, which raises money to make capital improvements to the fair grounds.
Whether a person is running for the state legislature, governor, or congress, having the support of people who have the ability and wherewithal to help raise money is absolutely critical. Gibbons has now shown how seriously he is taking his campaign. His aggressive fundraising effort out of the gate not only will helps him run a credible and professional campaign, but it also makes it more difficult for his opponents to raise money by taking some of the biggest Republican donors off the table.
Gibbons did not indicate how much money he plans to raise at tonight’s event. Instead, we will have to wait for the end of the year FEC disclosers to be released next month. At any rate, Gibbons looks to have locked up a significant number of the big Republican donors in his first month as a candidate. That is no easy task for any candidate, let alone someone who hasn’t been involved in politics before.
While all of the third district candidates have just begun to ramp up their campaign efforts, the Republican Primary is less than six months away. That may seem like a long time from now, but our radios and television sets will soon be filled with political ads once again. Gibbons’ early fundraising success puts him in a good position going into the election year.
About the Author
Craig Robinson has written 700 stories on this site.
Craig Robinson serves as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com. Prior to founding Iowa's largest conservative news site, Robinson served as the Political Director of the Republican Party of Iowa during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. In that capacity, Robinson planned and organized the largest political event in 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa. Robinson also organized the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa, and was later dispatched to Nevada to help with the caucuses there. Robinson cut his teeth in Iowa politics during the 2000 caucus campaign of businessman Steve Forbes and has been involved with most major campaigns in the state since then. His extensive political background and rolodex give him a unique perspective from which to monitor the political pulse of Iowa.
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That is interesting…..I just got Brad Zaun’s holiday party invite in the mail and there are far more names on the Zaun host committee, and just as well known if not more so.
is this the free party brad announced at yesterdays breakfast club he is having at tom vlassis’ hangout? also, are you the funny little man that stood next to brad the whole time at breakfast yesterday? can you change your name from mirage to brad’s life coach? cute website.
and i wonder if you are brad’s life coach and self described political director, does he share all your same views you express on this blog and the liberal blogs you also hang out on? i just wonder, wonder wonder because you are so negative.
sorry wonders……i didn’t make it to any breakfast club yesterday….(some of us have to work for a living), so keep it up with your lies on this website…be a good little Gibbons minion and crawl back in your hole. But say hi to Jim for me, wish him happy holidays, and ask “how Beverly and the kids” are this holiday season.
mirage, lying so are you now or yesterday?
mirage wrote on 15 December, 2009, 20:22
wonders, i heard the speech this morning was excellent, filled with much of what Zaun HAS done as you said, as he is the only one in the race with an elected background
mirage, care to share some of the “big names” on the Zaun party host list?
This looks like the conservative money machine has kicked in for Gibbons. I don’t have a big checkbook, but moderates and centrists will need to keep their eyes on Zaun, Bertroche and Rees to see which one of them is worth supporting. There are too many people running for them all to be viable. So, if Gibbons has the conservative money machine wrapped up, we need to find the best moderate/centrist among the rest and back them.
Mirage..
Sounds like Zaun once again is demonstrating his lack of prowess in fundraising…and even getting the support of former colleagues. John Putney is a VERY well respected individual in GOP circles and his support will be very helpful to Gibbons in gaining support in and around the eastern part of the 3rd District.
Plus..getting Greg Ganske’s endorsement this early, is a big blow to the rest of the primary field. Sounds like Gibbons is well on his way to being the front runner here.
Then again Mirage…you’re Jim Gibbons best campaigner right now…as you’re doing well in making Brad Zaun look petty and mean-spirited every day on here.
hcr1 sed: “Then again Mirage…you’re Jim Gibbons best campaigner right now…as you’re doing well in making Brad Zaun look petty and mean-spirited every day on here”
Not bad HCR, good analysis.
Sorry if my imprimatur does you any damage among your TIR peers.
Gibbons and Zaun are both great guys and great candidates, I don’t think we should be spending our time going negative between the two because in the end that only helps Bowell. Campaign hard for your candidate but keep it clean, because any of them is better than Boswell.
That said, these pick ups are a great sign for Gibbons. Good analysis Craig.
I wouldn’t assume that none of these Gibbons donors will support Zaun. A lot of the heavy hitters donate to multiple candidates. For instance, in 2007 Bruce Rastetter maxed out to both Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.
Presidential and Gubernatorial politics is a little different than a congressional. Iowa donors are a pretty loyal bunch. Look at the reports in the 2nd CD primary last year and the 1st CD primary in 2006. Not much crossover in the primary. I was raising money for campaigns in each.
Great news. Keep up the aggressive fundraising, Mr. Gibbons. Let’s take back our district!
mirage,
Just so you know I have never met/spoken to Jim Gibbons or any member of his family so I really don’t think I will be saying hi to him for you any time soon. But if you care to share your real name I would be willing to figure out how to.
I am just a concerned 3rd district Republican voter.
DSM. Just an FYI, the link you provided shows that Rastetter maxed out to Romney but then the contribution was refunded. Don’t know what the story was there but also proves my point.
wonders…so i go to work today, and have to come home to you calling me a liar because i said i had heard that the Zaun speech was excellent? what is wrong with you?
while you are explaning that why don’t you also explain why Gibbons is the only candidate that proposes congress votes and RAISES the debt limit (unlike ANY other candidate in the primary), and actually proposes to ADD $625 billion dollars to the deficit. Not only that, he proposes to do so in 16 days. care to tell us all why every real conservative in the race proposes reducing the deficit, and how Gibbons want’s to take the opposite approach?…and tell us how he is going to do that in 16 days?….that should be good! Believe me, the other real conservative candidates will not let Gibbons forget this dumb deficit spending proposal ALL primary season.
I support reducing the deficit and not adding to the burden on our children and grandchildren….I am sorry to see Mr. Gibbons wants to add billions of dollars of burden to our children.
http://theiowarepublican.com/home/2009/12/11/gibbons-announces-plan-to-keep-more-money-in-the-pockets-of-iowans/
mirage, I am sorry I misunderstood. You are full of personal attacks. Wow. Really doesn’t put a good image on for Sen. Zaun.
As I said I don’t know Mr. Gibbons so I don’t know why you are attacking me. wow.
Is that how Zaun tells his supporters to act? Tell people they don’t know to crawl back in a hole? How do you know I haven’t voted for Zaun in the past? Do you think your actions want to make me want to vote for him in the future?
Isn’t this supposed to be about the candidates? Are you proud of how you act? I have just been asking questions.
As I said I am a concerned 3rd district Republican voter.
wonders you are SO full of it……..no attack there at all, but you would so love playing the crying victim. So….stick to issues..and answer the question on the issues (if you can)….why does Mr. Gibbons want to add that huge debt burden to our children and grandchildren, and why does he want our congress to vote to raise the debt limit? it is about issues wonders….issues!
and wonders…if you come here calling me a liar, you better back it up instead of trying to turn it around on me. and since you can’t, let us just see if you stick to just issues from now on instead of trying to come after me. knock off your personal attacks, as it is beneath any of the campaigns, and stick to facts.
I dont’ work for Gibbons or know him. So ask him or someone affiliated with his campaign. I can’t answer the questions because I don’t know the proposal. I don’t know all of the background.
Why are you so angry? Do you not like me asking questions about Sen. Zaun’s former business or his ability to pay his mortgage? I think it is a fair question. By the way those questions were not directed at you personally. Just things I wonder about.
I also find it interesting that he rarely talks about working for his father-in-law.
as has been told so many times to you wonder, Zaun did pay all what he owed in full and you know it. his inspiring story has been detailed years ago and this year too in the DSM Register (and many times on this site) how he went thru hard times and came through it, not asking for government handouts or a bailout, and paid back every dime. Truly that is what makes a lot of us think he is an attractive candidate, as he has been thru the tough times, survived it, and made it to good times. Fair question, now answered for the 1000th time……..
Now, answer my questions about why Gibbons wants to be the only republican candidate to ask congress to raise the debt ceiling and put us all $625 billion more in debt, and mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren.
So are you going to apologize to me for tell me to crawl in a hole and calling me names? Lets remember who started the personal attacking?
Paying your bills is an issue. It is an issue that we are watching the state deal with now. If Sen. Zaun is such a leader what did he personally propose to get us out of the situation? I mean he voted to expand the Film Credit Tax mess to include salaries right? Did he vote with his heart there or his head?
Mirage do you not read. I clearly don’t know Gibbons. Anything I would say would be a guess. And you can make guesses as well as I am. You clearly personally know Zaun. If you are going to personally attack me get it right. Ask Gibbons and his people about his stance on things not me.
Mirage, the only this I found on this site about Senator Zaun’s mortgage is you answering questions about Zaun’s ability to pay his bills is your word. Can you provide more details and background? Because this is something that really bothers me. I believe you I just can’t find it. The same with the Des Moines Register. I went to their website and I couldn’t find anything regarding his mortgage. Again I am sure it is out there. Maybe just not available if it is a couple of years ago.
wonders….this is such old news, and Zaun has talked about it the last three campaigns. The inspiring story of Zaun going through hard times and turning around his business has been in the paper many many times, lately in the waterloo paper and the dsm register…here is a link to one recent discussion of those times …..
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912080317
now, i suggest you get out of what is Zaun’s personal business, unless you wish to disclose your credit history and the personal credit history of all candidates…(funny you are not asking questions about any of the others) and concentrate on the real campaign issues ..what bothers me is the huge deficit Mr. Gibbons wants to run up on my children and grandchildren…still no one can justify the $625 billion dollar addition to the debt that Mr. Gibbons wants to run up on ALL of us……..
Mirage..
If people like you are who Brad Zaun is choosing to surround himself with in his campaign leadership…good luck even thinking about winning the primary let alone a general election against Boswell.
As I stated earlier..you’re Jim Gibbons best campaigner for him right now…as you are only making Brad Zaun look petty and mean spirited…
Then again..Zaun has a record that he’s going to have to defend…and there’s more than a few questionable votes and things as a legislator Zaun has supported. Instead of defending them…perhaps his strategy is to instead tear down his other opponents and their supporters.
hawk, your attempts on behalf of the Gibbons campaign to personally attack me, as wel as the Zaun campaign are slime at best. stick to issues. i have asked legitimate questions on issues….and you choose to answer with personal attacks.
your attempts at deflecting legitimate quetions and attempts to define these questions as petty and mean spirited are easy to see through. nice attempt to duck the issues again.
Gibbons, as well as every candidate in the race, have issues to defend …answer the questions on those issues and get out of the gutter with your attempts to smear. the sad desperation of your efforts is showing with every post you create like this latest attempt to denegrate not only a candidate but those that ask any question here.
let me make this as clear as possible (and answer it if you will)……what justifies any candidate to make their first proposal adding $525 billion to the debt of our children as Gibbons did? (there is nothing there but an issues question…answer it).
hawk, the real issue in this campaign right now is we have real conservative candidates wanting to reduce the deficit, and we have only one (Gibbons) wanting to add billions of dollars of federal debt to the backs of our children and grandchildren.
that, along with Zaun’s outstanding record in office is the huge difference in candidates is at this point.
Mirage, you want to talk about this issues. How come you haven’t responded to any of my other questions about Zaun and his ability to vote with his head for his constituents.
And by the way you complain about personal attacks but I still haven’t received an apology for your name calling. Is that what the Zaun campaign is advocating?
By the way mirage when I looked up info on the other candidates I didn’t see that any of them had foreclosures in their background otherwise I would be asking that too.
wonders, no apology will be forthcoming as you continue lying…secondly, those in glass houses should not throw stones. as stated before, all candidates have issues, all are easily found online, and you are only focusing on one to denegrate here. believe me, you do not want to focus this campaign on personal issues because wonders, i KNOW you did not look very hard at all.
i reasonably suggest unless you dig in all candidate’s history, you drop the personal attacks on one.
i believe ALL candidates would agree with that approach.
back to issues only, not personal attacks.
Once again, the real issue in this campaign right now is we have real conservative candidates wanting to reduce the deficit, and we have only one (Gibbons) wanting to add billions of dollars of federal debt to the backs of our children and grandchildren.
that, along with Zaun’s outstanding record in office is the huge difference in candidates is at this point.
Mirage..
I didn’t attack you at all. I simply stated the reality here..that if Brad Zaun is choosing to surround himself with people like you in his campaign….good luck in winning the primary..let alone a general election.
Again..you’re Jim Gibbons best campaign weapon so far…as I can guarantee you that you’re alienating people that might just support Zaun. And from the looks of things, Zaun is going to need all the support he can get considering the impressive group of leaders that are supporting Gibbons.
But hey..if Brad Zaun wants to make himself politically radioactive for future campaigns…more power to him.
hawk..thanks for again proving my point loud and clear….you cannot get past 6 words “I didn’t attack you at all” before launching yet another salvo at me. incredible lameness.
thanks for helping Brad Zaun yet again, as you just leave people scratching their heads after your postings.
again, just to be clear….. the real issue in this campaign right now is we have real conservative candidates wanting to reduce the deficit, and we have only one (Gibbons) wanting to add billions of dollars of federal debt to the backs of our children and grandchildren.
that, along with Zaun’s outstanding record in office is the huge difference in candidates is at this point. facts are facts.
I have to agree with hawk. The Brad Zaun campaign where supporters call Zaun’s constituents names and don’t feel bad about it. At least that is my experience.
Mrs. Zaun (mirage) just got home from work. I have never seen a candidate’s wife spend so much time blogging.
keep ignoring the facts Mr. Truth…..it is painfully obvious you can’t take the real facts, and would rather throw out lies and insults.
Now..back to real facts:
the real issue in this campaign right now is we have real conservative candidates wanting to reduce the deficit, and we have only one (Gibbons) wanting to add billions of dollars of federal debt to the backs of our children and grandchildren..
that, along with Zaun’s outstanding record in office is the huge difference in candidates is at this point.
thanks for once again allowing me to return the postings here to facts.
Facts…you want facts, Mirage?
How bout facts like Zaun choose to side with Democrats and liberal groups like Planned Parenthood, the ISEA and AFSCME to take local control out of the hands of school boards?
Or how Zaun introduced legislation that would have set spending limits on legislative and statewide campaigns? That doesn’t sound like something a conservative would advocate.
Or how Zaun voted to take away local option sales tax revenues from communities and instead INCREASED the state sales tax to create a new slush fund for the Legislature?
So..lets see here..Zaun’s got a record of raising sales taxes, taking away decisions from local school boards and advocating an Iowa version of McCain/Feingold…. Doesn’t sound very conservative at all…..
HawkCR1 just gave mirage a dose of the truth.
hawk, so you support school bullying and harassment…..nice…how is that going to play in front of a crowd….that should be good!
on your second issue, i am sure glad Zaun wants to see politicians not bought and paid for, see the Iowa Progress link below for more on that and how Gibbons is not a social conservative….I don’t agree with democrats much, but that article is spot on..by the way, ask the tea party about bought and paid for candidates….thirdly, can you point out where Zaun voted for a sales tax increase?…maybe I missed that vote. however, i do wonder about Gibbons proposal for his $625 billion dollar addition to the deficit last week. my children and grandchildren will be paying for that for years.
next thing you know, i predict Gibbons, who proposed raising the debt ceiling by $625 billion dollars last week will be critical of Boswell, who only raised it $300 billion…………..laughable!
“… can you point out where Zaun voted for a sales tax increase?” – Mirage
According to project Vote Smart, senator Zaun vote ‘Yea’ on ‘Statewide Sales Tax Increase for School Infrastructure Funding ‘ which increased state sales tax by 1%
awww, so nice to see mirage come out and defend Zaun for his pro gay voting record. And mirage, that statewide sales tax was how big of a tax increase? About $400 million? Gays, taxes, and doesn’t pay his own bills. Sounds like a Democrat. Merry Christmas!
I don’t know anything about Brad Zaun supporting a sales tax increase. Did he? But, I am very proud of him for sticking up for the equality and safety of gay, lesbian and bisexual young people. His courage on behalf of equality is what attracts me to his campaign. mirage, i mentioned this on another post though too, your actions here are reckless and don’t represent Zaun well at all. It turns me off, and I am someone that is interested in his campaign.
you just have to love so many foolish people gloating (and why is it three different names always post at the same time over the last two weeks?) and still getting Zaun’s record wrong. clearly you need better sources and you all better do a LOT better research as you are embarassing yourselves here, but worse, embarassing the Gibbons campaign with your reckless and inaccurate claims that hold no factual reality.
i do however wonder about Gibbons proposal for his $625 billion dollar addition to the deficit last week. my children and grandchildren will be paying for that for years.
mirage,
You don’t seem to be answering many questions about Zaun and his record. I wonder why that is. You just seem to attack Gibbons But for a person that wants to talk about the issues. You don’t seem to want to about your guy.
The Zaun campaign where supports call Zaun’s constituents names and don’t feel bad about it.
here you go wonders…study up…http://iowaprogress.com/2009/12/17/bruces-backing-band/
oops…had the address one letter off…here you go
http://iowaprogress.com/2009/12/17/bruces-backing-band/
by the way..answer the question….many are questioning the Gibbons proposal for his $625 billion dollar addition to the deficit last week. my children and grandchildren will be paying for that for years. How will they ever pay that back?
Mirage..
If you actually knew what you were talking about…you’d know that Gibbons support for a payroll tax holiday has the support of respected conservatives like Newt Gingrich, Rob Portman and Grover Norquist and organizations like the National Federation of Independent Business and Americans for Tax Reform.
So..if you have a problem with that proposal….then perhaps you should talk to those people and organizations as well, Mirage..as they would disagree with you. And who are these “many” questioning Gibbon’s proposal? The folks over at the liberal Iowa Progress blog?
Then again..from your attitude..it sounds like Brad Zaun thinks that government knows best what to do with people’s money….I mean..why else would Zaun VOTE for raising the state sales tax 1% and take away local tax revenues to put into a state government slush fund…
hawk,, NONEof those you mention have any idea how to implement Gibbons poor idea two weeks from now. NONE wanted to simply stop paying taxes with no corresponding tax cut, and NONE wantted to raise the debt limit $625 billion dollars like Gibbions foolishly wants to.. wake up. secondly, you will look like quite a fool if (and when) your claim that Zaun voted for the sales tax increase is incorrect. better check again some other sources, like the Iowa Legislature site. . when you do, make sure and come back and apologize to all of us when you learn he did not vote for what you would keep claiming he did.
“Your claim that Zaun voted for the sales tax increase is incorrect”
Zaun voted FOR HF 2663 on April 22, 2008.
HF 2663 repealed the school infrastructure local option sales tax (SILO) and increased the State sales and use tax from 5.0% to 6.0%. The funds were supposed to go into a fund for “infrastructure improvements” and “property tax relief” to be distributed by…the State of Iowa.
Guess what…that hasn’t happened, Mirage…. go figure!
So, as a result of Zaun’s vote…you have money that SHOULD have been staying in local communities for use by local schools..getting sucked over to Des Moines into yet another state slush fund that’s been raided to backfill the state budget.
No one should really be shocked…its par for the course for Zaun’s voting record as he previously voted in favor of taking local control out of school board’s hands to make their own disciplinary policies.
Keep up with the amateur hour antics, Mirage. You’re doing a great job of making your boss look like a fool.
Keep it up Hawk, as I said, your source is in error….check the Senate Journal. fool.
Hawk, perhaps when you get the real record, you will know why Iowans for Tax Relief endorsed Zaun after that vote as a “Fiscally Conservative Candidate”. But, unlike you..THEY know the real record. In the meantime, you can keep lying for Gibbons, who wants to spend DOUBLE what Boswell wants to, and wants to raise the deficit limit $625 billion dollars….what is he thinking piling that debt on my children and grandchildren????
http://www.taxrelief.org/reports/0000/0055/watchdog_11-07-08.pdf