Ernst Campaign: Iowa Senate Democrat Candidate Broke Anti-Corporate PAC Pledge

Iowa Senate Democrat candidate Theresa Greenfield has pledged not to accept corporate PAC donations; however, a new report released Wednesday found Greenfield is the top recipient of Democrat leadership PAC money, which is funded by corporate donations.

Greenfield, who serves as one of the many Democrats that hope to unseat Sen. Joni Ernst (D-IA) during the 2020 elections, pledged recently to not take any corporate PAC donations, believing that corporate contributions would lead to corruption and outsized corporate influence.

The Iowa Senate Democrat said recently:

I hear about getting big money out of politics. The corruption, the influence of corporations, the outsizedness of special interest. Regular everyday Iowans, they just think it’s not fair. And you’re right it’s not fair. I have taken a pledge to not accept any corporate PAC donations for this race.

As Open Secrets detailed in a report that Democrat leadership PACs are “pouring $186,000” into her campaign so that they could oust the incumbent Iowa Senate Republican. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) endorsed Greenfield right after announcing her bid for the U.S. Senate.

Open Secrets explained that rejecting that non-incumbent candidates rejecting corporate PACs serves as a relatively “symbolic gesture” because most corporate PACs donate to incumbents to “curry favor” with members once they are elected to Congress.

Open Secrets, the election transparency nonprofit, wrote that because corporate interests such as businesses and trade associations fund roughly one-third of Democrat leadership PACs, Greenfield’s campaign is funded indirectly by corporate contributions despite her anti-corporate PAC pledge.

The nonprofit found that four out of the five most generous corporate PACs that donate to Democrat leadership PACs are Honeywell International, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman, all of which are major defense contractors.

The Open Secrets report follows as the Iowa GOP Chairman, Jeff Kaufmann, has criticized Greenfield for refusing to answer questions during her town halls.

The Iowa GOP Chairman told Breitbart News, “It’s clear Greenfield is terrified of taking questions from Iowans. Not only has she still not held a single town hall, but now her staff is aggressively shutting down questions.”

“If she truly thinks she can stand up for Iowans in the U.S. Senate, she’ll have to get a backbone and make herself accessible to voters,” he added.

Congratulations to @GreenfieldIowa for leading the field of hypocritical @ChuckSchumer Democrats working to find deceptive ways to break the “No Corporate Pac Money” pledge! #iasen #iapoliticshttps://t.co/2bzqQDV7PP pic.twitter.com/M0ZoSQg0c9

— Team Joni (@TeamJoni) December 11, 2019