Iowa’s Ethics Board has found that Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds did not violate any laws when she appeared in a series of taxpayer-funded ads last fall promoting coronavirus public safety measures. The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board voted unanimously Thursday to find Reynolds did not violate a 2018 state law that prohibits statewide elected officials from using public funds for self promotion. Iowa’s Democrat state auditor, Rob Sand, had accused Reynolds of the ethical violation, saying the ad campaign she launched in November was used to promote her own image when she appeared in several of the ads encouraging mask-wearing.
Troy Price, who resigned as chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party after national party interference led to a disastrous leadoff caucus in 2020, is taking a new job in the fellow first-in-the-nation state of New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Democratic Party says Price will start work as its executive director today as it gears up for the 2022 elections and 2024 primary. Price resigned in February 2020 after criticism about results tabulation from the lead-off presidential caucuses. But he was the unanimous choice in New Hampshire, where officials called him part of an “all-star team of experienced leaders.”
Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann has been named Chair of the Republican National Committee’s Presidential Nominating Process Committee. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel made the announcement Friday. After taking input from the entire committee’s members, a recommendation will be issued to the RNC’s Rules Committee on how the presidential nominating calendar should be conducted. The Rules Committee will then make a proposal and RNC members will make a final determination about who gets to go first.
Self-proclaimed voting rights advocate Deidre DeJear has announced she is running for governor. The move was expected following her “listening tour” of various cities earlier this summer. The 35-year-old Democrat gained attention in 2018 when she became the first black candidate in Iowa to win a statewide primary election; she lost the general election for secretary of state. DeJear joins state Rep. Ras Smith of Waterloo as the two declared Democrats hoping to challenge Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds next year. Reynolds, who has been governor since 2017, is expected to seek reelection.
The Cedar Rapids City Council last week approved a $50,000 payment to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who said he was attacked by a Cedar Rapids Police K9. Howard Cones filed the lawsuit in June 2020, claiming the police K9 attacked him as he was sleeping on a bench in Poet’s Park in June 2018. The lawsuit claims the dog was doing a training exercise at the time, but instead found Cones and in the words of the lawsuit, “viciously attacked him and bit him multiple times resulting in serious injury and blood loss”. The City Council item that was approved noted that Cones has signed a Release and Indemnity Agreement in exchange for the $50,000 payment from the city.
A jury found 39-year-old Benjamin Bravo Gonzalez guilty of first-degree murder in connection with a shooting death in Mason City. The jury deliberated about two hours Friday before convicting Gonzalez of killing 36-year-old Michael Creviston. Witnesses testified that Gonzalez shot Creviston during an argument on March 31. Gonzalez left the scene but was taken into custody several days later in Algona. Defense attorney Parker Thirnbeck did not call any witnesses or present any evidence. He argued the state did not prove Gonzalez’s guilt and no physical evidence connected him to the shooting. Gonzalez faces mandatory life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Oct. 25.
