Write-ins, an old scandal, and Mr. and Mrs. Dvorsky
This is bad for Chet Culver: In last week’s primary, 2,150 Democrats cast write-in votes against the governor, who was unopposed on the primary ballot. That’s 3.8 percent of the 55,921 votes cast for the race — the highest percentage of write-in votes against an unopposed gubernatorial or senatorial incumbent of either party in recent memory.
That’s not a good sign for Democrats.
Eight years ago, when Tom Vilsack was running for a second term, the write-ins against him totaled 1.4 percent. The write-in votes against Sen. Tom Harkin in his last three elections ranged from 0.6 percent to 1 percent. (But Chuck Grassley also has a little problem. Republican write-ins against him last week totaled 1.9 percent of the 184,431 cast. In his most recent runs — in 2004 and 1998 — the write-ins were a minuscule 0.2 percent.)
This also is bad for Chet Culver:
A scandal that lingers from his days as Iowa Secretary of State — a scandal that was thought to have been dead and buried — is likely to pop up again in coming days or weeks. It involves how Culver used funds allocated to the state under the federal Help America Vote Act, or HAVA. Culver spread the federal money around the state while he was running for the gubernatorial nomination — it was a slick touch — and a report issued several months ago said that under him there was careless administration, sloppy bookkeeping, misuse of funds, no follow-through and the like. The report made 10 charges involving the use of $2,555,274 in federal funds and concluded that the department under Culver “did not account for and expend HAVA funds in accordance with the HAVA requirements or comply with the financial management requirements” established by the feds.
That was a preliminary report, and a guy in Washington tells Skinny that a final report will be issued shortly. He says that Culver’s people have argued down the amount of money in dispute, but the final report still will say that a half-million dollars or so were misspent and will demand that the state put that much back into the program. That would probably require an appropriation from the Legislature — and would be grist for Terry Branstad’s mill.
This also is bad for Chet Culver:
The resignation of state chair Michael Kiernan couldn’t have come at a worse time for the governor. There’s no doubt the likable Kiernan has a serious medical problem, but tea-leaf readers wonder why he didn’t take a leave of absence instead of resigning. Kiernan was Culver’s choice to lead the party, and by most accounts he has done a good job. But some insiders are whispering — fact-free whispers, to be sure — that like so many others he had grown disenchanted with the Culver administration and that’s why he resigned (just days ahead of last weekend’s state convention, which he did not attend) instead of just stepping aside until his medical problems are fixed. At any rate, to some it looks like just one more guy heading for the exit.
The party’s vice chair, Sue Dvorsky of Iowa City, will take over at least temporarily. She’s well-known in the party, but not in Des Moines. “You either love her or hate her,” says a party pro who says he doesn’t love her. But she’s good, most agree. She’s married to State Senator Bob Dvorsky, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Meantime, Bob Dvorsky spent last week lobbying hard to get the Board of Regents to approve a project labor agreement — an agreement that requires that contracts go to unionized companies — for a new medical complex at the University of Iowa. He sent e-mails and showed up at the meeting, where the board approved a watered-down motion directing the university to “seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable project labor agreement” and report back to the board in August. The vote was 5-4 along party lines — the first party-line vote he can remember in the 30 years he has been going to meetings, said one university official — and there was quite a bit of muttering about whether a powerful legislator who controls the university pursestrings should be lobbying the Regents. But no reporter seemed to pick up on it.
The deal is good news for Culver, who needs the strong support of Bill Gerhard and the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council, which was pushing Democrats for the motion. But Republican members of the Board were vocal in their opposition — Democrats just quietly voted in favor — and they’ll surely get the details to Branstad and his troops.
This and that and some other stuff. And a question or three:
This: Assistant Attorney General Jeanie Vaudt the other day gave $50 to the re-election campaign of her boss, Attorney General Tom Miller. So far, according to state records, she hasn’t given a dime to the re-election campaign of Republican State Auditor David Vaudt. Jeanie Vaudt is married to David Vaudt. (She also outearns him, according to a state data base. She made $106,430 in fiscal 2009; he made $103,212.)
That: A couple of days before the election, Scott Batcher scattered leaflets saying: “For over 150 years, we elected businessmen who followed the constitution and ran this country well. Then, we changed and elected baby kissing politicians.” Pictured prominently on the leaflets: his two young children. Batcher lost his bid for the right to run against Leonard Boswell.
Other stuff: The Profiles in Courage Award goes to that famous risk-taker Bob Ray, who courageously and bravely endorsed Terry Branstad on the eve of the election — after a Des Moines Register poll showed Branstad was a sure winner. “Probably earned an ambassadorship to Panora or Boxholm as a result,” noted one Ray watcher.
Question: The Register ran the name of that 12-year-old girl who was spirited off to Florida by a 35-year-old man who has been charged with illegally taking a minor across state lines for the purpose of sex. The newspaper has a policy against running names of adults who are alleged victims of sex crimes. But it’s okay to name kids?
Next question: Throughout the story, the Register referred to the girl, identified as Rosario Orr, by her last name in subsequent references. At the same time, in stories about 14-year-old Melissa Ann Robinson, who was struck and dragged by a car in Des Moines, the Register consistently referred to her by her first name, Melissa. Is the paper trying to send a not-so-subtle message?
Last question: Supermarkets sell bags or encourage shoppers to use their own bags in the spirit of a cleaner environment, and in return they give you a tiny credit on groceries you buy. Hy-Vee gives a nickel a bag, Gateway gives a dime. Dahl’s, which sells “green” bags for 99 cents, used to give a nickel. Now, the cash-register receipts just say “keep Iowa beautiful” — but list “00” as the credit. Are things that tough?
Final note: Teresa Vilman, constantly rumored to be leaving her consulting job at the Culver campaign, actually has done it, Skinny is told. CV
