Steve King Beats Back Ethanol Lobby

Source: Conservative Review | June 8, 2016 | Robert Eno

Iowa Congressman Steve King (R-IA) (Liberty Score, C) easily won reelection last night. This was despite an onslaught of ethanol lobby money being spent against him. King beat his opponent 66 – 34 percent, according to the Des Moines Register.

King’s primary opponent Rick Bertrand, a Sioux City developer and state senator, decided to run because he sensed an opening. Steve King was a strong supporter of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during the Iowa Caucus season. The power brokers in Iowa didn’t like that because Cruz has long made his case against ethanol subsidies known. It didn’t matter to them that King also supports ethanol subsidies, his support for Cruz made him a traitor in the eyes of the Iowa establishment…..

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That’s why the ethanol lobby recruited Bertrand. While Bertrand did not raise as much money as King in hard dollars – just over $52,000 to King’s nearly $150,000 according to reports filed on the Federal Election Commission — outside pro-ethanol lobby groups spent heavily in the race. According to Open Secrets, of the $84,240 spent by outside groups in the race, only $26 was in support of King. The rest was spend either positively for Bertrand, or negatively for King. In Iowa, $80,000 goes a lot further in media than in a high cost market.

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Yesterday, the crony capitalists lost.

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