Iowa Secretary of Ag headlines GOP fundraiser Saturday

An iced coffee in hand, GOP candidates in attendance, a room full of supporters armed with questions — this was the scene of Bridgehouse Coffee Saturday afternoon.

The Jasper County Republicans hosted a fundraiser that evening with handfuls of supporters gathered in the local coffee shop to listen to the headline speaker — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

But when the event started, Reynolds was not in attendance. In her place, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig was ready to take center stage. Jasper County Republicans chair Thad Nearmyer said he and the other fundraiser speakers made lemonade out of lemons.

“The campaign was really regretful (Reynolds) couldn’t make it,” Nearmyer said. “I thought people would be disappointed. We even thought about canceling the event, but it was such short notice that we thought we should have the event, especially with the secretary coming. Overall, we had a great event. We had a lot more people than I thought we could get.”

That evening, Naig, Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, retiring Rep. Greg Heartsill, R-Columbia, and other area GOP representatives met at the coffee house to speak with the community about the state of Iowa, address their concerns and fundraise for the upcoming election.

With several GOP candidates present that evening, including House District 29 candidate Ann Howell, Iowa Senate District 15 candidate Tim Shay, and Jasper County Board of Supervisor candidates Denny Carpenter and Brandon Talsma, several of the evening speakers reiterated their stances on issues, spoke on their support of the GOP candidates that will be featured on November’s ballot and shared how attendees can help them with their campaigns.

“We have got to maintain conservative leadership across the entire government,” said Naig, who will face Democrat and Mingo native Tim Gannon in the fall. “When we are working on trade or renewable energy policy, when Iowa speaks with one voice, loud and clear, we have strength. It is hard for any administration not to hear Iowa when we speak together in one voice.”

Representatives with the Jasper County Republicans also shared their plans for the immediate future.

“We are going to canvass Jasper County. Doors are going to be knocked on,” Jon Dunwell, Newton businessman and event speaker said. “People are going to be encouraged to vote. Absentee ballot requests are going to be sent in.”

Nearmyer said in addition to the opening of the new headquarters in downtown Newton the first week of August, the party plans to hire two staff members to lead the canvassing efforts around the county and continuing supporting GOP campaigns. He said the Jasper County Republicans aim to raise $20,000 this campaign season.

“I am confident when this guy here, Jon (Dunwell) sets a goal, we are going to reach it. When we set a goal of $10,000 in 2016, we easily accomplished that,” Nearmyer said. “We are on a hot streak of events.”

According to Nearmyer, Reynolds was not in attendance at Saturday’s fundraiser due to scheduling conflicts. He said the Jasper County Republicans are working with the governor on scheduling another event in the area. A date has not yet been set.

The group plans to meet with Reynolds and her representatives to create a plan sometime next week. He said she could make an appearance at the organization’s trap shoot fundraiser in September.

“We just have to decide which event will get the most mileage out of her,” Nearmyer said. “We may even get her twice.”

Reynolds recently visited Iowa Speedway July 8 to attend Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 as a guest of Iowa Corn. The event brought Naig, his deputy Julie Kenney and congressmen David Young, R-Iowa, and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, to show bipartisan support for Iowa’s ethanol producers.

Contact Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@newtondailynews.com.