Ernst lends support to Nunn at Altoona campaign stop

ALTOONA — After spending 16 days overseas serving with the Iowa Air National Guard, away from the encroaching Iowa Senate District 15 race, state Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Bondurant, was welcomed home by supporters and special guest U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, during his fundraiser at Claxon’s Smokehouse & Grill.

The two Republicans greeted constituents at the door of the Altoona barbecue joint before addressing the crowd Monday evening. Although Ernst’s appearance was brief, Iowa’s junior United States senator wasted no time advocating for Nunn while also promoting her campaign, weighing in on Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment as Supreme Court Justice and encouraging all event visitors to vote come Election Day.

Ernst spoke highly of Nunn, describing him as “responsible” and a “quality candidate” who would project the Republican Party’s “ideals and values in the State Senate.” Citing a U.S. News & World Report study identifying Iowa as the No. 1 state in the country, Ernst said she is proud to be an Iowan and projects that every day she serves in Washington, D.C.

“Zach projects that every day (with) everything he does for his constituents here,” Ernst said Monday. “So in spite of being No. 1, we do have some issues that we’ve been working on in the state, and Zach has really been in the forefront of tackling some of those issues.”

Of note was mental health reform, which Ernst said is still a top issue both in the state and federal levels. The senator also mentioned opioid addiction and substance abuse as another key topic, which she said affects no particular demographic; together, “those issues are invading every Iowan’s lives” and must be worked on.

Ernst also raised the matter of federal and state government cooperation, asking “What are the things that we can do together?” She referenced the controversial Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump almost a year ago.

“Just last year at the federal level, we passed the largest tax reform package in history,” Ernst claimed. “And what did the state of Iowa do in response? They passed their own major tax reform at the state level. Combined with those efforts, we will save our Iowans — our average Iowa family — about $1,000 every year.”

The senator turned her attention to U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who Ernst claimed disagrees with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and describes the $1,000 savings as “crumbs.” At one point, Ernst jokingly asked the crowd if they knew who Pelosi was. Supporters answered with unanimous laughter.

“Yeah, I wish you didn’t,” Ernst said.

After throwing more jabs at Pelosi, the senator pulled back and stressed the importance of the Republican Party claiming the historically Democratic Senate District 15 seat, currently held by Iowa Sen. Chaz Allen, D-Newton, who announced in June that he was dropping his 2018 re-election bid. It is “imperative” that the Republicans take the seat, Ernst said.

She changed the subject back to Iowa and its initiatives to put the state in the “forefront of the United States.” The state is on the “cutting edge,” Ernst said, and is more than just farm country. While she maintained agriculture is a vital part of the state, Ernst also recognized Iowa’s manufacturing, technology and insurance strengths, which she is proud of.

Less than a month before Election Day, Ernst encouraged Republican guests to vote. Confident the supporters gathered at Claxon’s will vote, the senator thanked them ahead of time.

During the event, party officials handed out absentee ballots encouraging folks to vote early. Nunn, Iowa House District 30 candidate Brian Lohse and Polk County Republican Party Chairman Wes Enos jokingly said the bothersome phone calls urging people to vote would stop after an absentee ballot was submitted.

Before the senator left the Nunn fundraiser, Ernst mentioned the highly publicized Kavanaugh hearings in which the now-Supreme Court Justice was accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford while the two were in high school more than three-and-a-half decades ago. Two other women came forward and alleged similar occurrences. Kavanaugh denied all three allegations and was questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Subsequently, the Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Kavanaugh’s nomination and secure his seat at the Supreme Court.

Ernst, who voted “yes,” recalled her weekend experience in the chambers voting on the confirmation and gave credit to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and asked the crowd to call him and thank him for his “fair” stance. Ernst then pointed fingers at “this effort by Democrats to try and derail, through false allegations, the confirmation of an eminently qualified judge to the Supreme Court was reprehensible.”

“The dirty tactics they played threatening not only senators but threatening senators’ spouses, senators’ parents — elderly parents — (and) threatening their children,” Ernst said. “Physically assaulting a senator and his wife at the DCA Airport in Washington, D.C. These are the tactics that the Democrats have gone to. And we cannot ... continue to stand by and be pushed around by dirty tactics.”

If Kavanaugh had withdrawn, she continued, any future nomination would "be a jeopardy by false allegations." Ernst directly referenced television interviews in which she was asked, "As a woman, how do you feel about the sexual assault charges and so forth?"

She maintained her stance that accusers should be heard but underscored her strong belief that people are innocent until proven guilty, which garnered a hefty applause from the crowd.

“I was able to read and I physically read the supplemental information — it was about 46 to 48 pages — of written statements from witnesses that were called forward,” Ernst said. “After all of us had the opportunity to be briefed on those 302 reports (featuring further FBI testimony regarding the allegations against Kavanaugh) and actually read them, you can see the Democrats’ message after they had the opportunity to be briefed … shifted from all about sexual assaults … to he doesn’t have the character.”

A guest asked if the 302 reports would become public. Ernst seemed doubtful but said she would like to see the 40-plus-page report be released with only the sensitive personal information redacted. She also proposed a summary of the statements be released to the public.

As Ernst made her exit, Nunn extended his thanks to the senator. The Altoona-born representative told constituents his focus is set on the people in his district and what they believe are important issues, mentioning names of people in the audience who have personally met with him and discussed their qualms directly. Nunn, who is running against Democratic candidate Dan Nieland, also directed attention to his staff that he claimed has knocked on 9,300 doors in the past five weeks.

Expounding upon his campaign slogan, “Community First,” Nunn noted the economic expansion of Polk County towns Bondurant, Altoona, Mitchellville and Runnells as something he wants to “carry across the county line” to areas in Jasper County like Newton, Colfax, Baxter, Prairie City and Kellogg so they can “have the same opportunities.” Better economic development, Nunn said, will impact and fund schools, transportation and public safety.

Nunn also advocated for Second Amendment Rights in Iowa, mental health assistance, mid-career skill-sets and the cooperation of state and private industry to better future workforces.

Before Nunn wrapped up his thoughts, spoke with constituents one-on-one and allowed Lohse a chance to speak, he thanked his wife, Kelly, who he said ran his campaign while he was on military service.

“During that time, I don’t know how you did it, but you got my opponent basically to bow out in a certain way. You got the Democratic Party to turn against him in a certain way. Basically, I kind of think I should have deployed for another month because we’d be done with the election right about now,” Nunn said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com