Lt. Gov. Gregg makes campaign stop in Charles City

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg visited Swartrzrock Implement in Charles City Friday to make an impassioned plea to vote for Gov. Kim Reynolds, as well as Republicans up and down the ticket, in this week’s election.

“We’ve got a really strong, positive case to be made for the state of Iowa, and it’s an honor to be able to deliver that here today,” said Gregg, who was appointed to be Iowa’s acting lieutenant governor and is now seeking a full term with Reynolds on the GOP ticket.

Gregg spoke to a gathering of about 30 people and shook hands with individuals afterwards. He lauded the work that’s done at Swartzrock Implement and mentioned the contributions Swartzrock, and businesses like it, make to the community.

“It’s great to be here and help to highlight the local businesses,” he said. “I appreciated the opportunity to talk with local citizens, share our perspective and talk about all the positive things that are going on.”

Reynolds and Gregg are running for election against the Democratic ticket of Fred Hubbell and Rita Hart. Gregg previously served as public defender of Iowa, appointed in 2014 after losing the Nov. 2014 election race for Iowa attorney general to Democrat Tom Miller. Born in Hawarden, Gregg and his wife, Cari, have two children.

Gregg brought a positive message to the mostly-Republican crowd, and told them that Iowa is headed in the right direction under Reynolds.

“Iowa is on the right track by almost any objective measure that you can think of,” he said. “We’ve been called the No. 1 state in the nation, we’re No. 2 in the cost of the doing business, the No. 3 best-managed state. We’re at 2.5 percent unemployment, the second-lowest in the country. Incomes are going up, and at the same time, we’re bringing our taxes down and we’ve been able to balance the budget on top of that.”

Gregg argued that it made sense to stay the course, rather than elect a governor who might veer.

“We can be even better, so rather than switching horses and going in a different direction, let’s keep this momentum,” he said. “Let’s keep Iowa moving in the right direction.”

Gregg, who played football at Central College, used sports metaphors to sum up this year’s election, which many believe will be very close.

“The last two races, we won by two touchdowns,” he said. “This time, it’s going to come down to a field goal at the end.”

“We feel very positive and optimistic,” he said. “As we’ve traveled the state on this RV tour, the bottom line is we have great turnout and enthusiastic support.”

Although Gregg was in Iowa’s District 4 Friday, the home district of fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King, he didn’t mention King by name until he was asked.

King, the GOP incumbent who is running in what polls show could be a close election against Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten, has been under fire for controversial statements and actions, receiving criticism from within his own party. Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers, the House GOP campaign committee chairman, recently withdrew support for King, saying King supported white nationalist candidates and made racially charged comments.

King is listed among the co-chairs of the Reynolds campaign, and Reynolds has been criticized by the Hubbell campaign for not denouncing King.

Gregg said that Hubbell was blowing the issue out of proportion.

“Governor Reynolds has said very clearly that she doesn’t agree with every comment that Steve King or that any person makes,” Gregg said. “The reality is, he’s one of thousands of co-chairs all across our state. It’s an honorary position, and it’s an endorsement.”

Gregg said that the controversy is an attempt to avoid more important issues.

“Here’s the bottom line, the other side is trying to distract and talk about all these other things,” he said. “They’re trying to find some shiny object. What we’re talking about are facts. We’re focused on the positive things that are going on in this state, and also the differences between the two candidates.”

Gregg said the biggest difference between the two gubernatorial candidates is probably taxes.

“Governor Reynolds has actually signed the largest tax cut in Iowa history,” he said. “Fred Hubbell, on the other hand, has said he would repeal those tax cuts, and he’s made so many promises on spending, I believe he’s have to raise taxes on top of that in order to keep all those promises.”

Gregg said that taxes are a more important issue to voters than controversies about King.

“I think that what’s most important to the people of Charles City is the fact that the average Iowan is going to see an extra $1,000 in their paycheck by the time the tax cut is fully implemented,” he said.

When it comes to agriculture and trade, Gregg said that Reynolds was someone who has the president’s ear and can temper his views on tariffs and trade.

“Governor Reynolds knows that no one wins in a trade war, but we also know that China has been sticking it to us a long time and it’s been harming Iowa farmers,” Gregg said. “We can’t let this go on forever, but we do need to rebalance on that issue.”

The fact that he was in Floyd County, the childhood home of Carrie Chapman Catt, who was an American women’s suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920, was not lost on Gregg. He talked about how women’s rights have advanced since 1920.

“I think probably the strongest evidence of how far we’ve come is, we’ve got a woman governor leading our state,” Gregg said. “She’s in her role, not because she’s a woman, but because she’s an outstanding leader. She’s serving at the highest level in the state of Iowa based on her merits.”

Gregg also mentioned several other leaders in the Iowa Republican Party who are women, including U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, and Iowa Auditor Mary Mosiman.

“The common thread among all of them is, they’re all Republicans, they’re all conservative,” Gregg said.