Republican candidate for Iowa Senate District 27 Rocky Damiano sharply criticized incumbent Sen. Annette Sweeney this week, accusing her of misrepresenting her record on property rights and siding with government overreach in a controversial eminent domain dispute.
Damiano’s remarks came in response to a recent newsletter from Sweeney in which she claimed a “strong record of unwavering support for property rights.” According to Damiano, that claim is directly contradicted by the experiences of landowners who have spent years fighting the use of eminent domain for a privately owned, tax-subsidized project.
“Like many residents of Senate District 27, I am shocked and surprised at Annette Sweeney’s recent newsletter,” Damiano said in a statement. “This would be news to those who have been fighting to not be subjected to eminent domain on their farm for a project that likely will not help corn prices, and that is a totally private company built largely on tax subsidies.”
The project in question has drawn sustained opposition from farmers and rural landowners who argue that the use of eminent domain to benefit a private company violates core constitutional protections. Damiano noted that affected families have sought legislative help for more than five years, only to be met with silence.
“These people have been begging for help from the legislature for five years now,” Damiano said. “And it has been closed doors and crickets from some members of the Iowa Senate, including Annette.”
Damiano also took issue with Sweeney’s apparent reference to economist John Kenneth Galbraith, a figure widely associated with left-wing economic thought, in which a “small and fiercely resistant minority may be force-fed prosperity.”
“That’s not a minority,” Damiano said. “Roughly 80 percent of Iowans oppose eminent domain for this project, and it’s a shame so many incumbents have sided against their constituents in this discussion.”
Framing the issue as one of constitutional fidelity, Damiano referenced his service in the United States Marine Corps, where he swore an oath to defend the Constitution.
“When I hear language like this used, it upsets me,” he said. “It means our elected officials, who have taken that same oath, have turned their back on the Constitution entirely.”
Damiano pledged that if elected to the Iowa Senate, he would defend private property rights and remain accessible to voters in District 27.
“When I am in the Iowa Senate, I will cling to the Constitution and be responsive and accessible to my constituents,” he said.
Damiano is running on a platform focused on defending property rights against eminent domain abuse, delivering strong conservative leadership for Senate District 27, and supporting small businesses — positioning himself as a constitutional conservative alternative to the incumbent.
