LETTER: Don’t Vote for Chuck Grassley – What Republicans Don’t Know Has Hurt Them

They say what you don’t know won’t hurt you, but I believe what many Iowa conservatives don’t know has hurt them. Iowans deserve to know what has happened in their beloved nation and state under Chuck Grassley’s watch, and they deserve to know that they have a choice to elect better leadership for Iowa in the upcoming June 7th primary.

What’s Wrong with Chuck Grassley?

Chuck Grassley Votes like a Democrat

Senator Carlin has criticized Grassley for his poor voting record, including votes to pass Biden’s big spending bill, defunding construction of the border wall, supporting Covid tyranny, and confirming disastrous cabinet picks such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Chuck Grassley was given an F by the Conservative Review Scorecard rating, which assigns a liberty score to legislators based on their voting record and whether they have kept or broken their campaign promises. He received an F along with Washington democrats like Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and AOC. The fact is, Chuck Grassley has received multiple F ratings from organizations that keep tabs on voting records.

Grassley is Not a Friend to Agriculture

The most common thing I hear in support of Chuck Grassley is that he is a friend to agriculture. However, under Grassley’s watch, the agricultural industry has seen monopolization under Chinese and foreign control like never before. Grassley has allowed the United States to become dependent on China and other foreign countries for fertilizer and chemicals as well as allowing for monopoly/oligarch control of farm machinery, seed, beef, and pork. This has led to massive price increases for farmers, lack of energy independence, and rising prices for the rest of us in the grocery store.

If someone did that to my livelihood, I don’t think I would consider them a friend. Especially when they had the power to try and stop it.

Swamp Politics

Another point I often hear in support of Grassley is that he has a considerable amount of power in Washington. In an age of government distrust and corrupt politics coming to light, ancient loyalties and deep ties in the D.C swamp may not be such a great thing after all.

Someone who has been in Washington as long as Chuck Grassley has that much deeper financial ties and purchased loyalties, as well as his own coffer to wield power from. According to a detailed article in the Iowa standard, Senator Grassley donated over half a million dollars to Iowa House Republican candidates suspiciously close to when they would vote in his grandson’s election for Speaker of the Iowa House. His grandson won the speakership, meaning that the Grassley family now sits in two out of the four highest seats in Iowa’s government. The timing of the donations raises legitimate questions regarding whether the Speakership was bought for his grandson, especially because during the same time frame of donating to Iowa House candidates, control of the U.S Senate was on the line and Grassley’s Hawkeye PAC did nothing to help. That type of swamp politics may be normal in Washington, but I for one do not want to see it in the Iowa legislature.

A Vote for Grassley Could be a Lost Vote

Besides his horrendous voting record, there are even more concerning reasons why conservatives should not vote for Chuck Grassley in the upcoming primary. Currently, Grassley is eighty-eight years old. If he wins the election, at the end of his term, he will be ninety-four. No one can argue that there isn’t a very real chance that Grassley will not be able to finish out his term in office. If that happens, the governor will be left to appoint someone to his place. This means that Iowans will lose their vote and will forfeit their right to elect the candidate of their choice to serve in Washington on their behalf. Perhaps this doesn’t bother you as much if you like Governor Reynolds, but Iowans cannot take Reynold’s seat for granted. Kim Reynolds won her seat in 2018 after a neck and neck closely contested race with democrat opponent Fred Hubbell. Two Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Polls placed Hubbell in the lead until the final weeks of the campaign, where Reynolds was able to squeak out a win by only a 2.8% margin of victory. Those aren’t great odds. We know it’s never a good idea to put all the eggs in one basket. A vote for Grassley is now placing a Governor seat and a United States Senate seat in the same basket-and if Reynolds does not win reelection this November, Iowa Republicans will be handing over a United States Senate seat to be filled by a Democratic governor. Is that the kind of influence in Washington Iowans want?

Who is Jim Carlin?

State Senator Jim Carlin filed to run for United States Senate with nearly a thousand more signatures than his opponent, seven-term incumbent Charles Grassley. Carlin is a man of faith, husband, lawyer, father, and grandfather. The pillar of his campaign is protecting and defending freedom for future generations. He is running on an America first agenda, and has a proven track record in the state legislature of doing what it takes to best serve the needs of America and Iowans. He believes that the current political establishment has failed us, and that if freedom is to endure, we can no longer be led by those who have consistently allowed the erosion of our liberties.

Pro-Life Champion

Carlin is unwavering in his pro-life stance. He secured passage of the very first version of the heartbeat bill that 14 other states went on to adopt, most notably Texas, which went all the way to the Supreme court. He also co-sponsored the life amendment, which was an amendment to the Iowa constitution to defend the dignity of all human life and to protect against efforts to expand full-term abortion or to require the public funding of abortion.

Medical Freedom

Unlike Chuck Grassley, who supported vaccine travel passports, Carlin has consistently been a champion for medical freedom. He co-sponsored SF 555, a bill to broaden Iowa’s exemptions for childhood vaccinations, forbid Iowa employers from requiring their employees to be vaccinated and provide other protections for people who decline to be vaccinated.

Education

Carlin has authored many bills relating to education, such as SF 2206, the “Iowa Student Opportunity Act”, which created an education savings account to give students in low-performing schools an alternative. Unlike Grassley who voted for a spending bill that funded

gender programs in Pakistan (is that what you would like your tax dollars used for?), Carlin has taken the issue of protecting children seriously, authoring legislation prohibiting gender identity instruction in schools without written parental consent and prohibiting students from using bathrooms that do not correspond with a person’s biological sex.

Veterans and Human Trafficking

Senator Carlin has authored legislation that has garnered unanimous support in the senate, including creating a task force to address the issue of sex trafficking in Iowa. As a veteran himself, he also authored an act relating to the Veterans Trust Fund, which would have generated a massive increase in funds for Iowa veterans through safe investment directed by the Treasurer.

Seniors, Tough on China, and More

During his time in both the Iowa State House and State Senate, Jim Carlin has earned his reputation as the freedom fighter who gets things done. Other focuses of his campaign are election integrity, preserving social security for seniors, protecting agriculture from Chinese control, and strong, America first foreign policy. Carlin believes China, big tech, & big government are the three biggest existential threats to freedom.

Carlin has appeared on a national level with Stew Peters, Chris Salcedo multiple times, Scott McKay, Gene Bailey of Flashpoint and John Fredericks. He has also received many awards for representing the needs of Iowans, including the “Conservative Excellence Award” from the American Conservative Union, the “Legislative Hero Award” from Prevent Child Abuse of Iowa, and the “Defender of Truth” Award, from Informed Choice Iowa in honor of Erica Sarver.

Vote Carlin for U.S Senate in the June 7th Primary

Jim Carlin is an honest conservative with a legislative track record to prove it. Both as a lawyer and in the legislature, he has made a career of representing the needs of ordinary people, and fighting for their best interests. That is exactly the kind of representation we need in Washington. Iowans likely won’t have a say in who gets to represent them if they vote for Chuck Grassley, and they will miss their chance to elect Jim Carlin if they wait until the November general election. Iowans must get out and vote on June 7 in the Republican Primary. A vote for Jim Carlin on June 7 is a vote for freedom and a vote for true conservative leadership in Iowa.

• Ron Fravel