Scholten says he is standing up to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which hasn’t helped him at all after “begging” him to run

***The Iowa Standard is an independent media voice. We rely on the financial support of our readers to exist. Please consider a one-time sign of support or becoming a monthly supporter at $5, $10/month - whatever you think we're worth! If you’ve ever used the phrase “Fake News” — now YOU can actually DO something about it! You can also support us on PayPal at [email protected] or Venmo at Iowa-Standard-2018 or through the mail at: PO Box 112 Sioux Center, IA 51250

J.D. Scholten has a tough path to Congress. Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District is as red as it gets. Even after all the stars aligned for Scholten in 2018, he still lost to Congressman Steve King.

In 2020 he faces State Sen. Randy Feenstra.

Scholten has raised a lot of money, but he announced on Wednesday that he is “rejecting” the DCCC after a phone call last week with Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, chair of the DCCC.

It is likely that the DCCC doesn’t see Scholten’s candidacy as viable in 2020 and doesn’t want to throw away donor dollars.

Scholten talked about his 2018 success and noted it came without the help of the DCCC.

“This cycle the DCCC begged me to run, and they said they’d be all in and they would allow us to run the race like we did last cycle,” Scholten said. “Of course I ran again, but it wasn’t because of the DCCC. It was because I couldn’t stand by and watch Congressman King represent this district again with his selfish and hateful rhetoric and agenda that he puts above this district.”

Scholten took credit for “retiring” Steve King and noted his campaign’s early success.

He said he appreciated his conversation with Bustos, but was upfront with her.

“I asked her straight up, what does ‘all-in’ mean because we haven’t seen a thing,” he said. “And apparently what we’ve done isn’t enough. So ultimately I made this decision that we’re going to continue to run this race out of Sioux City, right here, in Iowa. And not Washington D.C.”

Scholten said his campaign just needs people power and hopes his supporters will stand with him.

Whilce Scholten has raised nearly $1.7 million since the beginning of 2019, the reality is only $125,242.25 of that has come from Iowa. Not the district, but from the entire state of Iowa.

That’s a whopping 7.4 percent of funds raised coming from Iowa. By contrast, he has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars from California.

New York is nearing six figures, as Scholten has received $92,547.50 from the Empire State.

Just a week or two ago Scholten’s campaign sent out an email claiming an internal polling showed he was neck and neck with Feenstra.

But it seems even the DCCC isn’t falling for that trick.

Author: Jacob Hall

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here