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Are Bruce Rastetter and the Iowa GOP laying a trap for Tom Harkin?
(Crossposted at Bleeding Heartland)
Highly likely in my estimation. A number of signs indicate that Rastetter has been quietly gearing up for a campaign for quite awhile. His involvement in Iowa Future Fund, the shady 501(c)(4) that ran anti-Culver ads, was my first clue. (I posted about Rastetter and IFF/IPP in the Bleeding Heartland here.)
Another clue was that someone privately registered "brucerastter.com" and "brucerastetter.org" in early December 2007.
An even bigger clue was that Rastetter hired Nicholas T. "Nick" Ryan in January 2007. Ryan had just come off a stint as campaign manager for Jim Nussle's failed gubernatorial bid.
Bruce Rastetter is CEO of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, Iowa's largest ethanol producer and the third largest in the nation. In September, the Cyclone Conservative commented that "a Rastetter candidacy would also be attractive because Rastetter would carry a tremendous amount of gravitas on renewable fuels and agriculture issues."
CC also speculated that Rastetter's $1.75 million gift to Iowa State University was a political ploy to garner favorable publicity for Rastetter, the candidate. Sounds plausible to me.
If Rastetter runs, Iowa Dems can expect an enormous amount of money to be poured into his campaign, both on and off the books. The probable reason for the secrecy about Rastetter's intentions is to catch Tom Harkin and Iowa Dems off guard about how stiff Harkin's competition will be in terms of the candidate and money.
Richard O. Jacobson, founder of Jacobson Companies, is chairman of Hawkeye Energy. Jacobson kicked in $50k to Nussle in '06.
Rastetter is very close to Peter M. Castleman, chairman of J. H. Whitney & Company, a private equity firm based in Connecticut. Rastetter is also linked to Whitney partner, Russell Stidololph, through Altenergy LLC. Nick Ryan uses nryan@alternergyllc.com.
Thomas H. Lee Partners, a Boston private equity firm, has a majority stake in Hawkeye Energy. Expect financial support for Rastetter from the THL partners.
At one point, Rastetter and his partners at J. H. Whitney planned to make a $200 million investment in Iowa wind farms but not much as been mentioned about it recently. I am particularly curious about the wind farms because I read yesterday that T. Boone Pickens is investing $10 billion to create a chain of wind farms that stretches from Texas through the Great Plains.
If Pickens is behind Rastetter, Iowa Dems are in big trouble. In 2004, Pickens contributed $1 milion to Swift Boat Vets and $2.5 million to Progress For America, another 527, that raised $48 million. The DCI Group, the premier Republican slime shop, was behind PFA.
I strongly suspect that Iowan, Brian Kennedy, is managing Iowa Future Fund/Iowa Progress Project. Kennedy, a DCI Group exec, is co-founder of PFA. More on this issue to come.
The brucerastetter.com website lists 400 Locust Street, Suite 330, Des Moines, IA 50309 as its address. I checked the online phonebook and couldn't find an organization specifically listed in Suite 330 but I did find Summit Capital Group at Suite 480.
Summit Capital, a Rastetter company, is the one that employs Nick Ryan. Although Ryan claimed he was first employed by Summit Capital in January 2007, Summit Capital was only registered with the Iowa Secretary of State on February 21, 2007.
The Arag Group, curiously enough, is also listed at 400 Locust St, Suite 480.
That's it for me and Bruce Rastetter for the moment but first a question. If I am right about Rastetter running, did Rastetter violate any campaign laws by raising money without declaring his candidacy? Me, I'd go after Rastetter with a chainsaw if I were an Iowa Dem.
Comments (9)
"An even bigger clue was that Rastetter hired Nicholas T. "Nick" Ryan in January 2007. Ryan had just come off a stint as campaign manager for Jim Nussle's failed gubernatorial bid."
That is good news, because Ryan is Iowa's version of Bob Shrum, he continues to lose campaigns he should have won, and gets hired by the next sucker, er, I mean candidate, to join their name to the failure list.
"did Rastetter violate any campaign laws by raising money without declaring his candidacy?"
With the FEC in Bush limbo, maybe they think they will get away with it?
NOT!
Too many chainsaws in Iowa...
April 29, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Peter Stone in the National Journal recently wrote that Rove and the DCI Group were collaborating on setting up independent groups like American Future Fund and Iowa Future Fund.
When AFF placed a tv ad in Minnesota, it listed a po box in Des Moines that Ryan listed when he registered with the state of Iowa as a lobbyist for Rastetter.
I suspect that Ryan is more of a player here than a leader.
April 29, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Jacobson kicked in $50k to Nussle in '06."
How does someone get away with that?
Aren't there some limits they are ignoring here?
April 29, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nussle was running for governor which is a state race. I don't know Iowa election law but there does not appear to be any meaningful contribution limits.
If you have time on your hands, take a look at the big bucks that came into Nussle's campaign in the weeks before the election. Paul Singer of Elliot Associates, a major NY wingnut, threw in $50k, for example.
Check out who donated to Romney's Iowa Comonwealth PAC. David Koch etc etc.
My guess is that Rastetter will step into the senate race in June with tens of millions lined up and a slew of Iowa Future Fund/Iowa Progress Project anti-Harkin ads in the can.
April 29, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Romney's Iowa Commonwealth PAC still seems to have significant assets.
That's a nice sized war chest that Romney will be able to dole out to candidates of his choice (on or off the books).
April 30, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
The last report was filed 7/19/07 and cash on hand was $447k. But there hasn't been a report filed since then.
April 30, 2008 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good analysis. Thanks.
April 29, 2008 8:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mrs Panstreppon,
Excellent post, as always. Speaking of the Commonwealth PAC, note the name 'Matthew Elliott'. From:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1069061
and
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/ialeadership06.html
"Romney Treasurer/Unpaid Advisor to the Iowa Commonwealth PAC - Dave Kochel. Directed Lamar Alexander's 2000 Iowa caucus campaign. Executive director of the Iowa Republican Party in the 1996 cycle.
Consulting for The Commonwealth PAC (and the Massachusetts Republican State Congressional Committee); Deputy Political Director at the RGA - Gentry Collins. Collins served as deputy chairman/executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa after Chuck Larson was deployed to Iraq in Sept. 2003. Managed Doug Gross' 2002 campaign for governor. B.A. in political science from Iowa State University in Ames, 1998.
The Commonwealth PAC Iowa Advisory Committee.
On June 17, 2006 Romney announced creation of this group "composed of fifty distinguished Iowa leaders from all across the state."
Grassroots Supporter - Jeff Fuller.
Fuller of North Liberty runs the Iowans for Romney blog (first posting on May 5, 2006). Vitreoretinal Surgical Fellowship at University of Iowa. Residency in Ophthalmology at Medical College of Georgia. Medical School at UAB in Birmingham. College at Brigham Young University. Born and raised in Los Angeles area (Glendora High School).
also June 17, 2006 Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson reported that Gross announced Romney has hired three staff people to work in Iowa on GOP campaigns. Matt Elliott, previously director of Iowa Republicans' Legislative Majority Fund, reportedly worked briefly for The Commonwealth PAC in the first part of 2006. (Elliott graduated from Drake University with a degree in political science, 2003; he hails from Farragut, Iowa).
The Commonwealth PAC (Iowa) reported > contributions of $90,800.00 and expenditures of $76,323.36 in 2004 and contributions of $143,000.00 and expenditures of $62,622.95 in 2005."
So who's behind the Iowa Republicans' Legislative Majority Fund? If my memory serves me correctly, Thomas H. Lee has strong ties to Bain Capital.
April 29, 2008 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
As senateguru pointed out at Bleeding Heartland, the deadline to register for the Iowa June senate primary has passed. But let's take a look at the candidates who did register: George S. Eichhorn, Christopher Reed and Steve Rathje.
Steve Rathje is the only candidate to register his campaign committee with the FEC. Since he registered in September 2005, he has raised $123k which came mostly from relatives, friends and Rathje personally. At 3/31/08, Rathje had a whopping $7k in cash on hand.
Compare Rathje's fundraising to that of Harkin's 2002 opponent, Greg Ganske. At 3/31/02, Ganske had $1.3 million in cash on hand and had spent $800k in the first quarter of 2002 alone. Ganske ultimately spent a total of $5 million vs Harkin's $8 million.
Interesting that Rathje's website is on the National Republican Party's server of choice, Smartech. Smartech was host to the off-record email accounts of many White House staffers and many of the so-called "missing" emails went through Smartech's servers.
Conventional Iowa wisdom is that the Republicans won't run a strong candidate against Harkin but this field of candidates is so pathetic, it lends strength to my argument that Rastetter could very well make a surprise run. I just don't know enough about election law to know if it is doable. What if all three primary candidates dropped out?
If anyone can tell me more about Harkin's likely opponent, I'd appreciate it. I'd appreciate it even more if anyone knows how the prospective candidate will raise a few million bucks to run a respectable race.
April 30, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
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