The Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board maintains the unusual feature of allowing searches not only by the name of the entity making expenditures in a campaign, but also by the name of the entity receiving expenditures. According to the 2009 expenditure report of Iowa GOP gubernatorial hopeful Christian Fong, the Des Moines Tea Party held a fundraiser on November 7, 2009, at which Christian Fong wrote the Des Moines Tea Party a $200 check.
Christian Fong wasn’t the only Republican politician in Iowa to write a check to the Des Moines Tea Party. According to the IECDB database, in October and November of 2009 the following candidates wrote checks to the Des Moines Tea Party:
Tom Shaw, GOP candidate for Iowa House District 8: $100
Christian Fong, GOP candidate for Iowa Governor: $200
Rod Roberts, GOP candidate for Iowa Governor: $200
Bob Vander Plaats, GOP candidate for Iowa Governor: $200
Terry Branstad, GOP candidate for Iowa Governor: $200
Chris Rants, GOP candidate for Iowa Governor: $200
After organizing a protest against a Democratic party political candidate in March of this year, the Des Moines Tea Party made its recommendations in June for Governor of Iowa and for the 3rd District U.S. Congressional seat. Surprise, surprise: all of its recommended candidates were in the Republican Party.
