IGO and ACLU of Iowa Candidate Ratings

In preparation for tomorrow's primary election here are rankings from two more pro-liberty groups in Iowa.

The ACLU of Iowa recently released it's report card for Iowa legislators.  This has limitations because it will only show you how an incumbent voted on certain issues and doesn't grade unelected challengers.  Also, I tend not to agree with ACLU of Iowa on some issues.  They tend to have the right idea on things like free speech, equal rights, privacy, surveillance, and due process but get a little off track on "reproductive freedom" (certainly nobody has a "right" to an abortion on somebody else's dime) and Second Amendment rights.  The report card may be more useful for seeing how your legislator voted on individual bills rather than looking at his or her final grade from ACLU of I.  You can read the report card here.

Also, Iowa Gun Owners sent out an email with a "Gun Rights Voter Guide" for tomorrow's primary election.  Some of the highlights (I apologize for some of the formatting below.  It is the fault of this author and not like that in the original IGO email):

In House District 1:

Kevin Wolfswinkel (R) has answered our candidate survey 100% pro-gun, which shouldn't be a surprise since Kevin is a lifetime member of Iowa Gun Owners, and has been for a long time. Kevin supports Constitutional Carry, Stand-Your-Ground, removing Iowa's
unconstitutional permit to purchase, and will stand against ANY threats to our gun rights.

Jeff Smith (R) refuses to answer our survey. Worse, he voted against Constitutional Carry in 2011 - in violation of the candidate survey that he did sign in 2010!

House District 2:

Iowa Gun Owners was going to remain quiet in this race since both candidates completed
their survey 100%. We had concerns since one of the candidates, Megan Hess (R) worked
in the General Assembly this past year for the notoriously anti-gun Clel Baudler. Baudler
KILLED Constitutional Carry in his committee and did so proudly.

Running against Hess is Josh Davenport (R), a longtime Iowa Gun Owners supporter.
Josh is very vocal about his stance on the 2nd Amendment and eagerly completed our
survey 100% in favor of our gun rights.

However, this past Saturday Hess was interviewed by the paper in her district and she
removed any doubt about the fact the she LIED on her candidate survey. Not only
does Hess not support Constitutional Carry - she thinks we need a new bureaucracy
to make the government mandated training requirements more regulated!

Clearly Hess intends to go to Des Moines and bargin away our 2nd Amendment rights!
She's just telling the voters what she thinks they want to hear - and she's not even elected
yet!

House District 6:

Matthew Ung (R) has answered our survey 100%! Matthew believes deeply in our 2nd
Amendment rights and was troubled to learn that his current Representative voted
AGAINST our gun rights during his short time in office. Matthew supports all of the
legislative agendas of Iowa Gun Owners.

Regrettably, freshman Representative Ron Jorgensen (R) was difficult to work with the
moment he came into office. He was very unwilling to co-sponsor bills, he voted against
Constitutional Carry in 2011, and now he refuses to sign a simple candidate survey.

House District 7:

Tedd Gassman (R) refused to answer the survey saying that he wants to leave the gun laws as they are. He won't commit to advancing our gun rights in any way.

Mark Frakes (R) has answered our survey in support Constitutional Carry, Stand-Your-
Ground, and other key pieces of legislation. While he answered another question
incorrectly, he was confused about the question, and did not do so purposefully.

House District 10:

Incumbent Tom Shaw (R), Iowa Gun Owners' lead bill sponsor for the last two years in the
House has again answered his candidate survey 100%. His record and leadership on
behalf of our gun rights is well known to our members.

Challenging Tom Shaw is Maison Bleam (R), who has answered his survey favorably.

House District 16:

Democratic candidates Ronald Pierce and Heidi Coners have both refused the survey.

House District 22:

Clint Fichter (R) has answered our candidate survey with 100% pro-gun answers.

Gerg Forristall (R) has refused to complete the survey which should come as no small
surprise to voters there since he voted against key gun legislation in 2011.

House District 24:

Jane Jensen (R) has completed our survey and is a proud supporter of the 2nd Amendment.

Cecil Dolecheck (R) has not completed the survey.

House District 25:

Joan Acela (R) is a strong gun rights supporter who was happy to answer the IGO candidate survey 100% in support of your gun rights. She's not hidden her views on the 2nd Amendment at all during her campaign.

Joan is challenging Julian Garrett (R) who has repeatedly refused to co-sponsor the bills
that he promised to support when he ran for office in 2010. Garrett also refused to
answer our candidate survey this year. He took help from gun owners in his last election
and then voted against the 2nd Amendment in 2011.

House District 26:

Steve McCoy (R) is running for the open seat vacated by the retiring Glen Massie.
McCoy, a military veteran, has happily answered his candidate questionnaire. He's on
the record supporting Stand-Your-Ground reform as well as Pre-Emption reform
which would put an end to the patchwork system we have right now where one
county allows you to carry concealed and another does not.

Ruth Randleman (R) has repeatedly refused to answer our survey. Many of our members
from this district have contacted Randleman, but she still won't tell us where she stands
on the important 2nd Amendment issues facing law abiding Iowans.

House District 28:

Both candidates in this race, Greg Heartsill (R) and Len Gosselink (R) have answered
our survey with pro-gun replies. However, Greg Heartsill (R) has pledged to sponsor
legislation, as opposed to cosponsoring it. We appreciate both surveys, but greatly
appreciate the leadership pledge from Greg Heartsill.

House District 30:

Jim Carley (R) has completed the survey 100% and supports all the legislative goals of
Iowa Gun Owners.

Carol Miller (R) has refused to answer our survey despite it being sent to her multiple times.
Refusing to sign this survey is usually a sign of hostile intentions when it comes to your
gun rights.

House District 36:

In this 3 way primary race one candidate stands out. While Tony Seliquini (R) and
Larry Steele (R) have completed the survey 100% pro-gun, Jeff Ibbotson has refused
to tell you and me where he stands on the key 2nd Amendment issues facing Iowans.

None of the three Democrats running in this primary have answered the survey.

House Distict 37:

This is the most crowded primary race in this year's primary race with 5 Republican
candidates. There are no Democrats running. We'll summarize each candidate's stance.

Matt DeVries - 100% response to his candidate survey.

John Landon - no answer to multiple surveys that were sent to him.

Jacob Mason - 100% response to his survey.

Jim Robidoux - No answer. Wrote a letter saying that he would not be answering.

Stacey Rogers - 100% response to our survey.

Jeffery Wright - Refused his survey. He wouldn't even open it.

House District 39:

Erik Helland (R) says that he's pro-gun and he completed his candidate survey last year. But in 2011, when trying to maintain his personal friendships with the power brokers in the
Capitol, he broke his pledge and voted against your gun rights. This year he's refusing to
go on the record.

Jake Highfill (R) is challenging Helland, in part, because he's frustrated with his anti-gun
voting record. Highfill has answered our survey 100%.

House District 76:

David Maxwell (R) has answered his entire survey 100% in support of your gun rights.

Larry Wilson (R) refused his survey at the Post Office and sent it back...he wouldn't
even open it.

House District 78:

Jared Klein (R) will not complete a candidate survey for us. That's likely because he's
voted against Constitutional Carry and knows that he's broken a promise made to the
voters last election. Capitol insiders report that Klein is much more concerned about a
long career in politics that honoring pledges made to his voters. This is very disturbing.

Challenging Klein is Priscilla Marlar. Marlar (R) is a strong 2nd Amendment supporter
and did our survey 100% pro-gun.

Senate District 4:

Both Dennis Guth (R) and James Black (R) have completed their candidate survey 100%
pro-gun.

Senate District 10:

Jake Chapman has completed our survey 100%. We've talked to Chapman and he seems
sincere regarding his support for your 2nd Amendment rights.

Matthew Mardesen has also completed our survey. He came out OPPOSED to
Constiutional Carry and OPPOSED to removing Iowa's unconstitutional permit to purchase.

Senate District 22:

Certainly no Senate race has received more attention regarding gun rights than this race.

Longtime incumbent Pat Ward is being challenged by Jeff Mullen - both are Republicans.

In 2010 when Constitutional Carry received a Floor vote Ward was the only Republican
to vote no. While 17 of the 18 Republicans were in support, Ward refused. Later she
voted in support of an anti-gun bill that removes guns from people without them
even being guaranteed the right to be present at the hearing where the court orders their
removal.

Ward has never apologized for those votes and she is arrogantly refusing to complete
her survey this year.

Jeff Mullen is a serious shooter who has a fine collection of self-defense firearms. Mullen
takes his 2nd Amendment freedoms very seriously and he answered our survey 100%.
Mullen understands that more guns in the hands of law abiding people will equal less
crime, and he lives this.

Senate District 36:

IGO member Jane Jech has completed her survey with all favorable responses.

Larry McKibben has not returned our survey.

Senate District 42:

Republicans Larry Kruse and Lee Harder both answered the survey with pro-gun
answers.

Senate District 46:

Republican incumbents Shawn Hammerlinck and James Hahn were lumped into the same
district after the legislative maps were redrawn this year. Both have surveyed 100% and
both voted for Constitutional Carry in 2010.

Senate District 48:

Brian Cook (R) did not return his survey.

Dan Zumbach (R) supports Constitutional Carry, Stand Your Ground, Pre-Emption
Reform and all of the other legislative goals of Iowa Gun Owners.