(Radio Iowa) – Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters says the road to Republican majorities in the U-S House and Senate starts in Iowa.
Gruters was in Iowa Wednesday campaigning with candidates for Iowa’s first and third congressional district and he’ll be at the Iowa State Fair, Thursday. Gruters and the Republican National Committee are backing the Iowa G-O-P’s lawsuit that seeks to require that Iowa election officials verify voters’ signatures on the envelopes for mailing absentee ballots.
On Tuesday, a federal court blocked an executive order President Trump issued in March on mailing absentee ballots. It’s likely the Trump Administration will ask the U-S Supreme Court to decide whether the Postal Service, at Trump’s direction, may only send and receive ballots that include tracking barcodes. Gruters says Trump is considering all options.
During an interview with Radio Iowa, Gruters indicated a recent U-S Supreme Court ruling is a game changer in the way the party may spend its resources for candidates like Ashley Hinson — the Iowa Republican who’s running for the U-S Senate. Until last month, federal regulations had prevented coordination among candidates and other groups, like political parties, that were supporting their campaigns.
The Republican National Committee entered July with 129-MILLION dollars more to spend than the Democratic National Committee and Gruters says the change means the G-O-P will be able to directly assess where to direct spending in support of Iowa’s competitive races for the U-S Senate and U-S House.
Gruters says the party’s ad spending will be worth three or four times as much, too, since advertising rates for candidates and political parties will now be the same.
