Ankeny Developer Among Iowa's Biggest Campaign Donors

By HAYLEY BRUCE
IowaWatch Staff Writer

An influential group of Iowans may have a significant impact on who the next U.S. president is with, at least when compared to what big donors in other states give, pennies on the barrel.

While donations like the total $199,600 Knapp Properties CEO and board chairman Bill Knapp II has given Democrats in 2011 and 2012 to campaign for state and federal offices may seem like a lot, they pale in comparison to what big donors in other states, like Hollywood movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg’s more than $2 million to Democratic super PACs, are giving.

Still, Iowa’s top donors may do a better of job of getting voters to the polls in what is considered to be a swing state in this presidential election because their money is staying in Iowa and being used to motivate its voters, political science experts told IowaWatch.

And at No. 9 on that list is Denny Elwell of Ankeny, chairman of the board at Denny Elwell Co. Election reports say he has given $71,000 to campaigns this year, primarily Republican.

Steffen Schmidt, a political science and public policy professor at Iowa State University, said the quantity of donors, rather than the amount of their donations, matters most because each small donation likely means one vote.

“The Koch brothers may be giving millions of dollars, but each Koch brother only has one vote,” Schmidt said, referring to the billionaire brothers from Wichita, Kan., who fund conservative and libertarian organizations. And, of course, that vote wouldn’t be cast in Iowa.

Political money has become a major theme in this year’s election season with the rise of super PACs and other vehicles for so-called “soft money.”

Megan Stiles, spokeswoman for the Iowa Republican Party, said receiving a steady flow of donations is critical toward keeping campaign offices open throughout the state and mobilization efforts to help Republican candidates get elected.

She added that this year will be the Republican Party’s biggest “ground game” in Iowa, with a party record of 12 offices throughout the state. She said the party has made more voter contacts this election cycle,  knocking on 10 times as many doors at this point in comparison to 2008.

“Our state is in play,” Tim Hagle, an associate political science professor at the University of Iowa, said. That is true, he said, even though Iowa is small and with only six electoral votes because of its swing-state status in an election that is expected to be close.

Knapp emerges as Iowa’s top federal campaign donor

Knapp, of Des Moines, emerged as Iowa’s top donor to state and federal campaigns in an analysis of  2011 and 2012 Federal Election Commission  and Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure data by the Investigative News Network, IowaWatch and several other non-profit, non-partisan news agencies.

Knapp has been a consistent Democratic supporter in Iowa politics, and most of the money he donated went to the state’s party. He gave $56,100 to individual candidates running for Iowa House and Senate: $50,500 to Rep. Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, and $250 to John Calhoun, a Polk City Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Iowa Senate in a special election in 2011. But Knapp also gave $5,350 to Rep. Peter Cownie, R-West Des Moines.

Knapp also has donated $12,500 to Democratic congressional candidates, led by $5,000 to 3rd District U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell and $5,000 to Iowa 4th congressional candidate Christie Vilsack.

Knapp told IowaWatch during the summer he supported Vilsack because he was impressed with her during her term as Iowa’s first lady, when her husband, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, was governor. He also said he believed she would help to change the stubborn climate in Washington because she would be “open to compromise and not insist on her own way on every issue.”

After Knapp, Iowa’s Top 10 campaign donors in the analysis are:

2) Bruce Rastetter, Iowa Falls, CEO of Summit Group, co-founder of Hawkeye Energy Holdings and Iowa Board of Regents member — $173,300, favoring Republicans.

3) James Cownie, Des Moines, owner at JSC Properties — $117,565, primarily Republican.

4) Frederick Hubbell, Des Moines, retired executive board member of ING Group — $114,275.

5) Gregory Abel, West Des Moines, chairman, president and CEO of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. — $97,738, primarily Republican.

6) Gerald Kirke, West Des Moines, chairman and founder of Wild Rose Entertainment — $92,850, primarily Republican.

7) Van G. Miller, Waterloo, CEO and founder of VGM Group — $78,900, primarily Republican.

8) Fred Weitz, West Des Moines, retired chief executive of Weitz Co. and CEO at Essex Meadows — $77,810, primarily Democratic.

9) Denny Elwell, Ankeny, chairman of the board at Denny Elwell Co. — $71,000, primarily Republican.

10) John Smith, chairman of the board at CRST International, Cedar Rapids — $70,600, primarily Republican.

The rest of Iowa Watch's report can be read here.