Pawlenty Visits Coralville, Defends his Budget Record as Governor

By Hannah Hess 
IowaPolitics.com 

CORALVILLE — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he can sympathize with the conservative minority in an environment dominated by Democrats. 

Pawlenty made the statement Monday afternoon as he addressed a crowd of 60 people at the Coralville Public Library. The crowd included members of the Johnson County Republican Central Committee and the University of Iowa College Republicans. 

“This is not an easy place to be a conservative, but you’re looking at a guy who grew up in a meatpacking town,” Pawlenty said. “Most of the town was overwhelmingly Democrat, but it’s important that we keep the flame and the torch burning, and raise it high, because things can evolve and do change over time.” 

The Johnson County Town Hall marked the first event of Pawlenty’s week-long, 18-city tour. He’ll drive nearly 700 miles across Iowa in a blue recreational vehicle, decked out with messages about his “Road to Results.” 

Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky, of Coralville, described the tour as the “Road to economic failure,” during a telephone news conference Monday morning. 

“Tim Pawlenty drove the economy up there into a ditch,” Dvorsky said. “Now he’s touring Iowa, because he wants to take the country down the same road of economic failure he forged in Minnesota.” 

Pawlenty’s home state has been without government services for weeks, because Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders are deadlocked on a budget deal. 

During his 15-minute speech in the library basement, Pawlenty touted some of his major accomplishments in Minnesota, including his reforms to education, the welfare system and public employee compensation. He presented himself as a force for change in a traditionally Democratic state. 

When audience members were allowed time for questions, Iowa City resident David Dougherty requested an explanation of Pawlenty’s role in the state’s current crisis. 

“I’m curious about whether or not you can defend your record,” Dougherty said. 

Pawlenty said he did not contribute to the $5-billion deficit projection, saying that figure assumed a 20 percent increase in spending he would not have allowed. 

“My budget was balanced every two years, every budget cycle during my whole time as governor,” said the two-term former governor. “The last budget for which I was responsible just ended on June 30, at midnight, and it ended with a surplus.” 

Critics have disputed the $662-million surplus. 

Most recently, former Republican Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson attributed the figure to short-term budgeting fixes and projections that ignored inflation.