Just 48 hours after Linn Co. Liberal Liz Mathis announced she would run against Republican Ashely Hinson in Iowa’s first district, Fox News dropped a report that Mathis used her official position in the State Senate to secure tax breaks for her client.
Iowa Dem @LizMathis1 used official position to secure tax breaks for client of her family-owned business, filings show https://t.co/iUbNS7zRjW #IA01 #iapolitics
— Iowa Field Report.com (@IAFieldReport) July 28, 2021
For any candidate, having a major news outlet drop a story this damning two days after you announce is embarrassing.
Mathis and her husband, Mark Mathis, are co-owners of Amperage, a marketing firm formerly known as ME&V. ME&V received $94,298 in the tax year 2012 and $54,588 in the tax year 2013 from Prospect Meadows, a large sports complex in Linn County.
In 2016, Mathis helped ‘convince’ fellow legislators to support $2.5 million in sales tax rebates for Project Meadows. After the rebates were passed, Mathis thanked her colleagues for “putting the finishing touches on Prospect Meadows,” adding this process was, “three years in the making.”
If you follow the timeline, the timing is not a mere coincidence. When Mathis began this ‘project,’ her business was being paid a total of $150,000.
On a press call this morning, the Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann called on Mathis to reveal any other sweetheart deals she may have handed out, saying:
“Iowans know, Liz Mathis’ shady business dealings don’t pass the smell test. It’s time Mathis finally be transparent with voters and shine some light on what other sweetheart deals she was handing out. Mathis’ efforts to hide this important information was overt and undeniable.”
