IFR EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: Formal complaints have been filed against Republican State Senator Jim Carlin and Democrat Dr. Glen Hurst for their failure to file their file personal financial disclosure statements. PDFs of the two senate ethics complaints filed by Will Rogers can be found below.
Four candidates, three Democrats and one Republican, have failed to file personal financial disclosure reports with the U.S. Senate.
The Federal Ethics in Government Act (FEGA) requires federal officeholders, candidates for national office, and hundreds of other federal government officials to file personal financial disclosure statements. The provision has been in law for over forty years. However, an investigation by Iowa Field Report has found four of the seven announced candidates for Iowa’s U.S. Senate race have not filed the federally required disclosure reports.
The purpose of the disclosure is to provide transparency to the voters of potential conflicts of interest by government officials.
In Iowa, seven candidates are campaigning for U.S. Senate Seats that will be decided this November. Candidates must file on May 15 of each year or within 30 days of becoming a candidate, whichever comes first.
Republican incumbent Chuck Grassley and Democrats Abby Finkenauer and Michael Franken all filed the required reports on a timely basis, and the information is available for public inspection.
Both Republican State Senator Jim Carlin and Democrat Dr. Glen Hurst have disclosed $5,000 campaign expenditures to the Federal Elections Commission, yet neither has filed their personal finance disclosures.
Ironically, State Senator Carlin serves as Vice-Chair of the Iowa State Senate Ethics Committee. Outside of the legislature, he works as an attorney, which puts him beyond the “he should know better” category.
The Des Moines Register reported in November of last year that Democrat Dave Muhlbauer had dropped out of the race following the death of his nephew. Muhlbauer dropped out of the race five months after he missed the deadline for filing his personal financial disclosure. Federal Law, found in the publically available Senate Ethics Manual, stipulates that dropping out after the due date does not relieve the candidate of the obligation to file. However, public records show Muhlbauer did file multiple campaign spending reports with the Federal Elections Commission.
Democrat candidate and former state representative Robert Krause announced in October and has been actively campaigning since then with a strong presence on social media, a campaign web page, and a score of LONG campaign videos. Kruse has not filed his personal financial disclosure, nor has he made any filing with the FEC. He is required to have filed both if he has raised or spent more than $5,000 total in his campaign. Krause, a multi-time candidate for Federal office, owes the public an explanation of his failures to file. Ironically, Krause has made campaign finance reform a centerpiece of his campaign.
