It was reported today that Brenna Findley has received the endorsement of the NRA in her race for the Iowa's Attorney General position over the anti-gun Tom Miller. Findley was covered in a previous article, but it bears repeating that many of the issues that Iowa firearm owners face need the support of a pro-gun AG. Brenna Findley is exactly what Iowa needs to continue pushing gun rights into what our citizens deserve and our founding fathers intended.
Senator Chuck Grassley has also received the support and endorsement of the NRA in his race against Roxanne Conlin. This should be a no-brainer, as Senator Grassley has been a supporter of gun rights for a long time.
In another “pre-report,” it is being speculated that State Senator Staci Appel will get the nod from the NRA in the race for her position against State Representative Kent Sorenson. I have received assurance from the NRA that this is absolutely not the case. Due to the anti-gun and anti-Sorenson ads that Senator Appel released last week, the NRA will not be endorsing her at all. Instead, the NRA will be actively supporting Representative Sorenson in his bid to unseat Senator Appel. Representative Sorenson was a huge ally for gun rights activists in the Iowa House, while Senator Appel has traditionally been a weak supporter of gun rights.
Unfortunately, while Senator Appel did vote for Shall Issue, one vote does not make a paradigm for her. According to my source at the NRA, the anti-Sorenson/anti-gun ad campaign launched by the Appel camp last week was the triggering factor in helping the NRA make their decision an easy one.
It is also interesting to note that the NRA notified Representative Sorenson of their intention to endorse and support him early this week. This would lead one to wonder why some outlets are reporting the opposite. Have any of these outlets actually contacted Representative Sorenson or the NRA? Or are they just going off pure speculation? If nobody bothered to check with Sorenson or the NRA, and instead are just assuming or speculating about the endorsement, those outlets are doing their readers a disservice.
My source at the NRA also informed me that they received thanks from Representative Sorenson for their decision to support him. That would certainly lead one to believe that his campaign staff should have known that he would be getting the nod over Senator Appel, and any reports or speculation of the opposite happening would be false. (Unless for some reason he chose not to share that information with his staff.)
Much has been said about the NRA's endorsement of Governor Culver. It could possibly be inferred that Senator Appel would have been endorsed because of her support for the NRA's legislation in the past session, and because of the NRA's policy of endorsing incumbents who support them. However, that would be a misguided decision. Senator Appel certainly did not support the NRA's agenda during her recent ad campaign, and as I stated above, that gives them a very easy decision to make.
“Senator Sorenson” is something that would sound good to Iowa firearms owners. Voters in District 37 need to make that happen on November 2nd.
Comments
I'll be sure to update my post and/or do a follow up post. Glad to see that the NRA is not endorsing her.
Sean, let's face reality here . . . we all know that the outpouring of resentment about the Culver endorsement combined with the rumors that "your sources at the NRA" were going to endorse Appel are what drove you guys to abandon the support of Appel. Kent himself went on 50 kW WHO radio at the end of the legislative session and reported that Chris Rager, the NRA-ILA "Liaison" for Iowa had personally (indirectly through you if I understand the story correctly) threatened Kent that they would support Appel in deference to Kent if he refused to support your watered down "carry reform" bill - the same one that Culver signed and has created a new, cumbersome and bureaucratic requirement to get retrained every 5 years where none existed before (but one that the NRA certainly benefits from 'cause they can offer the training - for a handsome fee of course). If there is one thing Kent has proven with his time in the Iowa Statehouse, it is that he is THE most trustworthy member of the entire mob of gangsters down in Des Moines. If Kent says something is true . . . you can bank on it.
You guys from the NRA / Iowa Carry have once again got caught with your "pants down" playing political gamesmanship in Iowa. Only THIS time, the people of Iowa are catching on to the shenanigans and have called your bluff. Fortunately, you appear to have enough sense, and possibly Rager as well, to see that the political winds in Iowa are not blowing in the same old "status quo" direction . . . and you have pulled the Appel endorsement wisely. Good for you for that at least. It is about time you started listening to what the people of Iowa want and not a bunch of beltway bandits.
The REAL Straight Shooter:
With all due respect, "Straight Shooter," your post is full of inaccuracies.
Well Mr. "Real" . . . if it is so "full of inaccuracies," by all means, if you know more than I do, spell them out . . . show the entire world where I am wrong . . . if you can.
Straight Shooter still doesn't get it. Strange.
"You guys from the NRA / Iowa Carry have once again got caught with your "pants down" Straight Shooter
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Straight Shooter has a little fantasy.......wishful thinking.
Politics is the art of the possible. Constitutional carry, like Arizona passed was not possible in Iowa this year. Anyone who thinks it was and that IowaCarry and the NRA sold them out is one of the following, uninformed, misinformed or just plain stupid!
Sorenson supports allowing convicted, violent offenders to carry guns. That's a step beyond the "law-abiding citizens" the NRA typically defends the rights of.
Can you cite a source for this?
If I was going to post on the internet ,I wouldn't be so cowardly and use "anonymous". I have never heard Sorenson or anyone claim that violent convicted offenders should be allowed to carry firearms. If they have been convicted of violent crimes, they can not pass the check to carry or own firearms.
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