According
to House Speaker Christopher Rants, the Iowa Leadership Council is
“organized to promote conservative principles in Iowa.”

By JANE NORMAN


Washington, D.C.
– A new conservative political organization has sprouted up in Iowa, financed with
corporate contributions from tobacco firms, a giant beer manufacturer and the
management company of payday lender LoanMax, according to records on file with
the Internal Revenue Service.” 

Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican who
loaned the council $1,000 for its startup, said the Iowa Leadership Council
will serve as the first conservative counter to liberal national organizations
such as MoveOn.org that have been active in the state. 

The council shares the same legal counsel as the
congressional campaign committee for U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Ia., a candidate
for governor, as well as his political action committee, the Iowa Priorities
PAC.

The law firm, Holtzman Vogel PLLC of Warrenton, Va., has only two other political clients, according to
Federal Election Commission records – a congressional campaign in Nebraska and the
Republican National Committee. But Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for Nussle,
said there is no connection between the organization and the Nussle campaign,
and aides to Nussle know nothing about the council or its purpose. “We are
not in any way affiliated with it or associated with it,” said Comella.

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