Around the time of Labor Day in an election year is when political attack ads tend to make the rounds. A surge arrives and lasts four to six weeks before election day, which is Nov. 3 this year.
Besides the large amount of ads generated for the governor and Congressional seats, Iowa legislative candidates have also seen the beginning of attacks. Toward the end of August, an attack ad against candidate Mike Tupper (D-Marshalltown) began airing, showing up on services such as YouTube and Facebook.
Tupper is running for the Iowa House of Representatives District 52 seat, which is held by incumbent and opponent David Blom (R-Marshalltown). Blom is seeking his second term as the representative of Marshalltown and southeastern Marshall County in the Capitol. He unseated Sue Cahill in 2024 in a race that saw its share of political attack ads, as well.
In 2024, the Iowa Democratic Party spent $247,334 on Cahill’s campaign and the Republican Party of Iowa spent $323,374 on Blom’s campaign. Blom said the high dollar amounts were because both major parties recognize the importance of this legislative seat.
The ad against Tupper, authorized by Blom and paid for by the Republican Party of Iowa, tells voters they cannot afford him as a representative because of the $50,000 settlement paid by the city when Tupper was the chief of the Marshalltown Police Department (MPD).
Since the Republican Party of Iowa paid for the ad, they emailed a statement and a “fact sheet” — a single bullet point listing a website called Police Scorecard, which evaluates police and sheriff departments across the country. It ranked the MPD in Iowa’s bottom half for spending, use of force, accountability and arrests made.
“Mike Tupper’s record speaks for itself,” said Iowa GOP Spokeswoman Jade Cichy. “His failed leadership put Marshalltown’s police department in the bottom half for spending and accountability, and he even left taxpayers on the hook for a $50,000 settlement. Marshall County voters deserve to know that a vote for Mike Tupper puts both their tax dollars and public safety at risk.”
Blom said he made sure the claims in the ad stood up, using articles from Iowa media outlets. He said the issue the ad is addressing is affordability and property tax.
“People are concerned,” he said. “The focus is affordability, and my focus is driving down costs for Marshall County families.”
The T-R reviewed the Police Scorecard website and found agencies receive higher scores if officers use less force, make fewer low-level offense arrests, hold officers accountable, solve more homicides and spend less money on policing. Low-level offenses are considered non-violent crimes against people or property and include disorderly conduct, drug possession, disturbing the peace, sex work and more.
The MPD had an overall Police Scorecard ranking of 43 percent. In comparison, the police departments in similar sized cities received scores of: Mason City, 49 percent; Ottumwa, 37 and; Fort Dodge, 45. Locally, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office received a score of 45; Tama County Sheriff, 42; Tama Police Department, 35 and; Toledo, 43.
Tupper’s response
After residents asked Tupper about the ad, he posted a response on his campaign Facebook page
In that post, Tupper said Blom neither understands nor supports law enforcement. He said that in 2022, one of the MPD police officers was wrongfully accused of excessive force.
“An investigation was conducted and the facts were clear,” Tupper said. “The officer did nothing wrong. I supported the officer then. I support the officer now. David Blom is attacking me for doing my job. David Blom doesn’t understand my job, and he doesn’t have the courage to do the job of a police officer.”
Blom saw Tupper’s response and said it was “bizarre” and “out of touch.”
“These are increasingly bizarre attacks from Mike Tupper as he sees the race slip away from him, because he’s lost track of issues that matter to people of Marshall County,” he said.
In an interview with the T-R, Tupper said he posted the response because he wanted to set the record straight on what actually happened.
“The officer made a lawful arrest and used a taser,” he said. “At the end of the day, the officer followed policy, used a proper use of force and I supported him.”
Tupper describes himself as a moderate on most issues, and feels many people do not like political attack ads. They infiltrate most commercial breaks, so they must work, he said. Talking with voters, they have told Tupper they do not like the ads, wish the candidates would refrain from using them and stick to talking about the issues. Something political attack ads tend to do is embellish reality, twist the facts and do not address the issues.
Tupper has no plans on running attack ads against Blom. For one, he does not have the money to do so. He said a few times there were plans for Blom to spend $200,000 on ads in the month of September. Blom said he had to double check if that amount was the plan, and added that the state Republican Party makes its own decisions on how to spend money.
Tupper said he is not interested in “wasting” campaign money.
“I am disgusted at the money wasted on political campaigns in general,” he said. “What has been eye opening is the pressure put on candidates to raise [and spend] more money. I think the money is hurting our political system and making it difficult to have real conversations.”
Tupper said he is not sure where Blom is getting his funding.
With this being his first time running for elected office, Tupper has been shocked at seeing the large amount of money spent on campaigns, and how many organizations are contributing when they could be using the money to assist the public.
“Our priorities are backward,” he said. “But candidates need to spend money to have the opportunity to beat their competitor.”
Tupper will continue knocking on doors and attending public events to spread word of his campaign, he said, while focusing on issues. Two of his top three issues are public education and affordability, the latter which many voters on both sides of the aisle are worried about lately.
“Working Iowans have been left out of the conversations in Des Moines and D.C., conversations on giving people the opportunity to thrive,” Tupper said.
His third top issue is one he adopted after announcing his candidacy in January – water quality. The rising rate of cancer across the state was one of the biggest factors in turning that into a focus.
“Marshalltown has a great, safe water system,” Tupper said. “But a lot of people are concerned.”
Blom said the issues his campaign has placed focus on include water quality, improving the health of Iowans, lowering property taxes and taking care of veterans.
Tupper encouraged voters to look beyond the attack ads and social media posts.
“I encourage people to educate themselves. Research the issues and what is really happening,” he said. “Make sure you have everything you need to decide at the ballot box.”
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.