Iowa Dem Gubenatorial candidates come out swinging

From the QC Times:

Democratic candidate for governor Mike Blouin criticized rival Chet Culver Saturday for signing on decades ago as a lobbyist for former meatpacking giant IBP, an accusation Culver called “desperate.”

Culver maintained that he had not worked as a lobbyist for the company.

But during the debate, Blouin pulled out the form Culver had signed linking him to IBP.

“He said he never did it. He had his signature on a piece of paper saying he did it,” Blouin said.

Culver explained he had been 22 years old working for prominent Democrat Ed Campbell and had been required by law to register as a lobbyist for Campbell’s clients as well.

“I never lobbied for Iowa Beef (IBP),” Culver said.

Blouin made the charges during a forum Saturday here sponsored by the Iowa Broadcast News Association that featured the four Democratic candidates for governor.

Blouin, the state’s former economic development director, argued that IBP was “among the worst employers the state ever had,” that constantly advocated for legislation that was “anti-farmer.”

“They’re not good corporate citizens in any context,” Blouin said.

The dust-up between Blouin and Culver, Iowa’s secretary of state, came exactly one month before Democratic voters will choose their nominee in the June 6 primary election.

In response to Blouin’s attack, Culver questioned Blouin’s record lobbying on behalf of a Des Moines area economic development group he presided over.

During that tenure, Blouin came out against project labor agreements, a position at odds with union groups, and took no position on raising the minimum wage, Culver said.

“There are facts and votes in candidates’ backgrounds that are relevant,” Culver said, “and going back to when someone was 22 years old and just out of college coming back and learning more about state government is a pretty long way to go, and perhaps a desperate attempt to try to make a point in the debate.”

Not pretty. But hey, it's a primary.