Joni Ernst, Koch favorite and not the choice of the Corn Growers.
There's no question that Iowa Republican Joni Ernst is 100 percent Koch, and that Koch and the groups Koch funds will go to any lengths to get the seat. That includes
harassing individual farmers who belong to an association that endorsed Democrat Bruce Braley.
Braley won the backing of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, which announced last week that it favors his stance on farm policy over that of his Republican opponent, Joni Ernst.
The association is one of the most influential farmers' groups in Iowa, and endorses candidates regardless of party affiliation.
But the choice didn't sit well with Sandy Greiner, a Republican Iowa state senator. Greiner is president of the American Future Fund, a group that spent some $30 million last election cycle—nearly all raised from the network built by the billionaire Koch brothers—attacking Democrats or backing Republicans.
So first Greiner posts a message on Facebook the day after the Corn Growers endorsement on September 2, telling corn farmers to call the association and complain and to demand a refund of their dues. Apparently the Koch-funded group she runs felt that Facebook just didn't have enough reach among farmers, and on September 5 started in with a bunch of robocalls to farmers demanding that they do the same—call the association and demand refunds.
Except Greiner—again, president of the American Future Fund—told Huffington Post "that she is not affiliated with the American Future Fund PAC," the arm of the group that bankrolled the calls. That's a curious denial given her official position with the group. Maybe those harassing phones calls aren't going over too well with the farmers receiving them. It's probably going over even worse with the Corn Growers, which happens not to be among the groups that the Kochs control.