Democrat Emerges for State Auditor

Democrat Emerges for State Auditor

Democrats frustrated by that blank line next to state auditor in Tuesday's primary may yet see a name in that slot this fall.

Jon Murphy, who headed up implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in Iowa, mass-emailed Democratic state convention delegates to announce his candidacy. Delegates could make a nomination at Saturday's convention.

Murphy wasted no time going on offense against Republican incumbent David Vaudt:

Just recently, in response to frivolous accusations by the incumbent Auditor, Attorney General Tom Miller had to provide a civics lesson about how a state develops a budget. It seems a little ridiculous to do that for someone who serves on the State’s Executive Council. The incumbent Auditor’s political games wasted valuable state resources in both making the accusation and creating the need for a response. It’s time to stop the games and focus on protecting the people’s money.

The Des Moines resident's political pedigree also includes time on Leonard Boswell's staff. This, unlike those two write-in votes I got, looks like a legit effort.