CLAIM: Vulnerable Democrat Cindy Axne’s (IA) first campaign ad targeting Republican challenger Zach Nunn claimed he took money from an amusement pack CEO and then “sponsored legislation to loosen amusement park safety rules,” which led to an 11-year-old’s death.
VERDICT: Misleading. Axne’s ad left out information indicating that the bill he voted for was not only bipartisan legislation that was voted on by Republicans and Democrats, including Democrat party leadership — Iowa Democrat Party Chair Ross Wilburn and Iowa Democrat House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst. Additionally, the bill that was voted on did not affect the ride that led to the child’s death.
Axne, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country heading into the November election, looks to have an early start on-air in Iowa. However, the ad conveniently left out critical information, which misleads the voters in Iowa’s Third Congressional District.
The entire ad stated:
An 11-year-old boy is dead after the accident on a ride at Adventureland. The “Raging River” ride had 17 safety violations at the time of the July accident, a tragedy that could have been avoided. But Zach Nunn took money from Adventure Land CEO then sponsored legislation to loosen amusement park safety rules. A child died. Zach Nunn put his big donors ahead of the safety of Iowa families. I’m Cindy Acne, and I approve this message because I’ll always put Iowa families…
The amusement park Adventureland is a major business in Nunn’s state Senate district, and members of the Krantz family, which either owned or controlled the park from 1973 until late 2021, had contributed money to his campaign — $5,000 to his state races and about $34,000 his U.S. House race, the Des Moines Register noted.
Nunn also sponsored and voted for legislation in 2021 to lower the minimum age for operating amusement park rides from 18 to 16-years-old to help ease staffing shortages. In late 2021, an 11-year-old died on the “Raging River” ride at Adventureland.
But, what the ad leaves out is that the legislation passed with bipartisan support in the Iowa House and Senate. In fact, Iowa Democrat Party Chair Ross Wilburn and Iowa House Democrat Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst voted for the bill.
Additionally, as the ad stated, the “‘Raging River’ ride had 17 safety violations at the time of the July accident, which the Iowa Division of Labor also noted in a report. The Des Moines Register noted that the violated safety standards included failing to supervise riders, using unapproved replacement parts, and having deficient evacuation procedures, which the amusement park lawyers contested.
But, the bill, H.F. 558, only established the minimum age to be lower and made training requirements for attendants who control amusement park rides and also made “penalties applicable.” Even more so, Axne ties all the issues together in the ad, the Des Moines Register concluded that the “ride’s operator that day was over 18.”
In response to Axne’s misleading ad, Nunn’s campaign, the Republican Party of Iowa, and the National Republican Congressional Campaign (NRCC) hammered her in statements to Breitbart News.
“Dishonest. Deceitful. Dishonorable,” stated Bryan Kraber, Nunn’s campaign manager. “Cindy Axne’s verifiable lie exploits the loss of a child for her own re-election prospects. The ad reflects Axne’s character more than anything. Iowans see through Axne’s false, DC-style smear job and are disappointed.”
Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann said in a similar statement that “Cindy Axne is desperate and despicable” in her attempt to try to “leverage the tragic death of a child for her own political gain is outrageous.” He continued:
But I guess we should expect that from Nancy Pelosi’s favorite member of Congress…Cindy must be desperate if she’s hurling lies and slamming her own party’s votes. Try as she may, she will never be able to distract Iowans of her record of disasters — high gas prices, record inflation, open border policies, a botched Afghanistan exit, the list goes on and on.
“Cindy Axne’s polling is so bad that she is willing to falsely accuse her own party of murdering young children,” stated NRCC Spokesman Mike Berg. “Instead of running despicable ads filled with lies, Axne should run ads apologizing to Iowans for supporting reckless spending that caused 40-year high inflation.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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