I wanted to start off with an overall breakdown of contributions to the Iowa Republican and Democratic Parties. But first, I want to talk a bit about who I am and where I'm coming from. Most people would describe me as left of center. However, I believe in democracy and that when the public is well-informed they can come to their own conclusions about how the world should work.

While I'd like to blame the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision for the influence of money in politics, I know that the problem does not rest with the majority on the Court. We are a government of the People, and so, if money has a corrupting influence on our government, it is our job to fix that problem. If we are going to regain control of our government, we have to know where the money comes from and who it goes to. The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure (IECD) Board makes that information publicly available, but I found that exploring thousands of lines of spreadsheet data isn't exactly what everyone likes to do over the weekend. A picture is more accessible, and a summary of the top contributors/recipients makes the signal stand out from the noise. The tool on this page creates pie charts based on that publicly available information. I hope this tool helps anyone who is interested in restoring government to the People, regardless of party affiliation. I hope this tool makes politicians think twice about accepting money from companies or voting in line with company lobbyists.

This website is named QuidQuo for a reason. "Quid pro Quo" means "something for something," and is usually referenced in relation to bribery, when something is offered in return for a favor. In reality, this is hard to prove. For example, let's say money went from a company to a politician, and then that politician voted to pass a bill that the company lobbied for. How does one prove the politician voted because of the contribution? This website does not attempt to do that. Our mission is to inform you about the "quid" -- the contribution that was given to the candidate -- and the "quo" -- the something that the candidate did that aligned with the company's stated interest. We leave you to decide for yourself the "pro" -- whether the two are related. That is, we show you the quid and the quo but let you be the pro.

Iowa State Parties are like Bank Accounts

“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…‘”
— Isaac Asimov

Full disclosure: I don't know what the heck I've gotten myself into. I'm just a curious person who wants to know who funds politicians. When I looked into overall state party contributions, I was left with more questions than answers. I wanted to know how much companies vs. individual people were donating to the respective state parties, and here's what I learned: The Iowa Republican Party is funded 95.8% by "Companies or other entities," and the Iowa Democratic Party is funded 89% by the same. However, this amount includes contributions from candidate committees, as well as partisan PACs, labor unions, and company contributions. For both parties, the bulk of that money comes from candidate committees.

So what I learned is this: state parties in Iowa are like banks. They take money from candidates who bring in the most contributions and distribute that money to candidates in targeted districts. To someone more informed about politics, maybe that seems like a no-brainer, but to me, it left more questions than answers. If candidates are funding their respective parties, then who is funding the candidates?

The tool on this page helps answer that question for individual candidates, but I want to know in aggregate: which party receives the most in small donor contributions (Less than $200)....large donor contributions? Companies? Comparing state party contributions doesn't get to the original source of the money. These questions will require me to aggregate the data for every active democrat and every active republican in order to compare the two. I intend to do just that.

Stay tuned.