Iowa Politics with Jeff Stein -- Wed. Sep. 23, 2026

Run local, shop local.

I'm Jeff Stein with today's Iowa Politics Report.

There's a lot of talk about supporting local businesses in this era of online merchandising.

Politicians talk about stimulating economic development, and if you just vote for them, they'll make sure we have growth in the community.

So how many of these politicians are actually using local businesses for their campaigns?

Or even businesses just located here in Iowa?

We have political consultants based here in the state.

We have major direct mail vendors, too I can easily think of in eastern Iowa.

And you know there are plenty of direct mail pieces delivered to you each day by the Postal Service.

Lots of businesses can produce high quality yard signs,

We have call centers with high rates of connecting businesses with consumers and radio and television commercial production is done all manner of places within the borders of the state.

These are businesses that folks from around the country use on a daily basis.

The cost of production is cheaper as opposed to big cities elsewhere.

Our work ethic is strong.

The value customers get due to our low overhead is great.

But you don't have to dig too far to find out that the consultants for these candidates come from out of state.

They use their preferred vendors who charge high rates since campaigns seem to be full of cash these days, and all the material they produce that talks about putting Iowa ahead of others, working together for a better Iowa, etc., is created, produced, and distributed from outside our borders.

Seems like a candidate could score some points with voters by living the message they are preaching.

But then again, that works for campaign promises generally, too.

And that's the Iowa Politics Report for Wednesday, September 23, on Twitter, Instagram, Gitter Threads, and TruthSocial, at Iowa Politics.

I'm Jeff Stein, on News Talk 1540, KXEL.