In two separate financial disclosure reports filed with the Senate since last July, Iowa Republican Senate nominee Joni Ernst neglected to reveal that she owns a rental property that generates income for her.
“The campaign inadvertently left off $100 of monthly rental income from a property used for storage and parking,” Ernst campaign spokesperson Gretchen Hamel said in a statement to msnbc. “She reported this income and paid taxes on it. We are filing an amended report to correct it immediately.”
The Huffington Post first reported news of the omission of the rental income on Tuesday.
Last year, the total assessed value of the land was $54,830, according to Montgomery County real estate deeds.
In 2008, Ernst and her husband first purchased one part of the property, located at 111 W. Grimes St. in Red Oak, Iowa, according to the deeds. A year later, they bought the second part of the current lot, which contains one large and one small garage.
The U.S. Senate hopeful, who is also a state senator from rural southwest Iowa, joined the race last July and garnered national attention earlier this year with campaign advertisements that depicted her castrating hogs and shooting a gun at “wasteful spending.” Neither disclosure reports that she filed during the past year mentions the rent nor the income she gains from it.
Candidates and senators must document their assets that generate income, as required by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
Ernst will face off against Democratic nominee U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley in the Nov. 4 midterm election. Democrats are in danger of losing the seat held for 30 years by retiring Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin. The competition has been close throughout the election cycle. Braley was once considered a shoo-in to win.
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Ernst has been trying to paint Braley as an out-of-touch liberal elite lawyer, while Braley has portrayed Ernst as an extreme right-winger who wants to ban abortion.
Michele Richinick