20-year-old charge surfaces in agriculture secretary’s race
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By Dan Gearino | Friday, November 03, 2006 |
DES MOINES — The husband of Democratic secretary of agriculture candidate Denise O’Brien was charged with animal neglect on the couple’s family farm 20 years ago, according to documents circulated Thursday by a Republican state lawmaker.
O’Brien campaign manager Rob Sand said the disclosure is a desperate and misleading ploy by Republicans.
According to court documents, Larry Harris, O’Brien’s husband, was charged with a simple misdemeanor after several cattle in his care were found to have starved to death. Harris paid a Cass County court $319.45 to resolve the matter in October 1987.
“Before Denise O’Brien is put in charge of all Iowa livestock, she should first explain why she and her husband failed to take care of the livestock they had in their care,” said State Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, in a news release.
Sand said the cattle deaths were because a hired worker responsible for the feeding wasn’t doing his job. Sand said the cattle were being cared for on land that wasn’t easily accessible from the Harris-O’Brien farm, so Harris depended on the hired worker. At the time, O’Brien was working away from the farm as director of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network.
“They’re dredging up something Denise didn’t have anything to do with,” Sand said.
He said the timing of the disclosure, less than a week before the election, shows that Republicans are unable to win on the issues. The Republican nominee is Bill Northey of Spirit Lake. O’Brien lives in Atlantic.
O’Brien was unavailable for comment.
Baudler, whose district includes part of Cass County, said he learned about the charge this week following a tip from a local resident. He said he’s been looking into O’Brien’s background for about two weeks.
Baudler wasn’t the only person on the case. He said a staff member for U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, was also looking into O’Brien’s past. Baudler said both he and the King aide came up empty handed when looking for citations against O’Brien. He said the tipster told him to look under Harris’ name.
“I’m sorry this is so late” in the campaign, Baudler said.
Northey campaign manager Maggie Halferty said her campaign had no prior knowledge of the GOP news release. But she said the charge raises questions about O’Brien.
“She had a responsibility to know about it and do something about it,” Halferty said.
The secretary of agriculture race is notable for the stark contrast between the candidates. O’Brien has a background in organic farming and is an activist for small farms. Northey is conventional farmer and former president of the National Corn Growers Association.
Polls have shown O’Brien in the lead. The current secretary of agriculture, Democrat Patty Judge, is running for lieutenant governor.
Dan Gearino can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.
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