Posted on 09/08/2014 2:44:09 AM PDT by iowamark
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's annual 99-county tour — known in political circles as “the Full Grassley” — puts him above most of his Senate peers for trips home.
Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, made 99 trips home in the three years that ended March 31, which was three times as many trips as Sen. Tom Harkin, a Cumming Democrat, who came home 33 times during the three-year period.
“It demonstrates the extent to which Grassley is around,” said Chris Larimer, an associate political science professor from the University of Northern Iowa. “He's in the state talking with Iowans.”
Tim Hagle, a University of Iowa political science professor, said he's not surprised by the numbers.
“Republicans often complained that Harkin was never in the state,” he said.
Harkin's communications director, Susannah Cernojevich, said the committees Harkin leads cover a large number of issues and sometimes require more of his time in Washington, D.C.
“He has successfully steered 16 bills to enactment during the past year by working with colleagues of both parties in an otherwise largely unproductive Congress,” Cernojevich said in an email. “As chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, he has passed more major bills that were signed into law in the last two years than any other committee.”
Harkin, 74, will retire in January after 30 years.
The Washington Examiner found a correlation between a senator's age and the number of trips home, with older senators traveling less.
“The analysis appears to confirm what has long been claimed by populists and political cynics: Senators who have served multiple six-year terms tend to 'go native,' becoming more focused on the priorities of special-interest groups in Washington than with the worries and concerns of the 'folks back home,' ” reporter Luke Rosiak wrote.
Grassley, 80, is an outlier in that he frequently hits his home state, but still hustles back for roll-call votes. Only about a dozen senators went home more than he did.
A Gazette review of disbursement records made searchable by the Sunlight Foundation shows Grassley spent $61,230 on airfare from April 1, 2011, through March 31. For this, he got 99 trips to Iowa, which averages about $618 per trip.
Harkin spent about $30,560 on airfare over the three-year period, which included 33 trips to Iowa, flights within Iowa and a trip to New York City. Because Harkin had more one-way tickets to or from Iowa, it's harder to get a per-trip cost.
Neither senator flies first class when traveling on official business. Grassley doesn't use private jets, but Harkin hires a private jet on occasions when he needs to make several Iowa stops in a short period, Cernojevich said.
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