Vine discusses ethics investigation and fires campaign manager

DES MOINES, Iowa — Just last week, the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board opened an investigation into Melissa Vine’s campaign and an alleged attempt to make donations to a political action committee on other people’s behalf.

The Iowa Unity Coalition held a vote late last month to determine who the organization would support. Vine is running for the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District and the primary election will take place on June 4, 2024.

Vine discussed the events of the past few weeks with WHO 13 News, including the firing of her campaign manager, Lou McDonald.

“I’ve talked about the importance of our campaign values ​​and you know you can’t always control the behavior of your employees. But when you find that something doesn’t align with campaign values, you have to make tough decisions, right? And I had to do that in other phases of my professional career too. And yes, he was released from the team. And fortunately, our people at the national and local level have stepped in to help us bring these primaries to a successful conclusion. But that’s not really what our election campaign is about. Our campaign is about protecting the rights of women and our working families in Iowa and protecting our seniors. So that’s our focus from now until the end,” Vine said.

The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board will hold another meeting later this week to discuss what it found, and the board may outline what action it plans to take.