Eric Branstad
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Eric Branstad (born 1975) is an American
political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televi ...
,
lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...
, and public relations professional. He is the son of
Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is a retired American politician who served as the 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa (1983–1999; 2011–2017) and the United States ambassador to China (2017–2020). A member of the Repu ...
, the former
Governor of Iowa A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
and US Ambassador to China. In 2023, it was announced that he would serve as a senior advisor to
Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) ran a successful campaign for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. He formally announced his campaign on November 15, 2022, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, initial ...
in Iowa.


Early and personal life

Branstad is the son of
Terry Terry is a unisex diminutive nickname for the given names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence, Terrance (masculine). People Male * Terry A. Canales, American politician * Terry A. Doughty (born 1959), American district ...
and Christine Branstad. He has two younger siblings, Allison and Marcus. In 1991, Branstad was involved in a car crash that killed two people. He paid $34.50 in fines and court costs for improper passing. The relatively light penalty was seen by many Iowans as an example of his father's political influence. In 1992, Branstad was convicted of public intoxication at an after-school party. In January 1993, Branstad pleaded guilty to using a fake ID in an attempt to purchase alcohol. In June 1993, Branstad, then 17 years old, was a passenger of a crashed vehicle that was registered to his father and was charged with illegal possession of alcohol. After this series of run-ins with the law, Branstad was sent to
Wentworth Military Academy and College Wentworth Military Academy and College was a private two-year military college and high school in Lexington, Missouri, one of six military junior colleges in the United States. The institution was founded in 1880 and closed in 2017. History ...
. Branstad is a graduate of
Rockhurst University Rockhurst University is a private Jesuit university in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 as Rockhurst College, Rockhurst University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It enrolled 2,980 students in 2019. History In 1909, Fr. ...
. He is married to Adrianna and has four daughters.


Political activities


George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign

Branstad was named field director for the
George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign The 2004 presidential campaign of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election as president on May 16, 2003. On September 2, 2004, he again became the nominee of the Republican Party for th ...
.


Lobbying activities

Following the Bush 2004 campaign, Branstad was named Deputy Finance Director of the
Republican Party of Iowa The Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is chaired by Jeff Kaufmann. The RPI operates the Republican side of the Iowa caucu ...
. He subsequently spent two years as an Account Manager with the Lincoln Strategies Group (a firm co-founded by Charles W. Larson Jr., the son of a political appointee by Branstad's father) and the Development Director for Iowans for Tax Relief. In 2011, he co-founded the Des Moines-based consulting firm, Matchpoint Strategies. Branstad is a longtime lobbyist for the
ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...
and
biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...
s industries. He was state director for America's Renewable Future, a pro-ethanol group opposed to the candidacy of
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
in the
2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that we ...
due to Cruz's position on the
Renewable Fuel Standard The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is an American federal program that requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels. It originated with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and was expanded and ext ...
, a mandate that "requires corn-based ethanol and other biofuels be blended with gasoline." On January 9, 2016, Branstad's father Governor
Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is a retired American politician who served as the 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa (1983–1999; 2011–2017) and the United States ambassador to China (2017–2020). A member of the Repu ...
called for Ted Cruz's defeat due to Cruz's rejection of ethanol subsidies. On the night of the
2016 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses The 2016 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses took place on February 1 in the U.S. state of Iowa, traditionally marking the Republican Party's first nominating contest in their series of presidential primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential ...
, Branstad publicly spoke on
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
's behalf at a middle school in Des Moines. After Cruz won the
2016 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses The 2016 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses took place on February 1 in the U.S. state of Iowa, traditionally marking the Republican Party's first nominating contest in their series of presidential primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential ...
, the elder Branstad accused Cruz of underhanded tactics. In February 2018, Branstad was announced as the head of Mercury Public Affairs LLC (a subsidiary of the
Omnicom Group Omnicom Group Inc. is an American global media, marketing and corporate communications holding company, headquartered in New York City. Omnicom's branded networks and specialty firms provide services in four disciplines: advertising, customer r ...
) new office in Des Moines, Iowa.


Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign

In March 2016, Branstad
tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...
in defense of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
for mocking the appearance of Ted Cruz's wife,
Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published between 1880 and 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' () and ''Heidi: How She Used What She Learned'' ( ...
. In June 2016, Branstad was named Iowa state director for
Trump 2016 Donald Trump ran a successful campaign for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He formally announced his campaign on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City, initially battling for the Republican Party's nomination. On May 26, 201 ...
. After Trump won the 2016 presidential election, Branstad served as a liaison to governors in Trump's inaugural committee. After Trump took office, Branstad was appointed senior White House adviser to the
Commerce Department The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econo ...
.


Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign

Branstad was a senior advisor to Trump Victory 2020, the joint fundraising committee between the Trump 2020 campaign and the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
.


Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign

In August 2021, Branstad was hired by Trump's
Save America Save America (founded on November 9, 2020) is a leadership political action committee founded and controlled by 45th President and 47th President Donald Trump. It has been Trump's primary fundraising and political spending arm since he left hi ...
PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...
, fueling speculations that Trump may run again in 2024. In January 2023, Branstad was hired by Trump 2024 presidential campaign.


Controversies


Proposed nuclear technology sharing with Saudi Arabia

While working at the Department of Commerce, Branstad became entangled in a controversy involving Rick Gates and
Tom Barrack Thomas Joseph Barrack Jr. (born April 28, 1947) is an American private equity real estate investor and the founder and executive chairman of Colony Capital, a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). Barrack has for decades been a ...
. Barrack was pitching a proposal to share nuclear technology with
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
and asked Gates to ask Branstad to facilitate a meeting about this proposal with Commerce Secretary,
Wilbur Ross Wilbur Louis Ross Jr. (born November 28, 1937) is an American businessman who served as the 39th United States Secretary of Commerce from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ross was previously cha ...
. The House Oversight Committee later found that Barrack stood to profit from this proposal.


Defense contract with Romania

In 2017, Republican fundraiser Elliot Broidy entered into a defense contract with
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, but needed the endorsement of the Commerce Department. Rick Gates asked Branstad to pass along the request to Commerce Department staff and an endorsement was granted.


Business ties to China

Eric's business activities in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
came under scrutiny while his father was US Ambassador to China, particularly his effort to overturn the Trump administration's ban on Chinese technology company,
ZTE ZTE Corporation is a Chinese partially state-owned technology company that specializes in telecommunication. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. ZTE's core business is wireless, exchange, opti ...
. His father, Terry, denied the allegation that Branstad profited from his father's role as US Ambassador to China.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branstad, Eric 1975 births American political consultants Terry Branstad Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign Living people People associated with the 2016 United States presidential election People associated with the 2020 United States presidential election People associated with the 2024 United States presidential election First Trump administration personnel