
State Sen. Brad Zaun wants you to know that he has the back of working families… it’s just not clear which country’s working families he’s talking about.
In Zaun’s latest TV ad attacking his Democratic challenger Rhonda Martin, the incumbent Republican senator uses a photo of four workers on a construction site that appear to be a Ukrainian stock photo image. A reverse image search of the workers link to a series of stock photos shot by Evgeniy Shkolenko. Getty Images says the location for the photos was Ukraine.
Amusingly, most sites describe the short video clip of the workers posing as “happy workers,” though that does not seem to be mood being conveyed in Zaun’s ad.
“The COVID crisis hit Iowa’s working families and small businesses hard,” the narrator in Zaun’s ad says. “The recovery is underway, but Rhonda Martin’s extreme agenda will set us back even more.”
At the end of the ad, a different person pops up on the screen next to a scary-looking Martin: a younger man in a suit, sporting a look that’s not the usual fashion of voters in Zaun’s district that covers Johnston, Urbandale and Grimes. It also appears that he’s in an underground tunnel of some sort. Image searches on him don’t turn up anything.
It is of course not uncommon for candidates to use stock photos in their campaign ads. Well-run campaigns do, however, usually put together a photo and video shoot of people who actually live in the district — or at least in the state — of where the race is located. Or they use stock images that aren’t from a foreign country.
Zaun’s Senate District 20 is in play this year, one of the few remaining suburban districts in the state held by a Republican. Democrats now hold both Iowa House seats contained within the Senate district.
Martin is a Johnston City Councilmember who has been running a strong campaign throughout the year, putting up good fundraising totals early in the year and running a large volunteer effort in the district.
by Pat Rynard
Posted 10/14/20
[inline-ad id=”1″]
Iowa Starting Line is an independently owned progressive news outlet devoted to providing unique, insightful coverage on Iowa news and politics. We need reader support to continue operating — please donate here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more coverage.

Iowa Republicans make outlawing gay marriage key 2024 campaign priority
Iowa Republicans have made outlawing gay marriage a key goal in their 2024 party platform. During the Iowa GOP’s 2024 state convention on Saturday,...

Department of Justice says Iowa immigration law violates US Constitution
If Iowa doesn’t suspend the enforcement of its new immigration law by May 7, the state could face a federal lawsuit, according to the Des Moines...

Rushing: Iowa State president said the quiet part out loud
I want to thank Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen for doing us all a favor by finally saying the quiet part out loud: all the...

Iowa sets aside almost $180 million for year two of voucher program
Iowa has committed nearly $180 million in taxpayer funds to support private school tuition in the 2024-25 school year, which is almost $50 million...

Kalbach: Immediate action needed on corporate ag pollution
Iowa agriculture has undergone substantial changes over the past 40 years. We see it all around us. Rather than crops and livestock being raised on...

VIDEO: Jochum calls Gov. Reynolds’ summer meal program a ‘hunger game’
Iowa Gov. Reynolds announced a competitive $900,000 grant program to feed Iowa children over the summer, months after she declined $29 million in...