It must be frustrating to be Ted Cruz in Iowa. Donald Trump gets away with calling Iowa voters stupid and goes into caucus day having regained the polling lead. Meanwhile, Cruz can't even send out a mailer without the state of Iowa slamming him for trying to deceive the state's voters.
In case you missed it, the Cruz campaign sent out a bunch of mailers to Republican voters that looked as though they were an official state document. On one side it reads: "ELECTION ALERT: VOTER VIOLATION," "PUBLIC RECORD" and "FURTHER ACTION NEEDED." On the inside, in big red capital letters at the top it says "VOTING VIOLATION" and tells voters that "because of low expected voter turnout in your area" a "follow-up notice" may arrive after the Iowa caucuses if they don't attend. It gives the voter, and presumably their neighbors, a letter grade of "F." That didn't go over well with the Republican Secretary of State, Paul Pate.
"Accusing citizens of Iowa of a "voting violation" based on Iowa Caucus participation, or lack thereof, is false representation of an official act," Pate said in his statement. "There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting. Any insinuation or statement to the contrary is wrong and I believe it is not in keeping in the spirit of the Iowa Caucuses."
Pate continued, "Additionally, the Iowa Secretary of State's Office never 'grades' voters. Nor does the Secretary of State maintain records related to Iowa Caucus participation," Pate said. "Also, the Iowa Secretary of State does not 'distribute' voter records. They are available for purchase for political purposes only, under Iowa Code."
The Texas Republican remains defiant, however, refusing to apologize "for using every tool we can to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote." Maybe he figures bullying and lying is working so well for Trump, he might as well join him.