Donnelle Eller, and Matthew Patane

DesMoines

Less than two weeks before the state holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses, Gov. Terry Branstad said he would like to see Texas Republican Ted Cruz fall in Iowa..

Branstad told reporters Tuesday that Iowans would make a mistake in supporting Cruz, a U.S. senator leading polls in Iowa and a staunch opponent of the Renewable Fuel Standard.

"Ted Cruz is ahead right now. What we’re trying to do is educate the people in the state of Iowa. He is the biggest opponent of renewable fuels. He actually introduced a bill in 2013 to immediately eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard. He’s heavily financed by Big Oil. So we think once Iowans realize that fact, they might find other things attractive but he could be very damaging to our state," Branstad said at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Altoona.

The comments from Iowa's Republican governor were a stark contrast for Branstad, who during his six terms has only once before endorsed before the caucuses, supporting Kansas U.S. Sen. Bob Dole in the 1996 cycle. Instead, Branstad has repeatedly said he wants to serve as a welcoming advocate for all Republicans competing in the caucuses.

Branstad added that Cruz "hasn’t supported renewable fuels, and I think it would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him."

Asked if he would want to see Cruz defeated, Branstad said "yes."

A spokesperson for Cruz did not respond to a request seeking comment on Branstad's remarks. Campaigning in New Hampshire Tuesday, Cruz told reporters "it is no surprise that the establishment is in full panic mode," Politico reported.

“We will see, like ‘The Empire Strikes Back,’ the establishment will strike back because they don’t want an end to cronyism and the gravy train from Washington," Cruz said, according to Politico.

Cruz's campaign also started fundraising off of Branstad's comments. An email to supporters Tuesday night in part read, "The longest serving Republican career politician in the nation and his politically connected family is co-ordinating with establishment politicians and super PACs to lead an 11th hour attack against us and sink our campaign."

The Renewable Fuel Standard sets the amount of ethanol and biodiesel that must be blended into the nation's fuel supply. Many Iowa farmers and those in the ethanol industry view the the standard as vital to their business since it helps drive demand for corn and soybeans. Iowa is the largest producer of corn, ethanol and biodiesel in the U.S.

Questions about his stance on ethanol, renewable fuels and the fuel standard have followed Cruz throughout his campaign in Iowa, particularly on a recent bus tour. A pro-renewable fuels group run by Branstad's son, Eric Branstad, tailed Cruz and his campaign bus, passing out pamphlets saying the Texan would be devastating for Iowa farmers.

In 2013, Cruz co-sponsored legislation introduced by Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso that would have repealed the fuel standard immediately upon passage. Cruz sponsored his own legislation in 2013 and 2014 that called for a five-year phase-out.

During the bus tour, Cruz said he supports a phase-out of the fuel standard over a five-year period. He has also said he doesn't think government should be "picking winners and losers" in the energy sector.

Branstad said Tuesday that Cruz is "diametrically opposed to what we really care about."

"We should not support someone who is opposing those things that are critically important to the economic well-being of our state," Branstad said.

A majority of likely Iowa caucusgoers, Democrats and Republicans, favor the nation's ethanol mandate, according to a December Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll. Seventy-seven percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers and 61 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers support the mandate.

Iowa Congressman Steve King, a Cruz endorser and strong supporter of the Renewable Fuel Standard, called the governor's comments a "great disappointment to me."

King said Branstad sent his "son out to declare Ted Cruz to be a hypocrite, a liar and one who wants to hurt Iowa farmers in order to line his own pocket."

"That's Democrat tactics and there's Democrat money behind there," King told the Register.

A national co-chair for Cruz's campaign, King said Cruz's plan would "ratchet down" the fuel standard while opening the market to higher renewable fuel blends. It's a move, he said, that would bring the country beyond the so-called blend wall — a threshold that occurs when the required blending volume exceeds the amount that can be added into most gasoline.

King also warned that attacks on Cruz benefit presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Some Iowa politicos immediately criticized Branstad’s move as devastating for the integrity of the caucuses.

“One characteristic that keeps the Iowa process strong is we don’t have kingmakers,” said Democrat Dave Nagle, a former Iowa congressman. “It interferes with the openness of the Iowa process. It’s counter to our tradition.”

Nagle said Nevada’s caucuses are already tarnished because people think U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid “calls the shots out there.”

“We don’t want anyone to think our vote is controlled by one or two elected leaders,” Nagle said.

Former Iowa GOP party officials could not think of any other examples of a top state official pledging to stay neutral until after the caucus vote, then reversing course to express alarm about the frontrunner — or for another reason.

Danny Carroll, a former Republican Party of Iowa chairman, said it would not have been surprising if Branstad had wanted to endorse a fellow governor.



“But he insisted up until now that he’d remain neutral. This is very unlike the governor to do. And disappointing,” said Carroll, a former state legislator who supports Cruz.

Register political reporters William Petroski and Jennifer Jacobs contributed to this report.