Super PAC rewards Steve King's 'loyalty' to Ted Cruz

U.S. Rep. Steve King’s support for presidential candidate Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucuses cost him with the state’s powerful biofuels industry and sparked a challenge in the upcoming Republican primary.

But King’s loyalty to Cruz is now being rewarded: Backers of the Texas Republican have formed an independent campaign group that will support him in his June 7 contest against state Sen. Rick Bertrand in the heavily Republican 4th District.

The super PAC, called Reignite Iowa, will support King with direct mail, TV, radio and digital advertising in the district, with a budget anticipated in the "high six figures." It was organized, according to a press release, by “group of investors loyal to presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced” specifically in response to Bertrand’s challenge.

“Reignite Iowa is dedicated to ensuring that Iowans have a consistent conservative voice in Congress,” super PAC spokesman Rick Tyler said in a statement. “Steve King has unceasingly stood up for conservatives, now its time for conservatives to stand up for him.”

Tyler was previously a spokesman for Cruz’s campaign.

Campaign finance records show the PAC was formed on Wednesday, with Des Moines attorney William Gustoff, an Iowa GOP state central committee member and home-school advocate, listed as the custodian of records.

The group has not yet filed any records identifying donors or amounts raised. Contributors will be disclosed "at a future date," Tyler said.

Cruz won the February 1 Iowa caucuses, but was attacked throughout the campaign by biofuels industry groups over his opposition to federal renewable fuel mandates. As Cruz’s top surrogate in Iowa and a national campaign co-chair, King drew much of that ire as well. In March, Bertrand, a state senator from Sioux City, announced he would challenge King.

King hasn’t faced an intra-party challenge since his first run for the conservative northwest-Iowa district in 2002.