Fresh campaign-ad audit · September 5, 2026
Iowa House District 52: what the $50,000 Mike Tupper settlement attack leaves out
A new Republican Party of Iowa ad authorized by incumbent Rep. David Blom attacks Democratic challenger Mike Tupper over a $50,000 civil settlement approved while Tupper was Marshalltown police chief. The settlement amount is real, but the ad’s taxpayer-cost framing omits a material detail in the contemporaneous settlement record.
The claim
The ad says voters “cannot afford” Tupper and the Iowa GOP says his leadership “left taxpayers on the hook for a $50,000 settlement.” The current Times-Republican report says the ad ties that number to a 2022 excessive-force lawsuit involving a Marshalltown police officer.
What the underlying record shows
The Marshalltown City Council did approve a $50,000 settlement in January 2023 to resolve Elder Soto Tejada’s civil lawsuit. The agreement expressly said the defendants denied wrongdoing and that the settlement was not an admission of liability. Tupper said the department investigated and found no law or policy violation and that he supported the officer.
The taxpayer-cost wording is incomplete: the contemporaneous settlement report says the city itself was required to pay a $5,000 deductible to the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool, which provided the legal representation. The $50,000 was the total settlement amount, divided as $30,000 to Soto Tejada and $20,000 to his law firm. The source therefore does not support reading “left taxpayers on the hook for a $50,000 settlement” as meaning Marshalltown directly paid all $50,000 from ordinary city funds.
Police Scorecard claim
The Iowa GOP also cited Police Scorecard and said the Marshalltown Police Department ranked in Iowa’s bottom half for spending and accountability. The current Times-Republican review notes that the scorecard combines measures such as use of force, low-level arrests, accountability, homicide clearance and police spending. A composite score is an advocacy/data methodology, not a state finding that Tupper personally failed at each measured category.
IA Fact Check assessment
Settlement existed: supported. “Taxpayers on the hook for $50,000”: materially incomplete / needs context. The settlement amount is correctly stated, but the contemporaneous record says Marshalltown’s required direct payment was a $5,000 insurance-pool deductible. The settlement also contained no admission of liability. Separately, Tupper’s claim that the officer “did nothing wrong” reflects the department’s internal conclusion and his position; the civil settlement itself did not adjudicate that factual dispute at trial.
Times-Republican — Sept. 5, 2026 attack-ad report · Times-Republican — Jan. 14, 2023 settlement terms and $5,000 city deductible