Pork Chop Recipe Fails to Sway Iowa Voters

A nonprofit political advocacy group funded by conservative tycoon Charles Koch attempted to use a delicious pork chop recipe — possibly one hacked from a Pioneer Woman original — to sway Iowa residents against voting for a one-cent sales tax increase.

Photographer and Windsor Heights, Iowa resident Lauren Campbell sent Jezebel a copy of the flier from the group Americans for Prosperity that includes the message “don’t let the city council raise our sales tax — vote no on March 5” along with a peel-off recipe for an “oven-roasted pork chop dinner.” The flier also depicts a happy family sitting down for cozy feast. Presumably, the message here is that by preventing that one-cent sales tax increase, Iowa residents would be able to afford more oven-roasted pork chop dinners in the future.

In a surprising twist, Campbell also received another version of the flier under her door that did not include the recipe — but that one was simply addressed to the “household,” not Lauren, specifically. Drew Klein, the head of Americans for Prosperity’s Iowa chapter, insists that they’re not trying to target women with the recipe, telling Jezebel, “It was just one of our many A/B tests.” Klein also explains that the recipe was included as a strategy to get people to bring the fliers inside, because once it’s in your home, “it reminds you to go out and vote on the local option sales tax.”

As fate would have it, the recipe stunt turned out to be a total flop because residents of the Des Moines area overwhelmingly approved the one-cent tax increase yesterday. Maybe next time, Americans for Prosperity should ask one of the Koch Brothers to reach out to their friends at Meredith Corp. for a better recipe from one of the group’s many excellent food publications.

• The Koch Brothers Are Hoping You Find This Pork Chop Recipe Politically Persuasive [Jezebel]
• Des Moines, suburbs overwhelmingly approve sales tax increase [DMR]