New campaign manager for Iowa governor 'sorry' after arrest

The campaign manager for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds apologized Wednesday for behavior that prompted his arrest for public intoxication, saying he let down his boss but would continue running her political operation.

Phil Valenziano, considered a top operative in Iowa Republican politics, was arrested late June 23 after an officer observed him urinating outside the West Glen Town Center in West Des Moines, a criminal complaint shows. The shopping center houses several bars and nightclubs.

Valenziano, 32, attempted to walk away when officer Cody Jacobsen confronted him but became cooperative after Jacobsen grabbed him, according to the complaint. Valenziano had "very slurred speech, very poor balance, smelled heavily of ingested alcohol" and admitted to being intoxicated, the complaint says. Valenziano consented to a preliminary breath test but "would not provide an adequate sample of breath," Jacobsen wrote.

The arrest came eight days after Reynolds and acting Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg announced that Valenziano would manage their campaign for the 2018 election. Republicans say Valenziano, who previously worked as a senior adviser to Reynolds and helped organize former Gov. Terry Branstad's 2014 re-election campaign, is among the leading political organizers in Iowa.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/07/05/new-campaign-manager-iowa-governor-sorry-after-arrest/453876001/