The Des Moines Tea Party gave Branstad a "no" on their report card regarding "criteria for acceptance" and said Branstad had "a history of raising taxes, not a true conservative, increased the size of government every year he held office, [and built a state-owned phone company." Former Iowa State Auditor Richard Johnson accused Branstad of keeping "two sets of books" on the state budget while governor. Johnson said Branstad needed to be "transparent" to Iowa voters about the reporting of Iowa's finances during his tenure as governor.