His office has uncovered almost $2 million in government waste this year. His staff is composed largely of Iowa college graduates. His work, in part, is examining whether tuition revenue is spent efficiently.

So why is Richard Johnson relatively unknown to voters?

Johnson, Iowa’s state auditor since 1979, is running for a sixth term against Reform Party candidate Ronn Young.

The auditor himself admits that his office does not attract a lot of attention.

“Most times we work behind the scenes, and that’s why we don’t get a lot of publicity,” Johnson said, “but behind the scenes, we’re doing our job.”

His low-profile work includes important responsibilities like detecting fraud, corruption and embezzlement in state government.

“We use the term ‘taxpayers’ watchdog,'” Johnson said.

This spring, the auditor’s office uncovered more than $1 million in misspent government funds at a human services office in Sioux City, he said. In Council Bluffs, an audit turned up $800,000 that had been lost due to missing records.

“My key has been making sure that fiscal responsibility has been maintained,” Johnson said. “By that process, we have an opportunity to influence the efficiency of government.”

One state agency the auditor’s office has influenced is the Iowa Communications Network (ICN).

When the ICN was established in 1994, Johnson said, the anticipated construction cost for the first 2,500 miles of fiber-optic cable was $50 million.

The first bid came in at $80 million, and then, when the ICN incurred $112 million in debt, the Legislature asked the auditor’s office to step in.

“We called the public’s attention to the problems, we got the Legislature more deeply involved, and we made some major recommendations that were, in fact, implemented to make the ICN what it is today,” Johnson said.

Through an in-depth study, the auditor’s office found “specific faults with the process of contracting,” he said, and made recommendations about how to make the ICN more viable.

“The ICN was based on the assumption that it could be self-supporting, and in reality, there’s no way it can be self-supporting,” Johnson said.

“Now, it’s more a matter of continuing the subsidy of it so [the state] can continue the operation of it,” he said.

By law, the state auditor serves on the ICN’s governing board, and Johnson said he has tried to ensure that the network follows its original purpose.

“With me being on the board, it puts the watchdog in house, rather than having to sit outside,” he said.

“It may not have been a good investment to start with, but now it’s important that we make good use of the money that’s in there,” Johnson said.