IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa has quietly awarded several no-bid contracts totaling $321,900 to a prominent GOP consultant for polling and social media services often delivered through subcontractors, a review by The Associated Press discovered.

Critics say the contracts with former Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn's namesake company — uncovered through a public records request — look like a sweetheart deal among Republican insiders and a potential waste of money. The university sidestepped a policy that normally requires competitive bidding to ensure services are obtained at the lowest cost by claiming Strawn's company was providing a unique service.

But the university's former vice president of strategic communication said he had no idea that Strawn had the contracts. And some of the money has gone for statewide opinion polling that the university is refusing to make public, saying doing so would "serve no public purpose."