Republican former Gov. Terry Branstad is filing forms to run for governor today, and, frankly, the timing of it seems wrong. He is stepping on no less than four stories that would have made Republicans look good and Gov. Chet Culver look bad:

  1. Culver’s alleged mismanagement of HAVA funds as Iowa Secretary of State – The story grew new legs when an audit was released this week, and it could have picked up more steam over the next few days.
  2. The Revenue Estimating Conference – They release their new budget projections today, and they are likely to fall short of what Culver’s staff has predicted, requiring steep budget cuts.
  3. Film tax credit program – A criminal investigation was announced Monday. It could target members of the Culver administration.
  4. The Republican Party’s big fall fundraiser – The party announced its headliner, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, this morning, and they would really like it to be big news so that they can sell more tickets.

I’m not sure when would have been a better time for Branstad to announce, but if I were advising him, I’d have told him to wait. Campaign finance law requires campaigns to file within a certain timeframe after they have begun raising money, but Branstad could have waited a few more days to start raising money, too.