Popular vote movement detrimental to Iowa, say Branstad and Strawn

A national movement to change the way states’ electoral votes are cast would be detrimental to rural states and especially Iowa, say Gov. Terry Branstad and Republican Part of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn.

The National Popular Vote Initiative has begun airing ads in the Hawkeye State, the site of the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses. Branstad and Strawn said the initiative could also threaten Iowa’s status as the first test for presidential candidates.

“It will shift candidates’ focus from battleground states like Iowa to mega-population centers,” Branstad said. “In fact when looking at the simple math, 31 states would lose influence on the general election if a national vote was taken, and Iowa would be one of those states.”

Terry Branstad and Matt Strawn

The National Popular Vote Initiative would take effect when states comprising 270 electoral votes sign on for the plan. States would pledge to award their electoral votes to whoever receives the most votes nationwide, rather than who received the most votes in each particular state.

But Branstad called it “a deeply flawed movement” that would encourage candidates to ignore independent voters and focus instead on cities with major media outlets. He said the electoral college was crafted so candidates would have to appeal to a broad range of the electorate.

“Iowa has a rich history of welcoming candidates to our communities and coffee shops and asking the tough questions of candidates that others may not,” he said.

Last night the state’s Republican Central Committee voted unanimously against the plan, and today will be in contact with all 99 county organizations to discourage support for it.

“Especially in a place like Iowa where if we want to make sure our rural voices are heard by presidential candidates, we need to be relevant to the process so candidates go to places like New Vienna and New Hampton and not just New York City,” Strawn said.

Strawn said the National Popular Vote Initiative is probably not on the radar screen of many Iowans, but it should be.

“Quite frankly we need to drive a stake through the heart of the national popular vote compact because it would render Iowa irrelevant in presidential contests,” he said.

Former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, has come out in favor of the plan. But Sue Dvorsky, chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, has joined Branstad and Strawn in opposition to the plan.

“Iowa continues to be a battleground state in general elections,” Dvorsky said. “With a national popular vote our voice would be diminished. This system would give candidates a free-ride in the general election and allow them to focus their attention on population centers that cannot speak for the rest of the nation.”

Branstad said he’s “deeply disappointed” Culver would support the plan but stressed it’s not a partisan issue.

“I’ve been around in Iowa politics a long time and we’re a rural state and I don’t want to see the influence that the people of Iowa have in the presidential selection process diminished, and I think it would be bad for the country as a whole,” he said.

So far states amounting to 132 electoral votes have signed on to the plan, including California, Illinois and New Jersey. The bill has been passed by at least one house in 10 other states, including New York and Michigan.

In Iowa, the bill has been approved out of a legislative committee.