‘Campaigns’

Senate Majority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, followed through on his promise Friday and dropped out of the 2010 campaign for governor.
McKinley said last month that when former Gov. Terry Branstad made his candidacy official, he would withdraw. While Branstad has yet to formally enter the race, he’s hired staff and begun holding campaign events, making [...]

Christopher Reed formally announced his candidacy to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack of the 2nd Congressional District on Thursday, and in doing so vowed to run a less contentious campaign than he did in 2008 against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.
In that campaign, which Reed lost by more than 20 percentage points, the Marion [...]

The 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary is shaping up to be a spirited affair, with candidates already actively campaigning and taking shots at their fellow Republicans more than seven months before Election Day.
But Civic Skinny, the anonymous gossip columnist for Des Moines’ Cityview, says the contest is as much about revenge and staking a claim on [...]

For the second time in a week, the Iowa Democratic Party is using audio from a meeting between former Gov. Terry Branstad and leaders of the social conservative movement to attack the veteran Republican.
The four-term governor held a pair of meetings with a group of pastors, social conservative activists and leaders Christian organizations last week. [...]

Tuesday’s election results should be greeted with happiness for Republicans but they should not be seen as a public repudiation of President Obama, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday morning.
“I don’t think it’s a referendum on Obama,” the Republican lawmaker said in a conference call with reporters. “I think it’s a — it’s a referendum [...]

Incumbents were sharply rebuked Tuesday night in elections all over Iowa, matching a national trend that’s giving Republicans a glimmer of hope going into 2010. Iowa’s municipal elections are non-partisan, so it will be hard for either party to claim victory. But after years of Democratic dominance of election night, an evening where most high-profile races saw incumbents roundly rebuked is being celebrated in Republican circles.

Gov. Chet Culver’s re-election campaign announced Tuesday it was launching its second television advertisement.
The ad will air in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets as well as some cable around the state. It is titled “Stronger Than Ever” and focuses on the governor’s response to last year’s flooding and to the state’s economic downturn.

lthough former Gov. Terry Branstad thought meeting with leaders of Iowa’s social conservative movement could help his campaign by alleviating their concerns with his candidacy, the aftermath has not gone according to plan.
And for a candidate whose last political campaign took place long before the Internet age and the prevalence of the blogosphere, the reaction [...]

Two central Iowa men, both members of the Libertarian Party, have filed papers to form an exploratory committee for Iowa’s 2010 gubernatorial race. And, unlike other candidates, the two readily admit their goal is not necessarily to win residence at Terrace Hill.
Eric Cooper, 43, of Ames, and Nick Weltha, 30, of Des Moines, will hold [...]

With former Gov. Terry Branstad’s recent return to politics after a decade out of office, Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson decided to take a trip down memory lane. The veteran reporter went into her archives and found the audio from Branstad’s last campaign kickoff event back in 1994.
In a speech delivered on the farm where [...]