Stories

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 [...]

Former Gov. Terry Branstad met privately with several leaders of Iowa’s social conservative movement to answer their questions and allay any fears the may have of his likely run for governor next year.

Though Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin’s candidacy against U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is only beginning, two other Democrats who are already campaigning across the state had harsh words to say about her when asked.

The Republican Party of Iowa will continue to lose elections if it empowers moderates who compromise on social issues, Bryan English said Monday on the blog of the Iowa Family Policy Center.
English, who serves as spokesman for the influential social conservative group, said the last thing the party needs is Republican wolves in  “conservative sheep’s [...]

Now that former House Speaker Christopher Rants has jumped into the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, he is the frontrunner for his party’s nomination to take on incumbent Democrat Chet Culver, according to Civic Skinny, gossip columnist for Cityview.
Noting that it will take “deft footwork” to move from a successful primary campaign to a successful general election [...]

Two prominant Republicans who many believed to be quietly considering a run for governor in 2010 told The Des Moines Register Wednesday they will not seek their party’s nomination.
Former Gov. Terry Branstad and Vermeer Corp. CEO Mary Andringa both scored highly in a recent poll commissioned by the Iowa First Foundation, a group organized by [...]

After several unsuccessful election cycles for the GOP, prominent moderates from within the party are speaking out. To start winning again, they say, their party must shift back toward the center.

Almost as quickly as it started, the idea that Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin might challenge Republican Sen. Charles Grassley in 2010 has been quelled.

A lawsuit claiming Gov. Chet Culver and Iowa Department of Education Director Judy Jeffrey failed to provide an effective education required by state law brought by three families and two prominent state Republicans was dismissed by a Polk County judge.

A veteran Iowa Republican says the party’s infrastructure has been taken over by social conservatives, which will make it difficult for it to win elections in the future.