Stories

Less than a week after a group calling itself “Iowans for Truth and Honest Government” distributed fliers around the Des Moines area and at the Iowa State Fair assaulting former Gov. Terry Branstad’s 16 years in office, an anonymous Web ad along the same lines has emerged.
The video, titled “Terry & Chet: What’s the Difference,” [...]

State Sen. Jerry Behn made his candidacy for the GOP gubernatorial nomination official Tuesday morning, pointing to the budget as his main motivation for entering the race.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christian Fong announced Monday the launch of a statewide radio advertisement geared at introducing the 32-year-old Cedar Rapids native to voters.

So far, there are five confirmed candidates in the Republican gubernatorial field, but most of the focus is going to a man who is not in the race.

Two Republicans squaring off for the chance to take on incumbent Democratic Gov. Chet Culver in 2010 have once again turned their sights on each other, this time over health care.
State Rep. Chris Rants, R-Sioux City, called the health care proposal of Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats a “cure that’s worse than the cold.”

In what’s shaping up to be a hard fought race in House District 90, Republican Stephen Burgmeier has received the endorsement of anti-gay rights organization Everyday America.

Democrats continue to outnumber Republicans by more than 100,000 voters in Iowa, according to figures released this week by the Iowa Secretary of State.
As of Aug. 3, there were 683,117 active Democrats compared to 577,223. The largest group of voters, however, was registered as “no party” and totaled 697,512.

With six men actively seeking the Republican Party of Iowa’s gubernatorial nomination and a few others publicly mulling a run themselves, a hotly contested 2010 GOP primary is virtually guaranteed.

The 2010 Iowa Caucuses will not matter much to national politics (given the conspicuous lack of presidential candidates scurrying around), but an important precedent could be set by their scheduled date.
January 23, the date announced for the 2010 caucuses by the Democratic and Republican parties today, is a Saturday. That means that in 2012, the presidential [...]

There’s an interesting nugget in a NY Times story today about the GOP’s prospects in gubernatorial races around the country.
Reporter Adam Nagourney notes that Gov. Chet Culver is seen as “unpopular and vulnerable” by the pollsters and national political strategists he spoke to, but the Iowa governor hasn’t been put on the “political endangered-species list” [...]