Posts Tagged ‘Iowa’

From DesMoinesRegister.com:

Iowa House leaders of both parties met last week with lobbyists and other check-writers to tout their candidates and show how they’ll gain or retain the majority in November.

I imagine these gatherings are a bit like a Billy Mays-style miracle product demonstration at the State Fair. Everybody knows they’re being spun, at least to some degree, but some will be Sham-wowed.

Republicans, who currently hold 44 seats, are pitching this as their year to regain the majority in the Iowa House. If they re-elect all 38 incumbents and hold the six GOP open seats, that means they need to pick up seven Democratic seats to reach a 51-seat majority.

A seven-seat gain is a tall order in most years, but Republicans argue this isn’t like most years. They point to midterm election years like 1978 and 1994, when Democratic presidents’ approval was in the tank and the GOP made double-digit gains in the Iowa House. This is one time when Republicans are eager to talk about climate change. Their theme song could be “Hot, Hot, Hot.”

Read the Rest…

From Omaha.com:

Iowa Republicans are expressing optimism about their chances for regaining control of the state House and Senate, but Democrats say they’re confident they can hold their majorities in both chambers.

House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen notes Republicans are fielding more candidates for legislative seats. He also expects two top Republicans on the November ballot, governor candidate Terry Branstad and Sen. Charles Grassley, to help other Republicans.

Read the Rest…

From WCFCourier.com:

Former Gov. Terry Branstad announced today that state Sen. Kim Reynolds, an Osceola Republican, is his choice for running mate in his bid for a fifth term as governor in November.

Reynolds, who served four terms as Clarke County treasurer, is half way through her first term in the Iowa Senate after winning election to the District 48 seat in 2008 — which encompasses Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Montgomery, Ringgold, Taylor and Union counties. She also served as a member of the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) board as a Branstad appointee from 1996 to 2001.

Branstad, who won the 2010 GOP gubernatorial nomination by beating Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City and Rod Roberts of Carroll, said he went through a thoughtful and deliberative process in finding the best possible choice for running mate.

Read the Rest…

From DesMoinesRegister.com:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has established political action committees to help him raise money for candidates this year in Iowa and New Hampshire, expected to hold the first 2012 presidential nominating contests.

The move by Pawlenty is a first by a would-be presidential prospect in Iowa, although Pawlenty aides say the maneuver is solely about this November’s elections.

“We filed these committees now because now is the time to start organizing on the grass-roots level for 2010,” Alex Conant, a Pawlenty spokesman, told The Des Moines Register on Tuesday. “The governor doesn’t know what he’s going to do when he’s done being governor. He’ll decide that early next year.”

Read the Rest…