The Iowa Republican recently commissioned a statewide gubernatorial poll in conjunction with Concordia Group LLC, an Iowa based public affairs company. The poll was conducted by Voter Consumer Research, a highly respected polling firm based in Washington D.C.

Voter Consumer Research was founded by Dr. Jan van Lohuizen, an expert in the field of public policy and public opinion research. Dr. van Lohuizen was President George W. Bush’s primary pollster and has provided his services to a number of political candidates, corporations, and various think tanks.

The general election sample consists of 500 Iowans, and the Republican primary sample made up of 394 Republican voters. The poll was conducted on July 2nd and July 5-6th and has a statewide margin of error of 3.7% and a Republican primary margin of error of 5%. The statewide poll consists of 35% Republicans, 37% Democrats, 25% Independent or declined to state, and 2% other/don’t know.

Every Republican candidate who has either filed the necessary paperwork to run for governor or indicated that they are seriously considering or exploring the possibility of a gubernatorial bid was included in the poll. Even the new entrants to the Republican primary field, Christian Fong and State Senator Paul McKinley were included.

The poll is extremely timely with the recent announcements by Fong and McKinley that they are actively campaigning for the Republican nomination for Governor. Over the next nine days, The Iowa Republican will be releasing the findings of the poll and analyzing what it means.

We will look at Governor Culver’s approval and re-elect numbers, compare how the various GOP contenders stack up against each other on the primary ballot, and explore what Iowans, as well as Republican primary voters, think are the top issues. We will see how big of a role abortion and gay marriage will play in next year’s elections.

There is one conclusion that is evident after looking at the results – Governor Chet Culver can be defeated next November.