Rants Inches Closer to Making Gubernatorial Run Official

Monday, May 11, 2009, 7:17
Krusty Konservative
1,286 views
18 comments

This weekend Rep. Christopher Rants sent out the following email to fellow legislators letting them all know what many people already suspect, he’s running for Governor.

Below is his email.

Rep. Herschel Krustofski
801 Grand Avenue – 50th Floor
Des Moines, IA 50309

Dear Hershel,

You may have already heard or guessed, but I wanted you to hear it from me what I’ve been up to in the two weeks since session ended.

I’ve put 2,300 miles on my car driving around the state talking to donors and activists about running for Governor.

I’m not making any official announcements or anything like that just yet. I’m taking stock first to see if I can find the support, and if I do, then I’ll let the press know. I have my eyes wide open. Its at least an $8M – $10M endeavor – or $110,000 a week as I like to say… I want to put some money in the bank, and be sure of financial backing before I take a stab at that.

So far it’s been encouraging. I have a series of fundraisers set up, and people who have agreed to help organize and set things up for me. I’ll be on the road this coming week again – back to the east coast of the state. I’ve been posting teasers about what I’m doing on Facebook and Twitter, so if you are curious you can always figure out where I’m traveling by looking there.

In case you are wondering – yes, Trudy and the girls are on board. I think they view this as either way we are all home together be it at Terrace Hill or Sioux City… Trudy and I have been talking about it a while, and once her health issues were resolved we were good to go.

I know this will surprise some folks, but I still have the fire. I thought maybe it had been extinguished last fall, but it was rekindled during my trip to Israel. I’ve actually had more fun and been more excited over the last two weeks than I have been in a long, long time. I think my clerk Jordan described it best when she called her mom during one of our last debates and told her “Christopher is back.”

At some point in time come June I’ll be giving you a call to talk more in depth about the race, share some polling info, etc… but for now, I just wanted you to hear it from me.

In the mean time, I would ask for a specific favor. Would you please let me know of any county meetings or other GOP gatherings in your area? I’m not asking for endorsements. Not yet, anyway. That ask will come if I hear good things from Iowans. Right now I’m looking for opportunities to meet with Republicans around the state to hear their issues, and share with them my thoughts.

Thanks,
Christopher

While this confirms much of what we already know, it also gives us some new information.

First, Rants’ family supports his run for Governor. This is significant. Without the support of your family, running for Governor would be nearly impossible.

Second, Rants seems to be finished in the State House. “Either way we are all home together be it at Terrace Hill or Sioux City,” Rants writes. Does this mean its Terrace Hill or bust?

Third, Rants is actively raising money and has someone on board to help him. If Rants has one advantage it’s his ability to raise money. He already knows the players and has existing relationships with many of them. While I’m not surprised that he has been meeting with donors, I’m a little surprised that he already has fundraising events set up.

With Rants now with the same footing in the gubernatorial race as Vander Plaats, time is ticking for additional candidates to enter the fray. With Vander Plaats focusing on motivating the grassroots of the party on the issue of marriage and Rants aggressively fundraising, there is no longer a huge void to fill in the Republican primary.

Any candidate who decides to enter the race now will have to fight for the space that these two candidates are already occupying. Oh, I’m sure there is room for that unnamed businessman who treats his employees well and who can raise millions of bucks that Doug Gross is always talking about. But just being associated with Gross could place a stigma of being a moderate on such a candidacy, regardless of whether it is true or not.

It will be interesting to see how the Vander Plaats campaign maneuvers with a new candidate in the race.

About the Author

Krusty Konservative has written 202 stories on this site.

Herschel Krustofski is the pseudonym for the anonymous author of Krusty Konservative, a blog which focuses on Iowa Politics. Created in February of 2006, Krusty Konservative is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the Iowa blogosphere. Since its conception, Krusty Konservative has never shied from tackling controversial issues, and providing insight to the inner workings of Republican politics in Iowa.

18 Comments on “Rants Inches Closer to Making Gubernatorial Run Official”

Deace voted for Obama wrote on 11 May, 2009, 7:41
Rants and VP both good people–far superior to the Big Lug and big spender.
Conservative Demo wrote on 11 May, 2009, 9:30
Really warm and fuzzy.

Krustus, did you make this up? We’re so used to Rants’ writings on KK being . . . . well, rants.
Madison wrote on 11 May, 2009, 13:22
This is a poorly written e-mail.

I do not plan to support Christopher in the GOP primary but obviously, I’ll help our candidate ($$, doors, phones, yard signs etc) whoever that may be.

Chet has to go.
Moderation in Everything wrote on 11 May, 2009, 14:31
We all owe a debt to Christopher for his dedication to our cause and the fervor of his advocacy. Howvever, there is time of everything and it simply is not the time for him to run for governor. He comes across as angry and vituperative. He presided over the demise of our majority in the House. We need a different type of leader. Yes, an Andriga would be great. A proven business leader who has the connections to raise the $10 million it will take to win. Both BVP and Rants belong on the bench. We can do better.
Constitution Daily wrote on 11 May, 2009, 15:03
Wow Moderation in Everything! Except in your comments on this blog. BVP and Rants do not belong on the bench. Both are good Republicans and deserve your respect. Do you even know how Andriga stands on the issues in our platform?
Moderation in Everything wrote on 11 May, 2009, 15:21
They have my total respect. My point is that there are better candidates. Rants and BVP represent the extremes of our party or come across as they do. Andriga is well respected in a very conservative community. A woman candidate is certainly a plus. Why do you insist on supporting those who have failed to win? Do you really think that the monied Repubs are going to support these two?
Constitution Daily wrote on 11 May, 2009, 15:25
I don’t insist on supporting them – never said that.

Where does Andriga fall on the issues important to primary voting Republicans?
Moderation in Everything wrote on 11 May, 2009, 15:33
From what I know about her she is pro life. She is a supporter of the free market. She would be a wonderful salesman for our state. She knows how to run a large organization efficiently. She is attractive and well spoken. I am confident she would appeal to independents. She also would do well with the monied Repubs. I don’t know where she stands on other planks of the platform. I am wary of slavish devotion to the platform as it is too extreme to be taken seriously.
Constitution Daily wrote on 11 May, 2009, 15:38
What in there is extreme? Please give me some specifics. And you may not care what is in the platform but the voters do and they want their candidate to believe in it and advance.
Moderation in Everything wrote on 11 May, 2009, 15:47
CD–If you would indulge me I will point out to you the specific planks that I think are counterproductive to what we want to accomplish. Generall, however, the planks dealing with HIV and immigration (border fence with Mexico) are needless and turn off the independents. You may be that with primary voters those issues are fine. But again, our statewide wins will come from the middle. I always try to think, what would Robert Ray do? He would be appalled by the platform or he would ignore most of it.
Constitution Daily wrote on 11 May, 2009, 16:00
Do you think any independents know about the HIV planks? And if they did, I’m thinking they would agree with them. Are they needless – probably.

The border fence and immigration on the other hand is widely supported by Republicans, Independents, and Democrats.

And where does this “elections are won from the middle” stuff come from? How would anybody know that? We haven’t run a conservative in years – I can’t even think of the last one who ran state wide for either Senate or Governor? And please don’t give me the Christopher Reed argument…we all know better.
Moderation in Everything wrote on 11 May, 2009, 16:12
The border comment stems from my concern about losing the Hispanic vote. As Steve Schmitt rightly points out, if the Reagan-Carter race were held today, Carter would win because of the demographic changes of the last 30 years. Extreme immigrant positions alienates the fastest growing portion of our population. As far as statewide races, BVP would have failed worse than Nussle. Nussle might have won had it not been for his ugly divorce and remarriage to a Washington engenue. Culver’s prayers would be answered if Rants were the candidate. He would not be able to raise copious amounts of money and he comes across mean. We truly need another giant like Robert Ray.
Jack Donneghy wrote on 11 May, 2009, 16:24
And Culver comes across as a fat, stupid, slob. Your point is?
Moderation in Everything wrote on 11 May, 2009, 16:25
Culver won.
Conservative Demo wrote on 11 May, 2009, 16:31
Fat stupid slob falls far lower as reason to reject than does snarly, pissy, mean, and nasty.
Jack Donneghy wrote on 11 May, 2009, 17:20
You’re right. He did win. The point is what we in bloggoland see, hear and talk about shockingly doesn’t always matter. Many of us here think Culver is a fat, stupid, and drunken slob. Culver keeps going. Lets the shit flow right off of him. Who knows what will motivate Iowa voters in 2010? None of us do. My guess is that with the mess the state is in they will want to elect an adult. But, who knows. They still may choose the fat, drunken, dunderhead. You just never know.
Timmy wrote on 11 May, 2009, 18:17
I’m gonna throw a name out here.
Jeff Lamberti.
Discuss at your leisure.
Deace voted for Obama wrote on 11 May, 2009, 18:50
Good man. We have some good possibilities. They’re all better than Culver.