Governor Northey?
- Friday, May 22, 2009, 4:20
- Iowa, Top Story
- 1,288 views
- 16 comments
If it looks like a gubernatorial campaign, is as expensive as a gubernatorial campaign, and is staffed like gubernatorial campaign, then it’s probably a gubernatorial campaign.
Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey has Iowa politicos chirping after hiring two well-respected campaign organizers. Northey has recently employed Tim Moran and Marcus Branstad to work on his behalf. Hiring two high-profile staffers has people speculating that Northey might be signaling a gubernatorial run.
Both Moran and Branstad were sought after during the Iowa caucuses. Branstad worked briefly for Sen. Bill Frist before joining Mitt Romney’s Iowa staff. After the caucuses, Branstad worked on Congressman Tom Latham’s re-election campaign. Moran cut his teeth on the 2002 Vander Plaats campaign and also worked on Romney’s Iowa campaign. He then went to work for Congressman Steve King’s campaign before joining King’s congressional staff.
The reason why Northey’s staffing decisions are turning heads is because re-election campaigns for state constitutional offices like Secretary of Agriculture have never hired multiple staffers, let alone staffers with the experience that Moran and Branstad bring with them. When Northey first ran for Secretary of Agriculture in 2006, he barley had any staff for his primary and general election campaigns. The same was true when State Auditor Dave Vaudt ran for re-election in 2006.
In Moran, Northey has a political operative who has spent most of his political career working western Iowa. Having worked for both Vander Plaats and King makes Moran a valuable asset to any campaign, but especially to a statewide gubernatorial campaign. It would be difficult to find a better person to organize western Iowa for a campaign.
Branstad, the youngest son of former Governor Terry Branstad, has spent most of his time organizing north central Iowa for Mitt Romney and Congressman Tom Latham. Marcus is a talented organizer with a great last name, and even if his last name was Smith, he would still be one of the best organizers in central Iowa.
There is no doubt that both are valuable assets for Northey, but they also come with a price tag. In Northey’s 2006 campaign, he raised somewhere in the range of $400,000. The majority of the money he raised in that cycle came in the fall leading up to the general election. It would be hard to see how a re-election campaign for Secretary of Agriculture could afford to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 on salaries between now and Election Day 2010.
To Northey’s credit, he has done a good job at fundraising since being elected. As of this past January, Northey had $124,002.09 in his campaign account. He also has another important piece in place if he is indeed running for governor. Northey’s fundraiser is Capitol Resources, which is operated by Nicole Schlinger. Capitol Resources is the main Republican fundraising entity in the state. Capitol Resources was the primary fundraiser for Jim Nussle’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign and Steve Sukup’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
Northey won his 2006 campaign with 50.2% of the vote. His close association with the Farm Bureau and other ag-related groups would be beneficial in a Republican primary or general election. News reports have stated that Northey has indicated that he plans to seek re-election to his current position, but his hiring of two top political organizers tells us that there may be something more in the works.
Either Secretary Northey is about to run the most extensive and expensive Secretary of Agriculture re-election campaign in Iowa’s history, or he is exploring a run for governor.
About the Author
Craig Robinson has written 454 stories on this site.
Craig Robinson serves as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com. Prior to founding Iowa's largest conservative news site, Robinson served as the Political Director of the Republican Party of Iowa during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. In that capacity, Robinson planned and organized the largest political event in 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa. Robinson also organized the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa, and was later dispatched to Nevada to help with the caucuses there. Robinson cut his teeth in Iowa politics during the 2000 caucus campaign of businessman Steve Forbes and has been involved with most major campaigns in the state since then. His extensive political background and rolodex give him a unique perspective from which to monitor the political pulse of Iowa.
16 Comments on “Governor Northey?”
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Mr. Northey had a well-attended fund raiser in a NW Iowa community within the past month. He spoke in an earnest and low-key fashion about agricultural issues and his office and you could tell he loves what he does. Like Mr. Vaudt, he is truly an asset to our party. And he may be looking at an expensive re-election campaign. This is one that the democrats probably think they can find an organic farmer to run against the incumbent. But then again…
Hey Krusty, lookey there. Another hamburger hoister with a dunlop over his belt, just like yer constantly pointing out with Chester, eh?
If this guy gets into the arena – no pun based on the pic there – against Hefty Chet – we could have election fun with the battle of the beltline daily weigh-in reporting on Krusty Konservative.
No slight against Bill, but I gotta go with Con Dem here. I”m livin’ a bit too large myself so I’m not trying to be unkind here, just stating a fact.
Good news comes in twos and threes. Yesterday it was Lamberti. Today Northey. This guy is the real deal. If he can raise the money, he could be our next governor. His management skills have been amply demonstrated with the Dept. of Ag. He is smart. He is respected by dems and Repubs alike. He will be attractive on both sides of I-35. There is no doubt he will appeal to the vast middle. Maybe there will be more good news tomorrow.
/There is no doubt he will appeal to the vast middle/ eh-heh-heh, the “vast middle”, even MiE sees it.
Aah Krusty, the fun begins.
Marcus is a great guy. Good hire.
He’s a middle-aged guy with three college age daughters. Can you blame him for having a little bit of a paunch?
Really Con Dem, you’re comparing that picture to this one of Chet? http://tinyurl.com/pjglng
Several times I reminded Krusty that the more he mentioned Chester’s hamburger-hoisting, the more likely it’ll come back some day to bite him on the ass.
Krusty started it and now it may be our turn..
I almost fell out of my chair laughing that you called Northey fat in order to bite Krusty’s butt!How does calling Northey fat bite Krusty in the butt?
Perhaps the reason people hate (yes, hate) politicians and politics is because they are always looking for a fight rather than common ground. How does this discussion, whether you win or not, help your cause?
Interesting;
When The Krust did it about Culver all the follow up commentary consisted of generally only pile-on guffaw.
Perhaps he is running for re-election as a Ag Sec., but wants to make sure he doesn’t lose so that he can run for higher office later. I doubt it though.
Debt Culver should be ridiculed for what he says and does, not his weight.
Fat jokes are grade school stuff.
Peggy has it right, grade school stuff.
I’m happy to see that repubs don’t like one of their own being ridiculed over personal appearance traits, but I have to wonder then if the regular readers of the Krusty Konservative were different people than those of you here?
What makes Northey such an attractive candidate was what Powell and Ridge discussed on TV yesterday. The shrill rhetoric by the self-ordained gate-keepers to the Party must cease. To be a national party, the party must not chase away moderates and must be INCLUSIVE.
Love Northey, love him. But he’s not a Governor.