Iowa Gubernatorial Straw Poll
- Friday, June 5, 2009, 4:16
- Iowa, News Center, Top Story
- 1,022 views
- 17 comments
The Republican primary for Governor will be held on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010. Next week, we will be exactly one year away from knowing who the Republican nominee will be. With the field of candidates beginning to take shape, it’s now an ideal time to see what Iowans think about the prospective candidates for governor.
Next Thursday, The Iowa Republican and WHO Radio personality Steve Deace, will join together to hold The Iowa Republican Gubernatorial Straw Poll. The poll will open at noon on Thursday, June 11th and close at 6 p.m. Votes will be cast using text message. The details on how to sign up to cast your vote will appear on this website in the coming days.
Beginning on Monday, The Iowa Republican will focus on each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. Steve Deace will also give his analysis, which will appear on The Iowa Republican. The candidates who will be included in the poll are Jeff Lamberti, Paul McKinley, Chris Rants, and Bob Vander Plaats. Those candidates were selected because I feel that each of them have a better than 50% shot of being on the ballot on June 8, 2010.
I understand that there have been other names mentioned as possible candidates, and there are also candidates like State Representative Rod Roberts and State Senator Jerry Behn who have publically indicated that they are interested in running for governor. Their exclusion from the poll should not be construed as hostility towards their potential candidacies, but at this time, I feel there is a better than 50% chance that they will not ultimately be on the ballot in June of 2010.
Like any poll, The Iowa Republican Gubernatorial Straw Poll will simply provide us with a snapshot one year out from the primary. 365 days is an eternity in politics. New candidates can emerge, existing candidates can fade, and the issue set can totally change at the blink of an eye.
Those candidates included in the poll are encouraged to send The Iowa Republican their web address, photo, and biography. They can also submit an op-ed about either their own candidacy or about the current condition of our state.
The results of the poll will be announced live on Deace in the Afternoon after the poll closes at 6 p.m. People are also encouraged to submit letters to the editor if they want to go public with their support of a candidate. Those letters will be posted on the same day as that particular candidate is showcased. Letters can be submitted by emailing me at craig@theiowarepublican.com.
Profile Schedule:
Monday: Jeff Lamberti
Tuesday: Paul McKinley
Wednesday: Chris Rants
Thursday: Bob Vander Plaats
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.
17 Comments on “Iowa Gubernatorial Straw Poll”
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There is no way in heck I am going to give a vote to the Deace show and let him give an analysis of Republicans. He is not a Republican. Why give the additional listeners to his crappy show?
Is this the best venue you could find to do this? Besides, Kings name is not on this list and I understand why but this is meaningless.
Why McKinley and Lamberti and not Behn or Roberts? I’ll bet you $100, they run before those other two run. Seems like a shoddy poll from the outset.
In addition, and more importantly, Craig…you are hurting your own personal credibility and the credibility of this otherwise good site by, in the words of Charles Grassley, suckling at the tit (teat) of DemocratDeace. Most people know you are a good Republican, Craig…but c’mon…the more you tie yourself to Deace…the more you significantly lessen your own credibility.
Amen. I listened to Deace last night and could only shake my head. He lives in a fantasy world. There are better ways of handling the poll. I would suggest having commentary from strong socons and from strong ficoms. Since bridging the gap seems like a common theme this go round, dueling commentary might ferret out some interesting dialogue.
As a western Iowan, I fail to see how relevant a poll conducted by a central Iowa radio station will be for anything. I’m not addressing personalties, but, quite simply, WHO doesn’t get out here. I know, I’ve tried to listen to it and it just doesn’t. It probably doesn’t get to far eastern Iowa, either. So this alleged “poll” will reflect central Iowa only, unless one or more candidates make a special effort to reach out to the Republican-rich parts of our state. And even in that case, it’s unlikely that all of the potential candidates can or will make the same level of effort. So disregard this effort.
Mod: I am both a strong socon and a strong ficon and most Republicans are probably more like me than would fall into one camp or the other. As a matter of fact, it is probably impossible to find a Republican who is a strong socon who is not also a strong ficon.
Deace: You may be right. Maybe the real debate is one of emphasis. You know me. I think the social message must be toned down. Others of course feel differently. In any event all of this should be interesting, especially now that Rants seems stronger in his conviction to run.
I agree it is one of emphasis–it must be. It would be a mistake to ignore either.
Two problems with this poll: One, I don’t have texting and, two, Steve King isn’t on the ballot. ( =
Besides who cares about Deace’s analysis. We all know none of them will be good enough for him because they are beneath him.
If this narcissist is still on the air when the election comes around he will be undermining the Republican candidate. It makes himself look so superior that way.
King on Mickelson now. He is the best. Let’s just forget this governor stuff, run him for president as our favorite son and launch his bid for president. He will win Iowa and the rest of the country will have to pay attention to him.
Steve Deace is a good friend of mine. While I understand that some of you don’t like him, his radio program combined with TheIowaRepublican.com creates a unique partnership that make this straw poll accessible to people all across the state. I’m also sure that the candidates involved will urge their supporters from all across Iowa to be involved in this process, thereby including all Iowa Republicans. This partnership allows for WHO listeners, The Iowa Republican readers, and other interested Iowans to participate.
The analysis that either Steve or myself provide is just that, analysis. Whether or not you agree with it, there is always the comment section that allows you to voice your opinion. In regards to the candidates that are included, that was my call. I made that decision based not on if any particular candidate has indicated that they are interested in running, but by making a judgment call on whether I believe they will indeed run and still be in the race on primary day 2010.
If any candidate who is not included in my current list would like to participate in this straw poll, that candidate can contact me, and I’ll be happy to incorporate him/her into this process if he/she is serious about running.
Craig Robinson
craig@theiowarepublican.com
Craig,
I strongly believe you need to add a “write-in” candidate option here. Let’s be honest, like you said there are candidates who might emerge yet..and people might decide NOT to run.
Personally, I’d love to see Iowa Republicans mount a wave of public support to urge Dave Vaudt to reconsider his previous decision and run for Governor. There are countless numbers of Republicans in this state that were immensely disappointed when Vaudt chose not to run.
Others feel strongly about King…or others… Their voices deserve to be heard as well….
This is a bit off topic obviously, but I seem to remember a debate a month or so ago where it was argued that homosexuality only occurs in human, this in from the berlin zoo
BERLIN – A German zoo says a pair of gay male penguins are raising a chick from an egg abandoned by its parents.
Bremerhaven zoo veterinarian Joachim Schoene says the egg was placed in the male penguins’ nest after its parents rejected it in late April. The males incubated it for some 30 days before it hatched and have continued to care for it. The chick’s gender is not yet known.
Schoene said the male birds, named Z and Vielpunkt, are one of three same-sex pairs among the zoo’s 20 Humboldt penguins that have attempted to mate.
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Homosexual behavior has been documented in many animal species.
The zoo said in a statement on its Web site Thursday that “sex and coupling in our world don’t always have something to do with reproduction.”
apparently gays can make good parents even for penguins. lol
Silence
Deace, if a candidate from Iowa runs for president, and he is popular in the state, no one will seriously run in the state, and the country will ignore it. Plus King is an idiot and the rest of the country will only find out what Iowans should know by know.
Silence
Good lord people it is a straw poll, it doens’t mean anything, it is not going to spring board someone to the front of the pack, it is meant to increase discussion and dialogue, calm down.
Silence
No one said this was going to springboard anyone Silence…. but if you do one..don’t limit people’s options as to whom to vote for..
I am afraid that there will be more democrats from your blog voting than republicans the way your comment sections always sound so that will throw out any validity. Definately agree that Roberts and Behn should be included instead of Lamberti and McKinley.