Branstad Files Paperwork for Gubernatorial Run
- Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 6:11
- Iowa, News Center, Top Story
- 1,657 views
- 40 comments
This morning, former Governor Terry Branstad will file paperwork with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB), essentially launching his campaign for governor.
All state candidates are required to file with the IECDB once they spend or raise more than $750.00. While some candidates have claimed that filing this paperwork is like opening an exploratory committee, there are no special distinctions allowed under Iowa law for such committees, meaning that when you file with the IECDB, you are announcing that you are a candidate. Branstad joins Bob Vander Plaats, Chris Rants, Christian Fong, Rod Roberts, Jerry Behn, and Paul McKinley in filing the necessary paperwork.
For most of the summer, Branstad has had the best of both worlds. On one hand, he didn’t have to answer media requests and attend forums or other GOP events because he is not officially a candidate. On the other hand, every political conversation in the state revolved around his potential candidacy. Now that he has filed the necessary paperwork, Branstad will be forced to answer media inquires, travel the state, and attend GOP events. There is simply no way around it.
Branstad has been aided by the “Draft Branstad” movement that was started last month by former state legislator, Sandy Greiner. While her draft movement raised Branstad’s profile across the state, it also provided Branstad time to make his announcement.
One of Branstad’s primary opponents is welcoming him to the campaign trail. “I’m anxious to see if the former Governor will be at the Polk County GOP’s gubernatorial forum this Sunday, or in Scott County for a GOP event on Tuesday,” Rep. Chris Rants told TheIowaRepublican.com. “The Republican primary for governor needs to be about the important issues facing our state and the differences between the candidates and Chet Culver. The process of determining who the best Republican candidate to face Governor Culver is can now begin with Branstad’s entrance to the race,” Rants added.
Longtime Republican operative Bob Haus thinks that Branstad will have no trouble getting through the Republican primary field. Haus told TheIowaRepublican.com, “I saw Governor Branstad Saturday night at an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Pope’s visit to Iowa. He looked great, his handshake was strong, and he had that look in his eye, that glint of a prize fighter. I think he’s ready to get back in the ring, and he’ll KO any and all opponents.”
Time will tell whether or not Branstad is able to sail through the Republican primary. One thing is for certain – the speculation over Governor Branstad’s prospective candidacy is now over. With a full slate of candidates, the Republican primary has now entered a new stage. Iowa’s GOP faithfulcan finally begin the process of determining who their gubernatorial nominee will be next fall.
About the Author
Craig Robinson has written 502 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.
40 Comments on “Branstad Files Paperwork for Gubernatorial Run”
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I am not afraid of Terry Branstad. I am not afraid of Terry Branstad. I am not afraid of Terry Branstad.
What’s this $750 thing? That’s a weekend trip through Wendy’s.
TB – you’ve got our vote – we voted for you before and you definitely have our vote again – time to get the state of Iowa back to basic moral and ethical values – I don’t want my children or grandchildren being burdened any farther than Visack and the Big Chug-a-Lug Chester have taken us down their yellow brick road.
Run, Terry, Run!
This is so embarrasing. The GOP had to “look back” yet again. No new ideas or new people. Good think there is a think called a PRIMARY! Oh, and I think the GOP will be scarred and bloodied come next November. The GOP infighting will continue and will likely get worse thanks to Brandstad’s entry. Brandstad’s campaign chair is Mary Adriga who Doug Gross wanted to become a gub. candidate. This means that Doug Gross is associated with Branstad, and this means Terry will say “Kiss my a$$” to the so-cons.
THING—Not THINK, My Bad!
I would have to agree with Stacia that looking back is not always best.In this case though after the way this state has been run by Chet and company,all TB has to say is that he has nothing to gain or lose he just wants to balance the books and get this state moving foward again .That may be an easy sell .Most people I talk to just want state government to get back to basics.I’ll be interested to hear what he has to say in the coming months.While i would prefer a little meat out of whom I support in then primary,most average voters don’t care about that and that may help TB quite a bit.
I want a proven leader! BVP, no wins, only losses. Rants, was a leader, voted out of leadership by colleagues. TB, lots of wins, lots of leadership. Roberts, wins, leader. Behn, wins, leader. Fong, young and vibrant, no experience. Let’s keep our eye on the enemy. All of the candidates are great people with great ideas. Let’s sit back and listen to them and what they can do. Let’s attack Culver, trust me there is a lot to attack!
> This is so embarrasing. The GOP had to “look back” yet again. No new ideas or new people.
Hmm, this is a weak argument. Time will tell if TB has new ideas or not…he just became a candidate about 2 hours ago. As for looking back, I’d rather have Terry Branstad (who was a very successful governor) bring our state back. Heck, I’d take Tom Vilsack over Culver in a New York minute.
> Good think there is a think called a PRIMARY! Oh, and I think the GOP will be scarred and bloodied come next November. The GOP infighting will continue and will likely get worse thanks to Brandstad’s entry. Brandstad’s campaign chair is Mary Adriga who Doug Gross wanted to become a gub. candidate.
I highly doubt that. Besides, the majority of voters don’t pay attention to primaries at all. They aren’t going to know about mud-slinging. Look at the presidential primary and the bloody brawl between Hillary and Obama. Seemed to work out alright for both of them in the end.
> This means that Doug Gross is associated with Branstad, and this means Terry will say “Kiss my a$$” to the so-cons.
I highly doubt that. Terry Branstad got elected 4 times and served 16 years because he was not only an effective Governor, but a good politician. He will do very well in the Primary.
Branstad offers proven leadership..that’s no doubt. TB also is the most experience campaigner of the field. Every single campaign that Branstad has done, its been well run, highly organized and well funded.
With today’s news…Branstad becomes the front-runner. There’s no doubt that he’s going to bring the same highly disciplined, well run style of campaign that was highly successful for him.
He brings an aura of leadership to this race that quite frankly none of the other candidates can…and its head and above anything that Culver is going to be able to put up against him..
> The GOP had to “look back” yet again. No new ideas or new people.
We are going to hear this line a lot from the Democratic party supporters. Why? Because they hope you don’t look at Culver’s record. He has been a bad Governor, and his explanation has continually been blaming George Bush. WTF!!
Vilsack allowed our state to prosper, even under Bush…the same person Culver blames for our state’s problems. He’s done a poor job, and if I were a Democratic Party advisor, I would seriously consider putting him through a Primary. Bring back Vilsack! Let’s have 2 former Governors duke it out for all the glory
I have a feeling Rants will give TB a run for his money although Branstad will win in the end. The big question is whether Rants will be able to get enough money to compete. The people who are going to vote for BVP are zealots and will support him to the end of the race but I just don’t think he can keep up with Rants let alone Branstad. Who knows, my predictions are usually wrong.
All of you young people who don’t either know or care about the past and are quick to brand Terry Branstad as an evil moderate would do well to consider Terry Branstad’s past. Some of us recall when he was part of Young Americans for Freedom, which was no SDS. Some of us also recall that he was the conservative candidate in a three-way race for lieutenant governor in 1978.
Terry Branstad was also the conservative candidate in 1994 while Fred Grandy was the moderate candidate in the primary. Deace would like to tell us that TB is a moderate but Deace is out to make money and a name for himself, not for the greater good of the state.
Nimitz…
Now that Branstad is in…no..Rants won’t be able to get the money to compete. Many of the big $$ money GOP donors have been hedging their bets, waiting to see when and if Branstad was going to get in the race.
The lesser known candidates, (Behn, Roberts, McKinley, etc) are going to see their funding virtually dry up. McKinley already has stated that if Branstad entered the race, that he would withdraw…and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Behn do so as well.
Fong really needs to examine what he’s doing. Running for Governor..with as thin a resume as he has? He really needs to step back and look big picture here.
As it stands now…Fong would likely place 4th in the primary. That could potentially kill any sort of political future he might have. He needs to be looking at running for either State Treasurer against Fitzgerald or State Senate against Rob Hogg back in Cedar Rapids…both of those are very winnable races for a young candidate like Fong.
Plus, if Fong’s candidacy were to cause the nomination to go to the State Convention…that alone could damage him beyond repair politically for any future run for office.
Terry Branstad is not a moderate. He is a conservative but not a theocrat. I do think he will win, but I would like to see Rants give him a decent race.
I’d like to see Chris Rants become Lt Governor (with TB as Governor)…and make another run at Governor a few years down the road.
If I’m an IDP employee right now, I’d be very nervous. You are now facing a very formidable opponent in TB while Culver keeps making some serious mistakes. He’s just a bad, bad governor.
I’d like to see Bob Ray as Governor again and have TB as his lieutenant guv. Wouldn’t that be even greater still?!
I
Peggy: What a dream team. I only wish it could happen.
How about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? They were awesome, weren’t they?!!
Peggy wrote “How about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? They were awesome, weren’t they?!!”
Now you’re talkin’!
Time to let Terry Branstad retire and enjoy his life. He did his duty and we have plenty of good folks running for governor.
Peggy: I knew with a little time and a little persuasion you’d come to your senses.
Lundp…
“Time to let Terry Branstad retire and enjoy his life”?? Ok..why? Why can’t Terry Branstad step forward to make a contribution to our state? No one is forcing the man to run.. .He’s doing this on his own.
We’ve all seen what Chet Culver’s “leadership” has done to our state. What this state needs right now isn’t someone who’s going to sit on their hands and do nothing like Culver
Let’s be honest here people..NONE of the GOP candidates has generated the type of enthusiasm you would hope to see in our party a year out from election…
So basically what does Branstad have to lose by running? We hold our primary in June 2010..the GOP will have its candidate, and it becomes our job to beat Culver no matter if Branstad wins the primary or not.
i thought the republican party was trying to get younger voters back in their camp……
I’m under 40 and there is no way i will vote republican if they go with Teflon Terry. i want to see this party move forward not further backwards. we should have learned this lesson with McCain.
Twenty-four hours and twenty-five comments. Looks like the “big announcement” didn’t create much interest or excitement.
“Twenty-four hours and twenty-five comments. Looks like the “big announcement” didn’t create much interest or excitement.”
- I love that you think that the comments section of a blog is an indicator of statewide interest.
Lobo: So you’d vote for a huge loser like Culver rather than Branstand just because Culver is younger? There’s not a worse governor in America than Culver.
Maybe Culver will become wiser as he grows older. He blew it. Maybe it was because he was so young. Remember, RR was the oldest elected president in American history.
Branstad has proven his competency. You need to think over your strategy. Someday you will be older, too.
Peggy – If Moses had to read your comments, there would have been another commandment.
The truth is that any one of our guys is far, far, far better than allowing this lamebrain remain in office. He is a disgrace, as are all the elected Dims. Vote them all out!!!
No one was talking about Branstad getting in until numbers revealed that BVP was the front-runner by a large margin. Now that Branstad is in, I think only Rants and BVP are the only viable candidates to go up against him. Rants can pound Branstad on the economic issues and BVP can swing away on the social-issues, but after a while only one person will be left to go against Branstad. Otherwise, they will split the vote. It will be interresting to see what BVP’s press-conference is about next Monday.
Culver’s putting himself in good company….Patterson in NY, Corzine in NJ, Granholm in MI, Blago/Quinn in IL….all of them have had the “honor” of helping run a state into the ground…and Culver is happy to join that bunch.
Peggy…I have to agree with Mr. Hawk….if you REALLY think a blog is indicative of support or nonsupport for a candidate….you’re way off base…
But..since you want to go there ok..let’s compare.
The Draft Branstad Facebook page has gathered nearly 1200 supporters in just a little over a month.
Christian Fong–only 1063 supporters–since July 09
Christopher Rants–only 1031 supporters–since early 09
Rod Roberts–only 914 supporters–since July 09
Paul McKinley–only 811 supporters–since July 09
Bob VanderPlaats–only 758 supporters–since January 09
Jerry Behn–only 47 supporters…
So..where’s the excitement for your guy BVP then, Peggy?
I just don’t think BVP can win the nomination. The people who support him are already committed. They aren’t going to be swayed, but most voters don’t drift to the extremes. As I have said, I have been impressed with Rants campaign. He seems to have a good idea of what has happened to the State and how to correct it. Still, Branstad has every advantage. I would be shocked if he does not win the primary by a comfortable margin.
Hawk,
Why do you think BVP is my guy?
The most glaring thing about the lack of comments is the absence of the regular “moderate conservatives” who frequent this blog. They whine and howl about so-cons and how they’re ruining the Party but as soon as their supposed ideal candidate FINALLY throws his hat in the ring, they have no reaction. Doesn’t that tell you something?
Peggy…again..ITS A BLOG. Get that through your head….but..again..refer to my previous post if you need to be educated again.
Peggy..we all know you’re a BVPer…and that’s fine. However, tearing down the other candidates and fracturing the party as much as possible really isn’t a great strategy for your candidate to have a hope in hell of winning a general election if he’s so lucky to win the primary.
To win this puppy in ‘10..we need ALL HANDS ON DECK. I don’t want to hear any crap from the Deace wing about “Operation Extinction” if they don’t like who our nominee is. Start that crap up..and quite frankly…just get up and go sell crazy somewhere else. Find your little third party candidate and let the rest of us work towards getting Chet and his friends OUT of office
I’m not sure how you know who I’m pulling for – I don’t even know yet. It could end up being Terry Branstad before all is said and done! Try to concentrate on my words instead of your preconceived notions, okay?
Take some advice from Christian Fong: http://www.carrollspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=8865
To those that think supporting Branstad is “looking backward”, what in the hell’s wrong with that? It was under Gov. Branstad that the “rainy day” fund was created, when he left the state budget was in surplus. He governed over some very bad economic times(maybe some of you are a bit too young to remember the “farm crisis” years of the 1980’s?), and that experience alone ought to be enough for him to help guide Iowa thru the crap we are experiencing now. Was he perfect? Certainly not.
I think we really need to see who emerges as the “runner-up”. What a better way to re-establish GOP leadership of the state than to have a 4-year term of TB meanwhile preparing his Leutenant Gov. for the leadership role in 2014!
HawkCR1 are you serious we are judging excitement by how many face book friends one has???
Peggy: I’m still here, vigilant as ever. Ready and willing to put socons in there place when they get out of line.
Vanita..
Read closer… I’m illustrating absurdity by being absurd. Peggy tried insinuating that Branstad must not have very enthusiastic support because there were only 25 comments on the blog post about his announcement.
So, if Peggy wants to try to use a blog to determine how “popular” one candidate is over another….I simply showed her that in less than a month..the Draft Branstad movement generated more interest than any of the other candidates had for most of this year…