Free Republic

Charges have been filed against four men connected to a proposed casino in Fort Dodge who made $25,000 of campaign contributions to Governor Culver last year. The donations were made shortly before state regulators considered the Fort Dodge casino application. Two executives from Peninsula Gaming are among those charged with misdemeanors that carry a fine of over $1200 and the two could be sentenced to up to a year in jail if convicted. “Peninsula Gaming adheres to the highest standards of regulatory compliance, business practice and ethical conduct,” says Guy Cook, an attorney for Peninsula Gaming. ”They do things by...

DES MOINES — A report released to the public Friday by the state auditor finds a number of questionable purchases within the state’s alcoholic beverages division and a failure to follow the state bidding process under the agency’s previous administrator. The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division regulates the distribution and sale of alcohol in the state. Some of the questionable purchases by the agency identified in the report include a camper, industrial strength dishwasher for the employee break room, bicycles, high-definition televisions and more than $23,000 of artwork. The audit report covers fiscal year 2008, when former administrator Lynn Walding oversaw...

After coming up 21,531 votes short of Terry Branstad on primary night, Bob Vander Plaats announced that he and Branstad had agreed to meet and talk about ways to unite Republicans after the primary. Sources close to Vander Plaats tell TheIowaRepublican.com the meeting with Branstad occurred on Monday in Sioux City, and it did not go well. Apparently, Vander Plaats’ plan to unite the party wasn’t based upon his executive order proposal, his stance on illegal immigration, or even his position on other social issues. Instead, sources close to Vander Plaats say it was based almost entirely on Branstad naming...

Republican Terry Branstad appears well on his way at this point to an unprecedented fifth term as governor of Iowa. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Iowa shows Branstad earning 57% support, while his Democratic opponent, current Governor Chet Culver, gets 31% of the vote. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and six percent (6%) more remain undecided. This is Branstad’s best showing and Culver’s worst in surveys going back to last September. In late April, Branstad posted a 53% to 38% lead over Culver. In the previous surveys, the Republican’s support...

Former Gov. Terry Branstad completed the first phase of his political comeback Tuesday by scoring a solid victory over Bob Vander Plaats and Rod Roberts in a hard-fought three-way primary battle for the 2010 GOP gubernatorial nomination. The Associated Press declared Branstad the winner at about 10:30 p.m. The next hurdle standing in his way is first-term Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, who was unopposed Tuesday in his bid to win re-election in the November general election. With 67 percent of 1,873 precincts reporting, Branstad, 63, of rural Boone, held a comfortable lead with 50.4 percent of the Republican ballots, while...

Gannett newspaper; link only http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/06/05/iowa-poll-iowa-voters-want-gay-marriage-on-ballot/

A briefing book for Iowa Governor Chet Culver -- obtained by POLITICO and posted here -- illustrates the depth of the challenges facing him and other incumbents in a down economy, and his attempts to salvage a second term with a focus on jobs. The 86-page briefing book is a detailed guide for Culver to the 20 stops on the statewide tour announcing his reelection this week, and its loss is an unusual political slip. Its most striking feature is a reminder, stop by stop, of the reason Culver is often viewed as the underdog: The state's rising unemployment. Culver's...

With the Iowa Republican Primary just five weeks away, former GOP Governor Terry Branstad still attracts much more support than either of his party rivals in the race against current Democratic Governor Chet Culver. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows Branstad with 53% support from likely Iowa voters to Culver's 38%. That’s a two-point increase in support for Culver since March and his highest level of support against Branstad since Rasmussen Reports began polling voters about the gubernatorial race last September. But only three percent (3%) of voters remain undecided, while six percent (6%) prefer another candidate. The gap...

Another campaign manager for Gov. Chet Culver announced Monday she is quitting, leaving the Democrat's re-election effort to a veteran Iowa Democratic activist. Abby Curran said she would leave at the end of April, only four months after she was hired to manage Culver's campaign for a second term. Her departure continues a tumultuous period for Culver, who has gone through two campaign managers and two interim managers in the past year... She will be replaced by Donn Stanley, who has long worked for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. The campaign upheaval comes at a time when polls show Culver's...

Former Gov. Terry Branstad is maintaining a double-digit lead over incumbent Gov. Chet Culver, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey. Rasmussen’s telephone survey of likely voters in the state shows Branstad leading Culver by 16 points, 52 percent to 36 percent. Six percent prefer some other candidate, and 6 percent are undecided. Branstad, a Republican who served as governor from 1983 to 1999, held virtually identical leads over the Democratic incumbent a month ago and in the first survey of the race last September. Rasmussen found Culver is doing better against another Republican gubernatorial hopeful, Bob Vander Plaats, a...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ― Former Gov. Terry Branstad says he's willing to join in three campaign debates with his Republican gubernatorial rivals ahead of the June 8 primary. Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats and Carroll Rep. Rod Roberts have challenged the better-known Branstad to multiple campaign debates. Branstad issued a statement Tuesday saying he's agreed to an April 7 debate in Sioux City at the studios of KTIV and a May 1 debate in Cedar Rapids... The third debate... details are still being finalized.

Jonathan Narcisse, a former Des Moines school board member, will announce Saturday he will challenge Gov. Chet Culver for the Democratic nomination for governor. Narcisse will announce his plans to seek the nomination at a news conference at 10 a.m. at the Bob Mickle Center, 1620 Pleasant St. Narcisse, former co-chairman of the Polk County Democratic Party, has been signaling his interest in running ever since touring the state last fall conducting policy debates with Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Chris Rants of Sioux City. Rants has dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination. It will be the first...

Former Gov. Terry Branstad once gave Gov. Chet Culver some sage advice. A severe ice storm hit the state in early 2007. Culver was at a governor’s conference in Washington D.C. just after taking office. “I told him, ‘Get back here as quick as you can and be hands on. What you need to do as governor is reassure people that there’s going to be help provided,’” Branstad said in an interview last month. Now the adviser wants his old job back. According to a poll over the weekend in The Des Moines Register, Branstad would beat Culver 53-33 if...

WASHINGTON D.C. - The planned return of Chicago-Iowa City passenger trains won’t receive federal stimulus money. The Chicago-Iowa City route wasn’t among the corridors sharing $8 billion for high-speed rail projects announced late Wednesday night by the White House. (see full list of the awards) Iowa’s share: $1 million to study an extension of passenger service between Chicago and Omaha via Des Moines, and $17.3 million to install four remote-controlled powered crossovers on the BNSF Railway across southern Iowa. “We’re excited that we got some funding and that will move us a step ahead, but we’re disappointed we didn’t get...

The 2010 Iowa caucuses at 1 p.m. this Saturday will be more low-profile because party activists won’t be caucusing for a presidential candidate, but there is a possibility in this off-year that delegates elected could play an important role in the state’s gubernatorial and congressional races. “I certainly anticipate both the gubernatorial campaigns and the congressional primary campaigns are getting their most active supporters out to precinct caucuses, in addition to preparing for the potential for these nominations to be decided at conventions,” said Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn. Iowa law calls for a convention if a single...

he nation’s economy has taken its toll on incumbent governors across the country, and Iowa Governor Chet Culver is no exception. Add to that the difficult political environment for Democrats at the moment, and Culver’s potential vulnerability becomes clear. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of the Iowa governor’s race shows Culver trailing badly in a match-up with one of his predecessors and running even with a lesser-known challenger. Terry Branstad, now president of Des Moines University, leads Culver 54% to 34%. Branstad, a Republican, was the youngest governor in Iowa history and served longer than anybody else,...