(CNN) – Iowa's Republican governor has a message for his party's presidential candidates: Come to Iowa more often.
"This is a state where you can effectively launch a campaign and it's not too late," Gov. Terry Branstad told reporters Monday morning. "We welcome the candidates to come to the Hawkeye state."
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Washington (CNN) - As Florida Republicans threaten to disrupt the presidential nominating calendar by holding their 2012 primary date in January instead of later in the year, Iowa's Republican governor is vowing to protect the traditional first-in-the-nation status of his state's caucuses.
"We will move up," Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican, told CNN on Saturday at the National Governors Association winter meeting. "We did it last time. We will do it again. We will be first and New Hampshire will be after us. We will work them on whatever we have to do."
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Washington (CNN) - Don't mess with Iowa.
That's the message Republican Gov. Terry Branstad is delivering to potential presidential candidates who may be tempted to take a pass when it comes to competing in the first-in-the-nation Caucus state where organization can be exceedingly expensive and complicated.
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(CNN) – Iowa Republican gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad learned Friday that he won't face an independent challenge from his former GOP primary opponent Bob Vander Plaats.
But the leftover hard feelings from the contentious primary - Branstand won the nomination on June 8 by nine points - were barely concealed as Vander Plaats took to the steps of the Iowa Judicial Building in Des Moines and broke a lengthy silence about his political future.
Vander Plaats, whose bid was fueled by social conservatives, said he would not seek the governorship as an independent and announced an effort aimed at unseating Iowa Supreme Court justices who legalized same-sex marriage in the state.
But Vander Plaats refused to play loyal GOP solider and declined to endorse Branstad in his effort to unseat Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat.
(CNN) - Beginning in May, a group called Iowans for Responsible Government spent over three quarters of a million dollars on television ads and mailers lumping Republican gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad in with "liberal" politicians like President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton.
Branstad at the time was engaged in a GOP primary fight against conservative activist Bob Vander Plaats, a race he won on June 8 by 10 points.
Citing Branstad's record on taxes when he last served as Iowa governor in the eighties and nineties, one mailer from the group blared: "Liberal Terry Branstad would make Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi proud."
One mail piece portrayed Branstad in a lefty version of Mount Rushmore along with Obama, Clinton and Pelosi. Another claimed that Branstad and Obama both favor universal health care and "government mandates."
Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – An effort to force Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad to choose a formal rival as his running mate failed Saturday but exposed a rift in the GOP that could potentially help Democrats in November.
Branstad’s hand-picked candidate for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Kim Reynolds, defeated Bob Vander Plaats at the Iowa Republican Party State Convention. Vander Plaats lost to Branstad in the gubernatorial primary earlier this month.
On Friday, Vander Plaats would not rule out an independent run for governor if he failed to win the lieutenant governor’s nomination. It was unclear if Vander Plaats would address the convention Saturday following his loss to Reynolds.
Washington (CNN) - Add Jerry Brown and Terry Branstad to the list of former governors coming a step closer to winning their old jobs back.
Branstad captured Iowa's GOP gubernatorial nomination Tuesday, winning just over 50 percent of the vote in a three candidate field. Branstad previously served four terms as governor, from 1983 to 1999. He now faces off in the general election against Democratic incumbent Gov. Chet Culver, who's battling for a second term in office. Recent polls indicated Branstad leading Culver in November matchups.
Jerry Brown is also a step closer to his goal of returning to the governor's office in Sacramento. California's attorney general, and two-term California governor from 1975 to 1983, easily won Tuesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary over six minor candidates.
From CNN Politics
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