Monday was role reversal day in the Iowa governor’s race, with the National Rifle Association endorsing Democratic incumbent Chet Culver as a union group backed Republican challenger Terry Branstad.

The candidates’ rival job creation proposals also made news during the past week. Branstad’s plan looks like a cover for letting business interests gut almost any regulation they dislike.

More on those stories, along with Culver’s latest television commercial, are after the jump.

UPDATE: The Culver campaign announced the Teamsters Union endorsement on September 28. Details are below.

Culver was happy to receive the National Rifle Association’s backing Monday:

In its endorsement, the NRA said Culver has supported right-to-carry legislation in Iowa, including a measure that the NRA says improved deployed service members’ ability to maintain right-to-carry permits while serving. Culver also signed right-to-carry legislation that make Iowa a “shall-issue” state and standardized the process of issuing gun permits in Iowa counties.

Prior to the law, those seeking a concealed weapon permit had to apply to their local sheriff, who had broad discretion to deny requests. Under the new rules, sheriffs could only deny applications for specific reasons, such as a prior criminal record or drug and alcohol addiction.

The measure, which was overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature, also requires applicants to complete an approved gun training program and requires renewal every five years.

The NRA said Culver also opposed increasing hunting license fees.

As Culver accepted the NRA’s endorsement, his campaign rolled out a “Sportsmen for Culver” group and a document listing his administration’s efforts to support hunting, fishing and Second Amendment rights. Some of those policies have benefits reaching way beyond the “hook and bullet” crowd, like increased funding for state parks and programs that preserve wildlife habitat.

I don’t care for the NRA, which opposes even reasonable regulations backed by most gun owners, and I thought it was stupid for the Iowa legislature to pass the NRA’s top legislative priority in 2010, especially since the “shall issue” law could end up getting some people killed. Although I see why Culver’s campaign was happy to publicize the NRA’s support, I don’t think this kind of endorsement will be useful unless the NRA plans to spend real money advertising for Culver or at least educating its own members. The NRA’s PAC gave Culver’s campaign $2,500 in the spring, shortly after the governor signed the “shall issue” law.

Terry Branstad clearly didn’t want to leave the NRA endorsement unanswered. Within hours, Branstad’s campaign announced the support of Iowa Gun Owners. I had never heard of this group, which was officially formed in January 2010. Aaron Dorr, chairman of the Iowa Gun Owners PAC, said Branstad scored 100 percent on the group’s candidate survey. I assume that means Branstad supports efforts to allow all Iowans to carry a gun without having to get a permit at all.

But the big endorsement Branstad’s campaign wanted to talk about yesterday was from Police Officers for Good Government, which represents 600 current and former Des Moines police officers.

The group is the political action committee of the  Des Moines Police Burial Association. It didn’t officially endorse Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, in 2006 but did actively support him. […]

Sgt. David Murillo, president of the Des Moines Police Burial Association, said today’s endorsement of Branstad was largely done because of political integrity, not necessarily what Branstad believes or advocates.

Culver in 2008 vetoed legislation aimed at expanding public employee unions’ bargaining power, an issue supported by Murillo’s group.  Culver had previously told the association that he would support such legislation, Murillo said.

Branstad has told the group that he also does not support expansion of union bargaining power.

“No politician is always going to do everything you would like. However, he would not meet with us and was conspicuous by his absence after that,” Murillo said. “There was no way he could justify going back on his word other than he did it. That left a really bad taste in a lot of police officers’ mouths when he wouldn’t even meet with us to give us his reasoning for vetoing it.”

Lots of labor union advocates were upset after Culver vetoed that collective bargaining bill in 2008. But that’s a strange reason for any union to endorse Branstad. Not only did the Republican have a terrible record on labor during his 16 years as governor, he promised in June to block all labor initiatives going forward:

Branstad warned Democrats would seek to advance other bills sought by organized labor if Democrats retain control of the governor’s office and the Iowa House and Senate. “All of those ideas, along with expanding public employee collective bargaining, are dead when I become governor,” Branstad said.

It looks to me like Murillo’s organization endorsed Branstad because they expect him to win.

Accepting the Police Officers for Good Government endorsement, Branstad pledged to make public safety a “top priority” if elected. Culver’s campaign released a long statement on Branstad’s public safety record in response. Excerpt:

1) Branstad should explain his secret and dishonest behind-the-scenes support of the prison cap policy that led to so many early releases of dangerous criminals.

2) Branstad should explain why at the same time he was opening the spigot for early parole he was cutting the very programs that make parolees less dangerous.

3) Branstad should explain whether he felt it was a mistake to express full confidence in a warden who hired a couple with a criminal record to transport dangerous offenders who then escaped.

4) Branstad should explain whether he’ll still tolerate pay-for-play parole if he becomes Governor again.

5) Branstad should explain whether he still thinks it was a good idea to veto funding for DNA equipment during an era when DNA evidence solved so many cold cases.

6) Branstad should explain whether he’ll short the police and fire pension system when he becomes Governor again.

7) Branstad should explain why 40 other states created sex offender registries before Iowa.

8) Branstad should explain why he supported the repeal of civil commitment of sex offenders.

Details and supporting evidence on all those points are here. It’s damning stuff. Fortunately for Branstad, few Iowa journalists show any inclination to dig into his record as governor, so he probably won’t be held accountable for his public safety record.

Job creation and economic development will continue to be central issues in the governor’s race. Last week Culver’s campaign announced support from more than 100 local officials:

Culver said a major reason local officials support the Culver/Judge ticket is I-JOBS, the infrastructure investment initiative that has put thousands of Iowans to work building roads, bridges, rail, sewer systems and public buildings in all 99 counties.

Mayors, supervisors and council members know that good infrastructure is the most important factor when it comes to building a community. They know that without solid investments from the state and federal level, they would be forced to wait on projects vital to the economic growth of their communities, but the $875 million investment through I-JOBS is moving their cities forward and setting the conditions for long-term economic growth.

“My opponent, Terry Branstad, opposes I-JOBS and is not being honest with Iowans about it,” Culver said. “He fails to acknowledge the value of the 1,700 I-JOBS projects – he won’t tell Iowans what you are getting for the money, or that without $330 million in flood relief, cities like Cedar Rapids would have to wait 10 or 20 years to recover. But these local leaders will.”

Culver reiterated that I-JOBS bonding is paid for solely by gaming revenues, half of which come from out-of-state gamblers. That relieves the pressure on local property taxes, water bills and city budgets.

Culver also thanked local leaders for their partnership in recruiting 279 companies to Iowa to create 21,000 jobs and an investment of $5.2 billion in the last 36 months alone. Their work to bring good jobs to the state has put Iowa in much better shape than many states during the national recession, with the 8th lowest unemployment.

Branstad has accused Culver of short-changing local governments, so I’m glad to see the governor pushing back on that point. The new Culver campaign ad, which debuted September 24, gives the governor “credit” for investing in Iowa communities through I-JOBS:

Transcript provided by the Culver campaign:

Joe McLaughlin, Coralville Small Business Leader: These flood walls are going up because of Governor Culver.

Angela Connolly, Polk County Supervisor: Our county has a new community center.

Joan Wood, Small Business Owner: We’re building a library.

William Furtell, Construction Worker: I’ve got a job because of Culver.

Mitch Gross, Coralville City Council Member: This bridge is helping us come back.

State Rep. Janet Peterson, Iowa House District 64: Governor Culver is making the right kind of investments.

Bill Gluba, Mayor of Davenport: Like our new sewer system.

State Sen. Bob Dvorsky, Iowa 15th District: Terry Branstad called these investments a mistake.

Joe McLaughlin, Coralville Small Business Leader: Branstad would have done nothing.

Melissa Stahl: Just like after the ’93 floods.

Angela Connolly, Polk County Supervisor: We just can’t go back.

Woman’s voice: We need to go forward.

Man’s voice: Chet Culver deserves the credit.

Woman’s voice: We need Chet as Governor

Woman’s voice: We really need Chet as Governor.

I wish the Culver campaign had started getting this kind of message out months ago. Senator Chuck Grassley has released a series of commercials highlighting different aspects of his work for Iowans. Culver needs to tell those stories in order to build a case for his own re-election. I would like to see more commercials featuring individuals who have benefited from policies Culver adopted, which Branstad opposed.

I like the way Culver’s new commercial alludes to Branstad’s poor record on flood prevention after 1993. Branstad has not released a detailed plan for future flood mitigation, and has misled Iowans about Culver’s record on flood relief.

Republicans have blamed Culver for Iowa’s unemployment rate, and last week the governor announced a jobs plan for his second term. The theme is jobs for the “21st century economy”:

Culver outlined plans to continue to grow green-collar jobs and our high-tech workforce, and to become the best-connected state in the nation to keep attracting employers like Microsoft, Google and IBM.

Culver highlighted the success of public/private partnerships at the Iowa Department of Economic Development, which so far has worked to bring 260 companies and more than 20,000 jobs to the state, resulting in $5.3 billion in capital investment. The Culver/Judge Administration will continue those public/private partnerships at IDED to bring an additional 250 new companies and tens of thousands of jobs to Iowa.

In addition, the Culver/Judge jobs plan includes maintaining the lowest cost of business in the nation, expanding assistance for small businesses, revamping job training at Iowa Workforce Development, and continuing aggressive efforts to expand into foreign markets and bring foreign companies to Iowa.

Culver is highlighting his adminstration’s public/private partnerships to counter Branstad’s claim that he hasn’t worked effectively with the private sector. Branstad wants to eliminate the Iowa Department of Economic Development in favor of an “Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress” modeled on Indiana’s economic development agency. Culver has pointed out that Indiana fares worse than Iowa on most indicators. Also, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation has been associated with various scandals and lack of transparency.

Branstad’s vision of economic development involves freeing business from what he sees as onerous government rules. He has already proposed relaxing agriculture regulations and doing away with the Environmental Protection Commission. Last week Branstad went much further:

The Boone Republican, who previously served four terms as governor from 1983 to 1999, also wants lawmakers to establish a system of “top to bottom” views of existing business regulations by implementing “a staggered, four-year rolling sunset” for all rules to identify and eliminate redundancies, inefficiencies and “job-killing bureaucracy.”

Branstad said the reforms are needed to create a collaborative regulatory environment for small business development and job growth that will curb excessive government regulations that frustrate the ability of Iowa to compete with business-friendly states in attracting and retaining companies and the jobs they create. […]

To facilitate that effort, Branstad said he would sign an executive order to require that any proposed administrative rule would have to be accompanied by a small business and jobs impact statement, similar to a current provision that requires the Legislative Services Agency to analyze the fiscal impact of legislation being considered by the Iowa General Assembly. He also would seek a similar impact statement be prepared for any bills proposed for legislative consideration.

The newly proposed impact statement would include projections of how many small businesses will be affected by the law or proposed regulation, its impact on employment, and the effect on the cost of doing business in Iowa, he said.

If Branstad gets his way, battles on consumer protection, pollution limits and many other issues would have to be fought every four years. Excerpt from the Culver campaign’s response:

Branstad proposes a scheme that would remove the currently balanced approach that weighs regulations’ impact on business, consumers, worker safety, public health and the environment. In addition, he proposes “legislation to create a staggered four-year rolling sunset of all state regulations.” The real goal of this plan is to end even common-sense rules that protect hard-working Iowans. Important time-tested consumer and worker protections would be put up to lobbyist-influenced partisan votes every four years. […]

“Terry Branstad’s underhanded deregulation plan would make it easier for his corporate cronies and lobbyist buddies to get rid of regulations that they don’t like, just because they are somewhat inconvenient. These regulations are here for a reason — to help protect the safety and security of Iowans,” [Culver/Judge campaign manager Donn] Stanley said.  

“Now, Branstad wants to give his friends in business the opportunity to shirk their duties as good corporate citizens at the expense of all Iowans. This isn’t a job-creation plan for hard-working Iowans – it’s a full-employment program for corporate lobbyists.”

Branstad’s regulation-sunset plan builds on his agriculture deregulation plan at the height of a food safety crisis in the United States. Removing these rules would make it easier for producers to cut corners on quality and safety, and put Iowans in jeopardy. When goods and services produced in Iowa are sent throughout the country and all around the globe, the impact of Branstad’s dishonest and irresponsible behavior would stretch well beyond the confines of the state of Iowa.

Examples of the kind of common-sense rules Branstad wants to abolish include:

   •    Rules that protect older Iowans in assisted living facilities, such as requirements for  emergency response systems, fire safety systems and employee standards.

   •    Child labor enforcement mechanisms.

   •    The adoption of food safety regulations from the USDA.

   •    Wage payment enforcement that ensures Iowans receive the pay they have earned from employers.

   •    Regulations that protect our water and air from pollution by companies and animal feeding operations.

Governor Culver will not make businesses richer on the backs of hard-working Iowans. He will continue to make sure companies operate responsibly and are accountable for ensuring the welfare of their employees and consumers.

I sometimes hear environmentalists complain that Culver hasn’t done enough on our issues. They are mistaken if they believe Branstad couldn’t make things worse. Giving business lobbyists even more influence over the rule-making process would be a nightmare for Iowa’s air and water quality.

Share any thoughts about the governor’s race in this thread.

UPDATE: On September 28 the Culver campaign announced the support of the Iowa Teamsters:

The Teamsters’ endorsement is the second major endorsement Governor Culver has received in as many days. Yesterday, the Governor received the support of the National Rifle Association for his commitment to protecting Iowans’ Second Amendment rights.  These two organizations combined represent nearly 90,000 Iowans. This stands in stark contrast to the two endorsements Terry Branstad received yesterday by organizations representing only hundreds of Iowans.

Today’s endorsement comes after meeting with the union yesterday, where the Governor reaffirmed his commitment to improving the lives of working men and women in the state. Both Governor Culver and his opponent, Terry Branstad, met with the union. Governor Culver received the endorsement over Branstad because of his work on behalf of workers, which includes:

1)  Fighting to protect unemployment benefits

During these difficult economic times, Governor Culver has fought hard to extend unemployment benefits for those out of work. In fact, the Governor traveled to Washington, D.C. earlier this year to testify before Congress about the need to keep these benefits in place while the economy recovers. However, Terry Branstad has said that he opposes extending these benefits that help support Iowa families.

2)  Keeping pensions safe

During his meeting with the Teamsters, Governor Culver stated that he would do everything in his power to protect pension funds. This stands in contrast to Terry Branstad’s record as governor. In 1991, Branstad proposed loaning funds from IPERS to cover state cash flow shortages, and used funds from the Police and Judicial Pension Funds to balance the budget.

3) Enacting the Peace Officers Bill of Rights

During his first year in office, Governor Culver signed the Peace Officers Bill of Rights into law. This legislation, which the Teamsters helped enact, provides additional protections to peace officers from frivolous lawsuits and false claims.

4) Directly addressing the problems of worker misclassification

In 2008, Governor Culver created the Independent Contractor Reform Task Force. This led directly to passage of legislation creating the Worker Misclassification Unit in 2009. During its first five and a half months of operation, the Worker Misclassification Unit found 116 employers who had misclassified 887 workers, depriving those workers of important worker protections. The total unreported wages of these workers totaled $15,520,738 and the employers were found to owe $555,647 in unemployment taxes and $156,248 in penalties and interest on those taxes.