What’s on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? This is an open thread.

Iowa Republicans will have at least two women on the statewide ballot in 2014: Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds and State Auditor Mary Mosiman, who kicked off her election campaign on Thursday in Des Moines. Excerpts from Kevin Hall’s write-up of the event are after the jump.

State Senator Joni Ernst could also become a statewide nominee if she joins the U.S. Senate race, as expected. I think she has strong potential in a GOP primary against three or four men. At this writing, no Democratic woman has announced plans to run for any statewide office in Iowa, but several have either launched or are considering Congressional campaigns.

This week Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer replaced Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen on the Legislative Leaders Advisory Board of Newt Gingrich’s organization GOPAC. Upmeyer was an early endorser of Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign. Paulsen endorsed Gingrich shortly before the 2012 Iowa caucuses. If Paulsen runs for Congress in the open first district, Upmeyer will probably also seek to replace him as Iowa House speaker. She would be the first woman to reach that position in our state, although she’s not a shoo-in for the job. (For what it’s worth, I doubt Paulsen would win an IA-01 Republican primary.)

Last month Upmeyer and Reynolds joined the national advisory board of the Republican State Leadership Committee’s project to recruit more women candidates, called Right Women, Right Now. Upmeyer has served on the national board of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for several years.

Speaking of women elected officials, Eric Ostermeier wrote an interesting piece for the Smart Politics blog on how the 78 women in the U.S. House identify themselves. Three Republicans go by “Congressman” instead of “Congresswoman” or “Representative.”

From Kevin Hall’s report for The Iowa Republican blog, Republican Leaders Help Mosiman Launch 2014 Campaign:

“Mary is so respected by her colleagues in local government all across the state of Iowa, so she is starting out with a phenomenal network of individuals that know her, trust her and absolutely understand what this woman is capable of,” Reynolds told the crowd. “She is a CPA, she’s talented, she’s energetic, and she is going to do a phenomenal job of representing the state auditor’s office.” […]

“I thought we needed to have another CPA and we needed somebody that would be a watchdog for the treasury,” [Governor Terry] Branstad said. “But I also wanted a Republican and somebody that would run for the office. With Mary Mosiman we found somebody that was a CPA and the right philosophy for the taxpayers and to point out what needs to be done to keep Iowa on a sound fiscal basis.”

Branstad also found someone who had successfully been elected three times in left-leaning Story County. Branstad noted that is not an easy task. Story is one of only nine counties that he failed to carry in the 2010 gubernatorial election. The addition of Mosiman to the statewide GOP ticket could help Branstad and other Republicans on the ballot there next year.

“I’ve known Mary Mosiman for over a decade and she was a delight to work with in Story County as our Story County auditor,” said RPI Chairman A.J. Spiker, who used to chair the Story County GOP. “There’s really nobody in the state of Iowa that I can think of that would have been better for the governor to appoint to this position. I don’t know anybody who’s a better worker or harder campaigner so I know Mary is going to be a great addition to the ticket in 2014.”