The Republican Party of Iowa’s State Central Committee meetings rarely make news, but two proposals approved on August 24 could affect next year’s elections.
UPDATE: Added Governor Terry Branstad’s reaction at the end of this post.
SECOND UDPATE: Added reactions from Senator Chuck Grassley and several of the GOP candidates for U.S. Senate.
Kevin Hall reports for The Iowa Republican blog that Iowa GOP leaders rescheduled next year’s state party convention from June 14 to July 12. If no GOP candidate for U.S. Senate wins at least 35 percent of the vote in the June 3 primary, a statewide convention will decide the nomination. Hall comments, “Not only would this delay give the Golden Child [Democratic U.S. Senate candidate] Bruce Braley an easier path to victory. It would also give campaigns, and certain groups, more time to organize their delegates. Yes, Big Liberty, I’m looking at you …”
At least two people from the Ron Paul “Liberty” wing of the Iowa GOP (David Fischer and Drew Ivers) are weighing a bid for the U.S. Senate. I doubt either could win a plurality of votes in a primary, but given what happened in 2012, I wouldn’t count them out if it goes to a state convention.
On the other hand, the Ron Paul faction was the only group committed to dominating the county and district GOP conventions of 2012. Next year, Governor Terry Branstad’s team will be mobilizing mainstream Republicans to become county, district, and state convention delegates, in order to fend off a possible challenge to Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds at the state convention.
Braley would clearly benefit from a messy convention scenario on the Republican side. A July convention would give the eventual Senate nominee less than four months to raise money and campaign statewide.
Also on Saturday, the Iowa GOP’s State Central Committee approved “a new bylaw that would block RPI from sending out mailers on behalf of candidates involved in contested primaries.” In 2012, the Iowa House Republicans sent direct mail through the state party supporting a dozen incumbents who faced primary challengers. Only one, House Majority Whip Erik Helland, lost his primary.
UPDATE: At his regular weekly press conference on August 26, Branstad commented on the decision to move the state party convention.
“I think they made a mistake and I think they should reconsider.” […]
Branstad told reporters this morning he “absolutely” disagrees with the party’s decision.
“We do have a crowded field of candidates for the senate,” Branstad said. “If nobody gets 35 percent of the vote, the sooner we have a convention and choose a nominee I think the better it is for the party.”
It’s no secret in political circles that the long-time Republican governor and current leaders of the Republican Party who come from the Ron Paul movement have been at odds over a number of issues. Branstad told reporters this morning he has “no idea” why the party’s state central committee moved the date of the 2014 state convention, an event that serves as the kick-off for the General Election campaign.
“I believe that it makes sense to resolve these matters as quickly as possible,” Branstad said. “The primary election is in early June. I think having the convention shortly thereafter makes a lot of sense.”
SECOND UPDATE: Senator Chuck Grassley agreed with Branstad that a later convention won’t leave the potential GOP nominee much time to run a general election campaign. Several of the declared Senate candidates aren’t happy either, Jason Noble and Jennifer Jacobs reported:
GOP U.S. Senate candidates Sam Clovis, Joni Ernst, Matt Whitaker and David Young say in the letter to the Republican Party of Iowa: “Essentially gifting Braley an additional 30 days to campaign in a vacuum, while reducing our nominee’s time to raise funds and campaign as the general election candidate by an entire month – only serves to strengthen Braley’s viability.”
Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney now in private practice, said told The Des Moines Register Monday: “I am disappointed with their action. It will not help our nominee defeat Bruce Braley.”
Young, a former U.S. Senate aide, said Republicans need to make sure the eventual GOP candidate “can hit the ground as soon as possible and compete with the Democratic machine.”
Ernst, a state senator, had a similar message.
“Moving the convention back a month gives aid and comfort to Bruce Braley and the Democrats,” Ernst, R-Red Oak, told the Register.
Meanwhile, John Deeth discusses the possibility that Iowans will be able to caucus twice for the first time in 2014. That would be bad for the future of the Iowa caucuses.
TUESDAY UPDATE: The Iowa Republican blog published the agenda for Saturday’s State Central Committee meeting, which does not include moving the state convention date. Some of the committee members are unhappy and spoke to Kevin Hall:
Despite claims from RPI that the vote was unanimous, SCC member Cody Hoefert does not recall the matter being discussed during the meeting. Hoefert, who represents the Fourth Congressional District, says he would have voted against the measure. However, he did not know the state convention had been moved from June to July until receiving a phone call during his drive home following the meeting.
“The idea that was put out today that it was unanimous is not accurate. I did not vote for it. If I was in the room when that vote was taken, I would have voted no,” Hoefert told TheIowaRepublican.com.
Cody Hoefert concludes that discussion of the issue and the vote took place while he took a brief restroom break. A recording of the meeting obtained by TheIowaRepublican.com shows that the entire discussion of moving the convention and the vote approving the move took only three minutes.
For various reasons, five other SCC members were not in attendance at Saturday’s meeting: Bob Anderson, David Chung, Wes Enos, Jamie Johnson and Loras Schulte. Chung questions the manner in which the decision was made.
“As usual, SCC members did not hear about it until the meeting,” Chung told TheIowaRepublican.com. “I would have hoped that in making a significant change like this, input would have been solicited from county leaders and SCC members. I know that there are a lot of conspiracy theories floating around about the date change – I don’t know whether to believe them. But, we missed an opportunity. This was a chance to get the DECs involved and get buy-in. Instead everyone is suspicious of everyone else. We at RPI have not done a good job of building trust between county leadership and the state party.”
I suspect they will end up moving their state convention back to some date in June 2014.