At least two Democrats will run for governor this year. Jonathan Narcisse, a former Des Moines School Board member and third-party gubernatorial candidate, announced his candidacy this morning at the African-American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids. I don’t have a video from today’s event, but after the jump I’ve posted a speech Narcisse gave last month when he announced the creation of his exploratory committee. Among other things, he proposes to provide free college education for Iowa students who agree to do community service during the summers and to stay in the state for a certain number of years after graduation. Bleeding Heartland posted more background on Narcisse here. He received a little less than 2 percent of the vote in his independent campaign for governor in 2010.
Narcisse will be a big underdog in the Democratic primary, where State Senator Jack Hatch is better known, has more political experience, and will have the resources to run a more extensive statewide campaign. Hatch just reported raising nearly $300,000 for his gubernatorial campaign in 2013, plus $140,000 in loans from himself and his wife. At year-end, his campaign had $236,943.18 cash on hand.
This morning, former State Representative Ed Fallon endorsed Hatch, saying he “has been a strong progressive voice fighting for a better Iowa” for decades. Fallon represented areas of central Des Moines in the Iowa House for twelve years; during part of that time, Hatch served in the state House and Senate. Fallon ran for governor in 2006 and finished third in the Democratic primary for governor with about 26 percent of the vote. I’ve posted part of his e-mail blast after the jump.
Any comments about the governor’s race are welcome in this thread. UPDATE: Added clips on the Narcisse announcement below.
Excerpt from e-mail blast by Ed Fallon, January 20:
Dear Friends,
For three decades, Jack Hatch has been a strong progressive voice fighting for a better Iowa. Jack is an independent thinker who’s not afraid to challenge his own Party. Whether the fight is about creating jobs, getting rid of tax breaks for big corporations, expanding health care coverage or defending civil rights, Jack puts Iowans first.
His work in the private sector is equally impressive, and Jack has overcome all kinds of obstacles to build affordable housing in neighborhoods where it’s desperately needed.
Today, I’m endorsing Jack Hatch for Governor because he’s a strong leader with a solid track record and the determination to move Iowa beyond the failures of Terry Branstad. And I’m convinced he can win, so I’m putting my money where my mouth is and donating $100 to his campaign. Please consider doing the same. Speaking as one who ran for Governor, I assure you that it will make a difference.
UPDATE: From William Petroski’s report for the Des Moines Register:
He promised he would take two actions on his first day as governor:
The first would be to empower a process to save public employees’ pensions in Iowa, he said, including the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, which covers about 340,000 current and former public employees and retirees. […]
Secondly, he said he would restore trust in governance by initiating forensic audits of state and local governments.
“When I was on the school board we had a contractor billing us for time that didn’t exist; we were paying for their bottled water and cell phones. This happens throughout Iowa,” Narcissse said. “Corruption is a problem. The lack of accountability is a problem. My administration Day One would make divesting in corruption and restoring accountability a top priority.”