Boone City Council member Steven Ray announced on July 1 that he will run for governor next year as a Republican. The third declared GOP candidate promised to be “a law and order governor” and said his experience in government and public safety would make him an effective chief executive. He also lambasted Iowa’s new law gutting most collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Ray has held various positions in the Iowa Department of Public Safety since 1995 and has served on the Boone City Council since 2003. His campaign has a website, Facebook page, and Twitter account (though at this writing he hasn’t tweeted yet).

Ray is an extreme long-shot, to put it mildly, lacking the fundraising connections and state-level governing experience that Governor Kim Reynolds and Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett bring to the race. On his home page, he promised to be the “anti-establishment” and “anti-‘good ‘ol boy network’ candidate,” criticizing politicians “who want to demonize the work of public servants as a drain on budgets.”

There are always some primary voters who are dissatisfied with the people in power. An underfunded and little-known Republican challenger to Governor Terry Branstad received about 16 percent of the vote in the 2014 GOP primary. However, Republicans who don’t care for Reynolds already have another option in this race. Corbett is likely to raise the resources to run a statewide primary campaign.

The top point on Ray’s issues page decries the gutting of collective bargaining for public employees during the 2017 legislative session, adding that he would have vetoed the bill, which used “a long-standing political agenda to make these changes at the expense of public employees.” But Corbett already has a more labor-friendly record than Reynolds.

Ray doesn’t sound like the kind of candidate who would appeal to social conservatives either. Although he takes a strong stance against abortion and any restrictions on gun ownership, he also expresses tolerance toward gay marriage and support for protecting people’s rights regardless of sexual orientation. I haven’t heard of any rumored candidate for governor representing the Steve Deace/Bob Vander Plaats wing.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread. I enclose below more background on Ray.

From the statement on the front page of Steven Ray for governor:

I don’t consider myself a politician. I am most proud to say I am a public servant and have been for three decades. As governor, I will continue to view my position as still serving the people’s interests and not that of my own. I won’t make a lot of promises because to do so just to get elected is what I have heard for years what voters don’t like in political candidates. If you can’t keep the promise, then don’t make it.

I want the voters of this state to know that I am a proponent of small, yet effective, government. Government is essential for so many reasons and for so many people, yet, all things considered, government should stay out of our lives and let individuals be in charge of their own destiny. So long as people conduct themselves by the rule of law then keeping government intrusion out of our personal lives should be held sacred.

I have been a public employee for all of my adult life. I can assure voters, regardless of party affiliation, that front-line public employees are hard-workers. I have seen many of them work at their finest across this great state at the local, county and state levels. Every type of work, whether public or private employment, has their bad actors. They are never representative of the majority. Public employees work, raise their families, pay their taxes and spend their money in this state just like everyone else. I believe public employees have received a “bad rap” by politicians who want to demonize the work of public servants as a drain on budgets. The drain on budgets come from mismanagement at the top, a lack of vision and setting budget priorities. There is considerable spending in government that can be curbed without jeopardizing services and using public employees as the scapegoat for excuses of inefficiency. Therefore, I want all public employees in Iowa, especially state employees, to know that they WILL NOT have an adversary in a Governor Ray. You will have my full support in conducting the necessary work for serving our constituents. It’s also important for taxpayers to know they are getting what they’re paying for and many, many taxpayers would be surprised their tax money is not being used effectively and for what many would expect as being fully funded, especially in critical public services.

I will be a law and order governor. I have devoted 30 years to public safety service to the citizens of Iowa. Our public safety servants, including law enforcement, fire, and EMS workers throughout all levels of Iowa government will have unprecedented support from their governor if I am elected. In short, I have been in the position to have your backs throughout my career and I will assure each of you that I will continue to stand with you and support you with every ounce of effort I can muster. I want our public safety and law enforcement personnel in Iowa to be the best trained and equipped forces to protect all Iowans.

My campaign is one that will assure voters that their governor will serve with honor and integrity and, most of all, that I will be accountable for everything, including the bad. The buck will stop with me as your governor. In my public safety career, I have answered many a call at 3 AM for emergencies. The citizens of Iowa can rest easy knowing I am well-prepared to continue answering those urgent calls every hour of every day I serve you. […]

State government needs a serious make-over and I am the candidate with the experience and understanding of government to change these problems and make state government more responsible to each of you.

I would be deeply honored to have each of you stand with me as fellow Republicans, independents and even my Democratic friends to do what is right and fix what is broken and work toward common ground with the top priority of serving the people’s business effectively, encouraging bi-partisanship, without political games and gridlock.

My campaign is not a campaign against anyone. It is a campaign for everyone and trying to make government better, smarter and more efficient while still being effective and reliable to our constituents. […]

I will be the anti-establishment and anti-“good ‘ol boy network” candidate in this election. If elected, I shall serve as governor of, by and for ALL Iowans.

From the official bio on Steven Ray’s campaign website:

Steven graduated from Boone High School in 1988; Des Moines Area Community College (Boone Campus) in 1990 and Iowa State University in 1992 with a BA in Political Science. He graduated from the Certified Public Manager program at Drake University in December 2012.

Steven began his public safety career with a short stint as a Student Reserve Officer at Iowa State University in July 1988; then took a position as a 911 dispatcher at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office in August 1988 and worked there through August of 1995. In August 1995 he accepted a position with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Iowa State Patrol Division, as a Communications Specialist at their Des Moines Communications Center located at Camp Dodge, Joint Forces Headquarters, Johnston. Steven was elevated to Lead Specialist in October 2003 and promoted to regional communications center manager in February 2007 and has served to present as manager of the Des Moines, Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids state emergency communications centers and, formerly, the Atlantic state communications center from 2007-2010.

Steven was elected to the Boone City Council, as council member at-large, in November 2003 and has served continuously in that capacity from January 1, 2004, to present and is in the middle of his 4th, 4-year term and also also serves as mayor pro-tem for the city.

For the city of Boone, Steven currently chairs the Policy and Administration and Public Safety and Transportation committees and was formerly member and chair of the city’s Economic Development committee for 9 years from 2006-2015.

In addition, he serves as the city of Boone representative to the Boone County 9-1-1 Service Board and the county’s Emergency Management Commission.

Steven has been the Iowa DPS representative to the state 9-1-1 Communications Council and has served as its chair from 2009-present, the longest serving chair in the council’s history.

In 2002 Steven was appointed to the local board for Boone/Story counties for the United States Selective Service System. In March, 2017, he was elevated to Iowa’s district appeal board by the Selective Service System.

Steven is a member of the Iowa Chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO); the Iowa Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and the Iowa League of Cities. Steven has been a proud, life-long member of the Grand Old Party.