DES MOINES – Iowa aEUR” Iowa is one of 36 states that has a governor race this November. However, the primary will not allow voters to choose from different governor candidates.
The incumbent governor of the Republican party is Gov. Kim Reynolds is unopposed and has received a late-in the-primary endorsement by former President Donald Trump. Reynolds was elected governor in 2017. He has worked closely with the Republican-led legislature to pass a conservative agenda. They have drastically reduced income taxes, repealed gun regulations, implemented abortion restrictions, and cut voting time.
Chris Larimer, a University of Northern Iowa political science professor, says that “on top of all, she has relatively high standing in recent polls, where her approval rating within state is above 50%.” “She is particularly popular with Republican voters, so I believe that this would deter any kind of challenger.”
After state Rep. Ras Smith’s resignation, Democrats will also be entering the primary with an uncontested ballot. Smith claimed that he had difficulty fundraising and that major political donors in the State refused to meet him. In a press release, he wrote:
“Unfortunately, this has also exposed a severe disconnect between the current system of politics and the people.”
Smith, who is Black was recognized by the Iowa Democratic Party as a rising star and successfully pushed for reforms to policing in 2020 in the Republican-led legislature.
Deidre DeJear is the Democrats’ sole candidate. She also struggled with campaign donations last season. Her campaign ended in 2021 with $8,500 in the bank. Since then, she has raised much more money.
DeJear, a businessman who ran in Iowa for secretary of state in 2018, was the first Black candidate for statewide office. DeJear served as Vice President Harris’ Iowa campaign chair before the 2020 presidential caucuses.
Gov. Reynolds was still able to go on the campaign trail last Wednesday to support candidates she supported in GOP legislative primaries. Reynolds endorsed Republican incumbent lawmakers who refused vote for Reynolds’ policy goal of creating state-funded scholarships to private school expenses. This is a rare act.
Larimer, a political science professor at University of Northern Iowa, believes that the predictions of a poor election year for Democrats, and Reynolds’ strong position in the incumbent’s race could explain why there aren’t any other candidates in this primary.
Larimer states, “You don’t want to be out and then have to face a very hard election in the fall.” “And then it can hurt your long-term political prospects?”
Third-party candidates aside, Libertarian Rick Stewart suspended his campaign temporarily in May after being arrested during a Washington, D.C. protest calling for the medical use psilocybin.
