Iowa’s Republican governor opens assault on his state party

GRINNELL, Iowa — Two years from now, Republicans will formally kick off the process of nominating a presidential candidate with caucus meetings in church basements, community centers and school classrooms. The candidate they nominate will rise or fall, in part, based on the grass-roots prowess of the Republican Party’s organization here and in other swing states.

But as they gather for biennial caucuses Tuesday evening, many Republicans, including Gov. Terry Branstad, worry that their party, run by supporters of former congressman Ron Paul, the libertarian firebrand, isn’t up to the challenge. Branstad is leading a not-so-quiet push to wrest control of the Iowa party, one front in the war for the soul of the GOP. And though the presidential contest is two years away, the health of the state party could affect the GOP’s more-immediate chances at winning control of the U.S. Senate.

The fight mirrors feuds within other Republican Party organizations, from states such as Arizona, Nevada and Maine to the Republican conference in the U.S. House of Representatives, where insurgent outsiders seized control in 2008 and 2010. Now, the establishment — led by long-time operatives and party elders, including Branstad and House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio) — is fighting back.

In Iowa, the bank balance tells the story. Under the leadership of Chairman A.J. Spiker, the state party has seen its account dwindle. The party ended November with about $260,000 in the bank, down from $295,000 at the beginning of 2013. That month, the state GOP raised just $5,500 and spent $45,000. The party had raised a little under $600,000 between Jan. 1 and the end of November, less than half the total raised by the Iowa Democratic Party.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/01/20/iowas-republican-governor-opens-assault-on-his-state-party/