Sunday, August 13, 2006

Seeking Constituent Input

Tomorrow night the State Central Committee, of which I am a member, will nominate the Republican candidate for Secretary of State. This isn't a trivial office, and we shouldn't take this obligation lightly.
There are four known candidates:

Steve Churchill
Mary Ann Hanusa
Mike Hartwig
Jeff Heil

I am very interested in my constituents' input on this important decision. Please feel free to use the comments to offer, hopefully, serious input, information or opinions on this important decision.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

WAR Mary Ann Hanusa!!!

Listen Sporer - Do not underestimate the absolute necessity for the Republicans to have a powerful woman on the ticket and in office. Hanusa is the better choice. She has national-level experience and has the kind of integrity that would put Mauro to shame!

Anonymous said...

I don't know any of the candidates personally, and don't believe I've had much of a conversation with anyone except for Mary Ann Hanusa, who I once spoke with in the West Wing. (and for full-disclosure, I'm outside your district, but my state central committee members don't have a blog)

But, because I don't have any personal attachment, I think I come closest to the average voter in November who will know next-to-nothing about whoever we run. I've briefly surveyed the backgrounds of all of these, and Jeff Heil seems like by far the strongest contender. He's been a county auditor and has private sector business management experience.

I would give some thought to having a woman, but I don't really see how working in the bowels of the administrative operations of the White House provides qualifications for being SOS. Especially given the mood this year, I don't know that another DC insider should be our choice. Then again, if you give credence to my statement that most voters won't know anything about the candidate, maybe the fact that she is a woman, and that can be seen just from her name on the ballot, would provide some benefit. Still -- don't think i'd go there.

I hear Hartwig is a good guy, but he had his shot 4 years ago.

Anonymous said...

I vote Steve Churchill based on his name ID in Polk County, closeness with GOP money, ability to raise funds and the fact he has the intelligence to beat his opponent to death with CIETC, unlike the others who will be scrambling for $.

If Heil has $50K for his campaign I think a legitimate question for him would be why has he not spread it around to our candidates?

Hanusa could be formidable but has anyone outside of Grassley heard of her befor this?

Hartwig had his chance, but he keeps the VanderPlaats conservatives whole so he would be my second choice.

1. Churchill
2. Hartwig
3. Hanusa
4. Dopf as Heil has not given resources he claims to bring to our other hard working GOP officials.

Anonymous said...

Churchill will put off the conservatives. He had a liberal voting record in the legislature.

Hartwig had a chance, can't raise money and has little institutional support anywhere.

Heil might have been the best choice had he run a longer race.

Hanusa's DC connections might be a blessing or a curse. She can probably raise money in DC.

None are very well known so lets take a long shot and put a young woman near the top of the ticket.

Anonymous said...

Hanusa's DC connections will be a curse. Iowans don't like people who come back from DC to run for office, and her job there has nothing to do with qualifying her to be a SoS. She will be trounced with every Democrat's message of being a Washington insider.

Churchill is the man for the job. He has held elected office. He can raise the money in short order, and he knows what it takes to put together a winning campaign. Not to mention he has a great name for the ballot (Churchill)...far better than a hideous name like Hanusa.

If the GOP wants to win in November, they'll pick Steve Churchill tonight. A vote for anyone else is a vote for a scandal-ridden Democrat in the Secretary of State's office for a very long time.

Anonymous said...

What do you know about the personal rumors about Churchill?

Anonymous said...

I leave the country for a couple of weeks and we lose a secretary of state nominee???

I've heard of Churchill, but nothing good. Same is true for Hartwig so my vote goes to one of the other two.

The Mtown auditor is qualified. It can't hurt to have a woman on the ticket if she's not Alan Keyes like winger.

Avoid Des Moines on this one.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Chairman, you know more than most of us. Vote for whomever you think has the best chance to win. That is what matters.

Anonymous said...

We need Sarah Henderson to run! She's the only candidate on either side of the isle with experience in the SOS's office. Not to mention she's been elected in the 2nd largest city in Iowa and of course she's smoking hot!

Yoda says its not gonna happen, too expensive, too late and a very bad year to have an "R" behind your name. And besides he hates Des Moines too much.

These other candidates suck. But if you had to take one, I'd say Churchill because its getting too late and we need somebody to spend a couple hundred grand talking CIETC statewide.

Anonymous said...

Personal rumors are just that...nontruths spread by people that don't have the best interest of our party at heart.

Anonymous said...

You don't like people coming from DC to run for office in Iowa? You mean, like, Jim Nussle?

Anonymous said...

What are the personal rumors? Are they really nontruths or is there some fire behind the smoke.

After the Allison debacle I think we need a pretty clean cut scandal free candidate.

I can't imagine anything in Hartwig's background that would be embarrassing. Hanusa cleared the White House background check so she must be pretty clean.

You probably do know best, that's why we keep voting for you.

Anonymous said...

Haha nice try Anon 11:40. Jim Nussle isn't coming back from Washington to run for office. He is a current elected official from NE Iowa who has held their trust for many years now. He is a resident of Manchester, IA, not DC. Your comparison is apples to oranges.

Anonymous said...

RUN SPORER RUN!

Anonymous said...

Sporer isn't running.

Anonymous said...

Dear Ted (aka, Stud),

Please give consideration to Jeff Heil. Experienced, qualified, and can bring in the cash. He can fight Mauro on the "only county auditor in the race" charge. Plus, Jeff is a personable guy. I only saw him once in December, but I really liked him.

Best Wishes to you and your fellow Central Committee members. We trust that you will all come to a decision that is the best for the Party.

Anonymous said...

Nussle lives in Iowa? HAH! When was the last time you saw him at the park w/his kids? He's DC all the way, his (mistress) wife is DC all the way. Nussle hasn't been from Iowa for the last 15 years!

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:49

Are you a Democrat or just a douche bag?

Anonymous said...

Ted,
first off, you gave an outstanding performance on The Insiders. I think Bachman spoke for a total of 15 seconds and Crawford looked like a school by in comparison to you.

secondly, i place my vote for Hartwig. He has run once before, and raised about $44k after being nominated at convention. plus, he will ensure the conservatives get out and vote this November.

war Sporer.

Anonymous said...

Definitely some fire behind the smoke regarding personal rumors about Mr. Churchill. Think Mark Foley, but on the phone. It's true. Someone should ask him about it or ask to see his phone records.

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