The Race for RPI Chairman

The race for RPI Chairman is heating up. As of now, here are the contenders that have declared their candidacy (at least to me) in alphabetical order.

Danny Carroll 
Danny is a former legislator from Poweshiek County. Danny has a lot of support in the blogosphere and from legislators.

Andy Cable
Andy has is co-chair of the Hardin County GOP. He has a lot of campaign experience and is a frequent commentor on this and other blogs.

Gopal Krishna
Gopal is on the State Central Committe and is the current treasurer of RPI. Gopal served three terms as RPI co-chair. Gopal is a Des Moines based engineer and businessman.

Paul Pate 
Paul served as Iowa's Secretary of State. He also served in the Iowa Senate and was mayor of Cedar Rapids. He runs an asphalt company in Linn County.

Matt Randall       
Matt is on the State Central Committee. He is an Ames businessman and his been active in organizing young professionals in his community.

Christopher Reed   
Christopher was the GOP challenger to Tom Harkin in the 2008 Senate Race. He is a Navy vet and runs a business in Linn County.

Ted Sporer 
Ted is Polk County GOP Chairman. Ted is a Des Moines attorney. His blog, The Real Sporer, has been dormant for a while but he was the first major non-anonymous GOP blog in Iowa.

Matt Strawn 
Matt is the newcomer to this race and something of a wild card. He is a Des Moines businessman and the principal owner of the Iowa Barnstormers. Matt has a great deal of political experience and held a reception for SCC members after Friday night's committee meetings.

There may be other candidates but these are the ones who have either publicly announced or contacted me. As I have said before, I have not made up my mind. I have had a chance to talk at length with all of the candidates yet, but I am trying to sync my schedule with several of them.

I think that we have an excellent field with some great choices. At this point I do not believe that any candidate has the 9 votes necessary to win.

Comments

[Michael Ryan]

Andy,
this is slightly off topic, but I need to address an issue you brought up on the Big Meeting Blog. You had some questions on the validity of Chairman Iverson's visit to my county, so I decide I will post the meeting minutes for you and others to read to show what was said so you can contrast to what was said on Deace.

'MINUTES OF MEETING OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY REPUBLICANS
June 27, 2008

The Pocahontas County Republicans met on June 27, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. Chairman Michael Ryan led us in prayer, and called the meeting to order. Members present were Jim LaVelle, Tom Sefcik, Lisa Sefcik, Ann Beneke, Michael Diischer, Wilbur Ekstrand, Tom Shaw and Michael Ryan. Also present were Ken Vaske, Barbara Vaske, and Stewart Iverson.
The minutes of the April meeting were read and approved. Mike Diischer moved to postpone the reading of the May minutes until the August meeting. Tom Sefcik seconded the Motion. The motion passed.
Mike Diischer reported for the Treasurer that there was the amount of $1,855.88 in the account.
There was discussion of how the parade float was doing. The float is easy to set up and take down. The candidates walk alongside the float and are able to greet the people. Mike Ryan showed us a picture of the float which looks very good. Mike Diischer stated that only about ¼ of the candy was used at the Heritage Days Parade. There will be a parade in Rolfe on July 12 and a parade in Gilmore City on July 19.
Stewart Iverson, Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, spoke to the group. Mike Diischer asked Mr. Iverson about the party funding Christopher Reed. Mr. Iverson stated that the party received 30,000 dollars from the National Party that was supposed to go directly to the U.S Senate Candidate. When pressed by Mike Diischer about the issue, Mr. Iverson that the party would support him by making the RPI donor list available. There was a discussion about whether money was going directly to the candidates. Mike Diischer pointed out that when the Republican Party of Iowa calls for a contribution, people are led to believe their money is going directly to candidates. Stewart Iverson pointed out that the Republican Central Committee also supports absentee ballots and does phone calling and mailing, too. It was further noted that the Republican National Committee does give money to candidates.
Ken Vaske, candidate for the Iowa State Senate from the 4th District, spoke to the group. Although he is a Republican, he is running as an Independent. At this point, it is easier to be on the ballot as an Independent by not having to call a convention. He has until August to obtain enough signatures on his nomination papers. Ken Vaske’s banner is, “Vote for Life”. There are no other candidates running against the incumbent Jack Kibbie.
There was a discussion of fundraising such as a pancake dinner and then a county-wide garage sale. We need a date so that candidates can plan to be there. It was noted that August would be the best month for Congressman Tom Latham to come. If a pancake dinner were on a Sunday, we could catch the after-church crowds. Friday, July 25 would be a good time for a special meeting about fundraising. Before then, we could check on the pancakes and equipment. For location, the Catholic school would be first choice, and the public school would be second choice. For the date, August 24 would be first choice and August 17 would be second choice. We would plan that the money would go directly to the candidates.
Lisa Sefcik noted that Garage Sale Days are in September. Mike Diischer reported that he sends out 15 postcards for meetings. It used to be about 25 postcards. We are working on getting email and street addresses of Republicans.
We will have a booth for the Pocahontas County Fair. The material for the booth is usually passed out at the State Convention which is on July 11, 2008.
A collection of money was taken up for the U.S. Senatorial candidate Chris Reed. Chairman Michael Ryan will mail the money to Chris Reed.
Chairman Michael Ryan gave a closing prayer. The meeting was then adjourned.

Ann Beneke, Secretary "

I hope this clears up your doubts. If you have any questions, concerns feel free to contact me you can do from the State Website.

Michael Ryan
Pocahontas County Chairman

[Mark Doland]

Mr. Chung,

Thank you for listing the candidates for chair. Your assesments of each is fair. Question, does one candidate have to have 9 votes to win the election or is it decided by simple majority? I want to comment on Danny Carroll. as you may have noticed, he was at the meeting last Saturday. He is a very humble man. While others made an attempt to chime in (Paul Pate and Christopher Reed) Danny chose not to pander for support. Anyone who knows Danny knows he is a great leader and I have heard him say on numerous "let the lips of another praise you." Therefore, you will not hear Danny toot his own horn. Therefore, I would like to do so for him. Your point is one that needs to be communicated very clearly. Danny has the support of many statewide candidates. If we are to choose a leader, we need someone who others can follow. His peers look to him for direction and advice (he quietly guided Kent Sorensen through his campaign but Danny will not tell you that). Kent wrote a comment on a blog that I found to be a very compelling case as to why Danny should be the next chairman.

Mark Doland

[HawkeyeGOP]

Mark,

A candidate for chair must get a majority of the votes cast. There are 17 voting members of the SCC so it would take 9 votes to win.

It is possible that some members could abstain or might otherwise not vote — then it would take a majority of the votes actually cast.

[Yoda]

Pander for support? Pate was asked to chime in on the question of voter fraud and how to deal with false information from county auditors. Given he was the only former state commissioner of elections in the room, Iverson asked him for his thoughts to be shared with the committee.

Furthermore, some advice for your candidate, although it was a long meeting, it helps to not be asleep in the back of the room when you are running for chairman. It did not go unnoticed.

[Matt Green]

David - What if no candidates have a majority?

[Mark Doland]

Thank you for your insight David as to how the vote count goes. Yoda, you are right. Paul was asked to talk at the meeting by Mr. Iverson. My apologies. I didn't notice him asleep at the back of the room, although I know he had a muscle spasm in his back before the meeting and during but he felt it was important that he be there. I wonder if I can offer an apology and clarification without being attacked on the comment section. The party really needs unity, and it needs to start sooner rather than later.

[Yoda]

You are correct, my apologies if it seemed like an attack. Its been a long night here with sick kids. Thank you for your involvement in the party. Cheers!

[MD]

Good break down. Danny Carroll is my choice and here's why.

1)Danny is a great uniter. The party is in a rebuilding phase and Danny can help us through it with minimal turmoil.
2) Danny is a solid fundraiser. I realize that Matt $trawn is a good fundraiser as well. If that is the primary reason you would support Strawn, Danny deserves a fair look. Danny outraised his opponent in his district 3-1 and raised only $4,000 less in the campaign including PAC and out of state homosexual money to his opponent. Danny will definately not have to conceed this point, he has a proven ability to raise $$.
3) Danny was the Mahaska and Powesheik County Central Committee. Danny had 180 volunteers that helped in some way on the campaign with 50-60 that were very active. He had two full-time campaign managers staffed as well. He had the best organization in the state.
4) Danny is a proven leader. Ask any number of the legislators that Danny would be working with as the party chair and they would choose to follow Danny's lead, hands down. His caucus has always looked to him for leadership.
5) Danny is a visionary. He has made up a comprehensive plan for the future of the party by asking imput from Republican members of the Legislature, all county chair positions, and grass roots organizations. Danny is a team player.

This is not an all inclusive list but it is a very compelling case for Danny Carroll.

[Yoda]

At the risk of turning this into a debate with my new friend Mark, here is what I beleive are compelling points as to why Paul Pate is more qualified on each of the bullet points he lists for Danny Carroll.

1. (Uniter) Paul Pate is a rock solid family values and fiscal conservative who was able to support Bob Vander Plaats and then be state chairman of the Rudy Guiliani campaign in Iowa. Pate has won a state senate seat and became Mayor of CR in Linn County which has a registration advantage for the dems by several thousands. He brought people together of all stripes to support a conservative. And I'll throw in he has proven he can win statewide for good measure. ADVANTAGE PATE

2. (Fundraiser) In addition to successfully raising funds necesary to winning elections at the state senate, mayoral and statewide office levels he has been chairman of the Linn Eagles which is the $ group dedicated to electing republicans in Linn County. ADVANTAGE PATE

3. (Organization) Pate has served as chairman of the Linn County central committee in addition to building successful organizations to win elections at all levels of government in Iowa. Did I mention his organizations have never lost to a democrat? ADVANTAGE PATE

4. (Leader) Pate has executive leadership that is difficult to match. Mayor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa Secretary of State, President of the Iowa League of Citites, CEO of PATE Asphalt Systems. As an executive, the buck stops with you. ADVANTAGE PATE

5. (Vision) Pate too has delivered a plan (NOT A SURVEY) to state party leaders which includes not just members of the state central committee, but county leaders as well in addition to our elected office holders. We are all apart of his plan. ADVANTAGE PATE

Just my two cents...

One more thing, wouldn't it be nice to have a former state commissioner of elections as chairman to take Mike Mauro to task when he tries to screw us on election day?