Anti Gay Republican Bob Vander Plaats announces he is in the Iowa Governors Race
9/8/09-by Paula Brooks
An outspoken opponent of Marriage Equality in Iowa announced late yesterday he plans to challenge Iowa’s Democratic Governor for that job.
Republican Bob Vander Plaats, 46, a Sioux City businessman, officially announced his campaign in his hometown of Sheldon on Monday by saying he would issue an executive order putting the issue same-sex marriage in the hands of the legislature and the voters of Iowa on his first day in office.
In June, Vander Plaats also said he would issue an executive order stopping same-sex marriage until the legislature either passes a law legalizing it or passes a constitutional amendment banning it. He furthermore said after doing so, he said he fully expects Democrats to try to remove him from office for “promoting lawlessness.”
Vander Plaats is a former high school teacher and principal and was formerly chief executive of Opportunities Unlimited, a Sioux health organization. He is currently president of MVP Leadership, a company that specializes in executive planning and mentorship.
Vander Plaats, ran for governor in 2002 and lost in the primary, ran again in 2006 before being chosen as Jim Nussle’s running mate, but lost to Chet Culver.
He has already has the endorsements of several prominent conservative Republicans, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, for whose 2008 presidential campaign Vander Plaats served as state chairman.
Last month during a special election for the Iowa house the National Organization for Marriage made an $86K radio and television buy on behalf of Iowa House candidate Stephen Burgmeier, who also promised to overturn marriage equality. Burgmeier lost that bid, but no doubt Vander Plaats has an eye on an endorsement and some NOM cash as well.
Several other Republicans have also stated they plan to seek the Governors office, including Rep Chris Rants. Rants and Vander Plaats have been trading barbs all summer.
In addition to Rants and Vander Plaats, four other men are seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination: Paul McKinley, Christian Fong, Rod Roberts and Jerry Behn.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Michael Kierna said in a statement toady, “The Vander Plaats announcement also provides further evidence of the deep divide in the GOP. Vander Plaats epitomizes the uncompromising right-wing fringe that would rather have a candidate with whom they agree on all the issues, than one who can win. Vander Plaats’ announcement is proof this will be a tough, bruising primary – no matter who else runs.”
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“Vander Plaats also said he would issue an executive order stopping same-sex marriage until the legislature either passes a law legalizing it or passes a constitutional amendment banning it.” Great. Someone running for office is advocating an unconstitutional method of overturning a judicial ruling. If he wants it overturned, he has to do it LEGALLY. I’d think twice about voting for someone who does not respect the rules in place…
No different than what Obama is doing writing Executive Orders that take away our freedom every day.
Ob1,
Please come up with proof of that statement, or did you simply repeat stuff you heard off of Glenn Beck’s show? The reality is that President Obama has hardly been running around signing executive orders limiting the personal freedoms of American citizens. Of course, you could be referring to executive orders which are designed to limit corporations from doing things like dumping huge amounts of toxic Mercury into your drinking water.