DAVENPORT, Iowa—
Iowa voters go to the polls in less than a month. The June 8th vote will pick a Republican challenger to run against Gov. Chet Culver. And the GOP is calling on state budget cuts to capture a win."Is there anybody in this room that would like to replace Chet Culver in November?" asked Carol Crain, president of the Scott County Republican Women.
It's a question to energize, inspire and fire up Republicans for the Iowa Primary. Just 29 days until the vote, two-thirds of the Republican gubernatorial challengers were campaigning in Davenport on Monday.
"There's a bigger feeling of change this time than there was in 2008," said John Ortega, Scott County Republicans.
"It's more than we ever expected," Crain added.
Former Gov. Terry Branstad is a familiar face making the rounds. He's calling on spending cuts to fight Iowa's deficit. He says cuts are designed to restore healthy government.
"We're mortgaging the future of our children and grand children," Branstad said. "We've got to restore fiscal responsiblitiy. We've got to cut the size of government by at least 15%."
Bob Vander Plaats says he's not running against Branstad or Rod Roberts. He says he's running for the future. It's a future based on fiscal restraint.
"We need a governor today that doesn't say I'm going to limit the growth of government," Vander Plaats said. "We actually need to shrink the size of government."
These spending cuts proposals come on top of Gov. Culver's across the board cuts. That's even though a recent Des Moines Register poll says that most Iowans oppose drastic cuts.
"We're going to focus on things that reduce taxes and make Iowa more competitive," Branstad said.
Despite lagging behind in recent polls, that isn't stopping Gov. Culver from making an aggressive re-election bid. He's setting out to visit 41 Iowa counties in five days next week. The "Choosing a Better Iowa" tour will make a stop in Davenport next Tuesday.
Within a capacity crowd in Davenport, Republicans like what they hear.
"You can only print so much money," Ortega concluded. "Something has to change."
A call for change that Republicans are embracing in Scott County.
