Culver prepares for 2010 re-election battle

With his announcement Thursday that he is adding two veteran campaign staffers to his office, Gov. Chet Culver has made it clear he is taking nothing for granted as he seeks re-election in 2010.

Gov. Chet Culver speaking to a Des Moines crowd just before a whistlestop tour through western Iowa (photo by Jason Hancock/Iowa Independent).

Recent polling shows the Democratic governor with approval numbers in the low 40s, and the continued economic downturn could force Culver and legislative leaders into further budget cuts during the 2010 session, cuts that could prove unpopular with many Iowa voters.

Those factors have Republicans excited about the possibility of winning back Terrace Hill for the first time since 1998. Four candidates have already filed paperwork exploring a run against Culver, and several more are publicly considering entering the race.

In an interview with the Iowa Independent on Thursday, Culver said his campaign has set specific fundraising goals and begun holding regular events. While he is confident of his re-election chances in a state that hasn’t kicked out an incumbent governor since the 1960s and where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 100,000 registered voters, he is already taking 2010 very seriously.

“This is and always has been a very competitive state,” Culver said. “We are very serious about putting together a solid political organization. We’ve taken some steps in the last few months in terms of getting organized and hiring some very capable people, and you’ll see more of that.”

Teresa Vilmain, named Thursday as senior adviser to Culver’s re-election campaign, is a legend among Democratic Party professionals, playing a key role in former Gov. Tom Vilsack’s come-from-behind victory in 1998. Culver’s new chief of staff, John Frew, has managed several successful senate campaigns, including two for U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin. When Frew ran for mayor of Denver in the mid-1990s, alternative newsweekly Westword refered to him as “a veteran of negative campaigns” and as someone who “knows how to give a politician a bloody nose.”

Earlier this year, Culver brought John Kirincich into the governor’s office as its chief operating officer, with the expectation being that he will be a central figure in the 2010 campaign. Kirincich served as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Georgia, chair of the Georgia Democratic Party and was a chief adviser for an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1998 and another for Congress in 2002.

Longtime Iowa Democratic strategist and Culver staffer Pete D’Alessandro serves as political director of the Chet Culver Committee.

Culver said when voters make their decision about who should lead the state, the first thing they will consider is whether “we did the things we promised to do when we asked for their vote back in 2006.”

“We established the Office of Energy Independence and the Iowa Power Fund,” he said. “We increased the minimum wage and got teacher pay to the national average. We expanded health care to kids and expanded access to universal pre-school to 4 year olds. We lifted the ban on stem cell research. That record is something I’m very proud of. We were able to deliver on every one of our campaign pledges.”

Ultimately, though, Culver’s political fortunes will most likely rise or fall with the state of the economy. The governor has already been forced to cut millions of dollars from the 2010 budget, and further cuts could be needed. Most economists agree 2011 could be even worse.

And although the fiscal year 2009 budget ended earlier this month, many believe the budget deficit will be large enough to force Culver into calling a special legislative session to balance the books. The governor’s staff and the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency disagree on just how big the gap will be, ranging from a manageable $58 million all the way to $161 million.

Culver has consistently maintained that the state can make it through these difficult budget problems without taking drastic measures, thanks to large cash reserves and “sound fiscal management.” He also points to the $830 million I-JOBS infrastructure program, his signature piece of legislation, which he said is already beginning to have a positive impact on the state.

“People have been very critical lately of my optimism,” he said. “But I feel really good about our future despite facing a natural disaster and an economic downturn. I’m optimistic about our ability to weather this and emerge stronger than when we went in. Do we have challenges still ahead of us? Sure, but that’s part of leading. We have to work through the hard times, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Veteran Republican strategist Tim Albrecht, who publishes the conservative news aggregator TheBeanWalker.com, said that while Republicans are fired up at the possibility of unseating the first-term governor, they should not take Culver’s campaign ability for granted.

“You cannot underestimate this governor,” Albrecht said. “Republicans are more enthusiastic than they’ve been in years, and nearly every issue favors our side. But the governor is a very good campaigner, and it would be unwise for Republicans to think this is going to be easy.”