The 2010 Iowa gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and
lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
, to serve a four-year term beginning on January 14, 2011. In Iowa, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ballot.
The two major party candidates were first-term incumbent governor
Chet Culver
Chester John Culver (born January 25, 1966) is an American politician who served one term as the 41st governor of Iowa, from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he had previously served as the 29th secretary of state of Iowa from 199 ...
, a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, who ran for re-election with first-term incumbent lieutenant governor
Patty Judge
Patty Jean Poole Judge (born November 2, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 45th lieutenant governor of Iowa from 2007 to 2011 and previously the 13th Secretary of Agriculture of Iowa from 1999 to 2007. She unsuccessfully ran for r ...
, and former four-term governor
Terry Branstad
Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa fro ...
, who won a three-way primary for the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nomination and ran with
State Senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
Kim Reynolds
Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn; born August 4, 1959) is an American politician serving as the 43rd governor of Iowa since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Reynolds served as the 46th lieutenant governor of Iowa from 2011 to 2017.
Bef ...
.
Branstad defeated Culver in the general election, becoming the first challenger to unseat an incumbent Iowa governor since
Harold Hughes
Harold Everett Hughes (February 10, 1922 – October 23, 1996) was the 36th Governor of Iowa from 1963 until 1969, and a United States senator from Iowa from 1969 until 1975. He began his political career as a Republican but changed his affil ...
in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
.
Democratic primary
Candidates
*Chet Culver, incumbent Governor
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
On ballot
As listed by the
Iowa Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of Iowa is the commissioner of elections of the U.S. state of Iowa. A constitutional officer, the officeholder is elected every four years. The Office of the Secretary of State is divided into four divisions: Elections and ...
's office:
*Terry Branstad, former Governor
*
Rod Roberts
Rod Roberts (born October 22, 1957) is the Iowa State Labor Commissioner. Roberts is also a former Republican gubernatorial candidate and five-term Iowa State Representative from the 51st and 80th Districts. He served in the Iowa House of Repr ...
,
State Representative
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
*
Bob Vander Plaats
Robert Lee Vander Plaats (born April 12, 1963) is an American politician and political activist. Since 2010, he has been the president and CEO of The Family Leader, a social conservative organization in Iowa.
Active in Republican Party politics ...
, businessman and nominee for lieutenant governor in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
[
]
Withdrew
*State Senator Paul McKinley
Paul McKinley (born 1947) is the Iowa State Senator from the 36th District. He has served in the Iowa Senate since 2001 and served as Senate minority leader from 2009 until November 2011.
McKinley currently serves on the Education committee, th ...
withdrew after Terry Branstad formed an exploratory committee
In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to candidates for pre ...
*Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...
businessman Christian Fong
Christian Fong is an entrepreneur and former political candidate. A former resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he currently lives in Mill Valley, California with his wife Jenelle and three children. He announced in June 2009 that he was seeking the ...
suspended his campaign due to a lack of campaign finances
* Minority Leader of the Iowa House of Representatives Christopher Rants
Christopher C. Rants (born September 16, 1967) is a former Iowa State Representative. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1992 to 2010. He received his BA from Morningside College. His work experience includes managing environme ...
withdrew from the race due to lack of campaign funds
*State Senator Jerry Behn
Jerry Behn (born January 31, 1954) is an American politician who served as a member of the Iowa Senate for the 24th district from 1997 to 2021.
Career
Behn served as a Boone County supervisor from 1995 to 1996.
Behn served on the Senate Ap ...
withdrew from the race and endorsed Terry Branstad
Polling
Results
General election
Candidates
*Chet Culver (D), incumbent governor; running with incumbent lieutenant governor Patty Judge.
*Gregory James Hughes ( I), running with Robin Prior-Calef.Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
; running with judicial administrator Nick Weltha.
*Jonathan Narcisse (Iowa Party), former member of the Des Moines
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
school board; running with truck driver Rick Marlar. Narcisse is a Democrat and Marlar is a Republican.
Predictions
Polling
Results
References
External links
Iowa Secretary of State – Voter/ElectionsIowa Governor Candidates
at Project Vote Smart
Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...
Campaign contributions for 2010 Iowa Governor
from ''Follow the Money''
2010 Iowa Gubernatorial General Election: All Head-to-Head Matchups
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
Election 2010: Iowa Governor
from ''Rasmussen Reports
Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...
''
2010 Iowa Governor – Branstad vs. Culver
from ''Real Clear Politics
RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political ...
''
2010 Iowa Governor's Race
from ''CQ Politics
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...
''
Race Profile
in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
;Debates
Iowa Gubernatorial Debate
''C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
'', September 14, 2010
;Official campaign websites (Archived)
Chet Culver for Governor
Greg Hughes – Independent for GovernorEric Cooper for GovernorTerry Branstad for GovernorJonathan Narcisse for GovernorBob Vander Plaats for Governor
{{United States elections, 2010
Gubernatorial
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...