Kaufmann hopes to help Iowa GOP sustain success

DES MOINES - The past three years have been an unmitigated success for the Republican Party of Iowa under Jeff Kaufmann's stewardship.

No one could have blamed Kaufmann, nor would it have surprised anyone, had he chosen to step aside after a prosperous run as state party chairman and let someone else deal with the many challenges of leading a state political party structure.

But Kaufmann chose to stick around and help Iowa Republicans build on their recent successes, and on Saturday was re-elected to a two-year term as state party chairman.

'There's no doubt about it. I could go out on a highlight,” Kaufmann said Saturday after the vote by state party leaders.

Cody Hoefert was re-elected as state party co-chairman.

Under Kaufmann, Iowa Republicans:

' Rebuilt the state party's finances after the previous administration placed far less emphasis on fundraising.

' Surpassed Iowa Democrats in registered voters and continued to expand that advantage.

' Helped Joni Ernst and Rod Blum win open-seat Congressional races in 2014, turning the state's federal delegation from a 3-to-3 partisan split to a 5-to-1 Republican advantage.

' Ran in 2016 what was, by most measures, successful presidential precinct caucuses.

' Helped deliver the state convincingly to President Donald Trump

' Helped Republicans gain the majority in the Iowa Senate, giving the party complete lawmaking control at the Iowa Capitol for at least the next two years.

The challenge now for Iowa Republicans is to sustain that success and prevent the political pendulum from swinging back toward Democrats.

'I have been very hesitant to declare Iowa red,” Kaufmann said. 'If we can have another good election cycle, especially in the midterm following a Republican presidential victory, I really believe we can genuinely and with evidence call Iowa red. I don't think we can do that yet.”

Kaufmann, who in 2014 was chosen to replace a party chairman who was ousted after three months on the job, said he goes into his new term with three key goals: avoid complacency; extend party outreach to Iowa's minorities, including Latinos; and prepare for a 2018 election that will be state-centric with no presidential or U.S. Senate election on the ballot.

Kaufmann also noted the distinct challenges brought by transition from being the party out of power to the party in power, as are Republican now both at the national and state levels.

'When you've had a great run for a couple of years, it's very easy to assume that that will continue, and it's very easy to become complacent,” Kaufmann said. 'So I told (state party leaders), look for the intensity of our efforts here and look for my intensity possibly to increase.”

In December, the state's top elected Republicans wrote a letter encouraging Kaufmann to run for another term as state party chairman.

'There is no doubt that in the past two years Iowa Republicans have experienced tremendous electoral victories at the local, state and federal levels,” said the letter. It was signed by Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Iowa's three Republican U.S. House members, majority leaders in the Iowa Legislature and national party committee members.

'In each case, the Republican Party of Iowa was instrumental in providing our candidates with the tools and resources necessary to accomplish these feats.”