Change needed to move Iowa forward, gubernatorial hopeful Olson says

It's been a good week for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Tyler Olson.

First, two potential rivals – Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs and Senate President Pam Jochum of Dubuque – announced they will not seek the Democratic nomination to face-off against five-term Republican Gov. Terry Branstad.

Although Sen. Jack Hatch and former legislator Bob Krause, both of Des Moines, are exploring the gubernatorial race, and longtime Iowa Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald is thinking about running, Olson said the decisions by Jochum and Gronstal makes his path to the nomination clearer.

And then there was the crowd at the meet-and-greet campaign event at Gus' Food and Spirits in Coralville Thursday evening for the four-term member of the Iowa House. The 40-some people were closer to the 37-year-old Cedar Rapids businessman's age than to that of his 60-something potential opponents.

The generational argument he makes when talking about Branstad – whether this is the end of the last 30 years or the beginning of the next 30 – applies equally as well to Fitzgerald, Hatch and Krause as it does the GOP incumbent, Olson said.

“Our opportunity lies in the future, not in the past,” Olson told the crowd. The 2014 campaign for governor – both the primary and the general election, “is more than the personalities and polices, but the decisions we face as a state.”

“Are we going to move forward or stall out rehashing the same arguments for the past 30 years?” Olson asked.

Looking at the turnout at Olson's event, Coralville City Councilman Mitch Gross said the answer is clear. In 30 years, the people there will be retirement age and their children, including his three young daughters, grown.

What he took from the age of the crown, said Gross, who has known and worked with Olson on previous campaigns, “is his campaign is tapping into people's desire for a new perspective, a new approach to state government. We can't keep doing the same-old, same-old and expect better results.”

It's about more than replacing the “current occupant,” he said in introducing Olson. He and the candidate were in kindergarten when Branstad was first elected governor.

“Things have changed,” Gross said. “We can't put just anyone in there.”

Olson and Krause will attend the Cedar-Johnson County Democratic picnic at 3 p.m. Aug. 3 in West Branch.

For more about Olson, visit

www.tylerolson.org.