Corbett not planning to endorse a gubernatorial candidate

It didn't escape Mayor Ron Corbett's notice last week that both the state's gubernatorial candidates had pretty nice things to say about him during their debate at Coe College.

In fact, both Democratic Gov. Chet Culver and challenger, former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, expressed interest in Corbett's just-launched idea to divert any growth in state sales tax collected in Cedar Rapids and Linn County back to Cedar Rapids to help the city build a new flood-protection system.

Even so - or perhaps because of the two-directional support - Corbett, a Republican and former speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, made it clear on Monday he was not going to endorse either Culver or Branstad in the upcoming election.

“It was part of the pledge I made to people last year when I was running for city office, that I wouldn't get involved in partisan politics and endorsing candidates, and I'm going to live up to that pledge,” Corbett said on Monday. “Cedar Rapids needs friends on both sides of the aisle. And we certainly need help from Washington, D.C., and Des Moines.

“So I'm going to advocate for Cedar Rapids and not be involved in endorsing governor's races, Congressional races, Statehouse races or any others.”