Parties racing for Dandekar’s open seat

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County Democrats and Republicans are taking opposite approaches to a special election in fill Swati Dandekar's Senate seat.

At least two Republicans - Cindy Golding of rural Cedar Rapids and Mary Rathje of Marion - have announced they will seek the nomination to run in the Nov. 8 special election. On the other hand, Democrats and labor unions are vetting at least two possible candidates but say their nomination will be uncontested.

“I don't see any benefit in a contest between a number of people that might weaken a prime candidate,” said Diane Hoffmann of Mount Vernon, the Linn County Democratic Party chairwoman.

She declined to identify the candidates the party is considering.

Her GOP counterpart, Steve Armstrong of Cedar Rapids, prefers a “bottom up” nomination process.

“I'm in favor of a robust, vigorous nominating convention,” he said. “This is an opportunity for the folks in Senate 18 to voice their opinion. I see no reason for us to mute that opinion.”

He expects one or two more Republicans to join the race.

Gov. Terry Branstad called the special election to replace Dandekar, a Marion Democrat, who resigned to accept his appointment to the Iowa Utilities Board.

The deadline for candidates to file is Oct. 14. Candidates not affiliated with either political party may get their name on the ballot by submitting a petition with at least 100 signatures, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

The race already has received national attention, because it could change the balance of power in the Iowa Senate. Democrats hold a 26-24 majority now.

A Republican win giving each party 25 votes might make it easier for Republicans to take action on issues sent over from the GOP-controlled House but never taken up in the Senate. That would include a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and restrictions on abortions.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, compared the special election to recall elections in Wisconsin in which Democrats failed to flip control of the Senate. “We are Wisconsin now,” he said Sunday at Sen. Tom Harkin's annual steak fry.

Hoffmann doesn't buy that, though. “I'm not sure we will be Wisconsin with all that divisiveness,” she said.

Republicans see the Senate seat as winnable, given voter registration swings in their favor, 15,945 to 15,752. Independent voters outnumber either party.