Culver gets Democratic challenger

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

Jonathan Narcisse, a former Des Moines school board member, will announce Saturday he will challenge Gov. Chet Culver for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Narcisse will announce his plans to seek the nomination at a news conference at 10 a.m. at the Bob Mickle Center, 1620 Pleasant St.

Narcisse, former co-chairman of the Polk County Democratic Party, has been signaling his interest in running ever since touring the state last fall conducting policy debates with Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Chris Rants of Sioux City. Rants has dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination.

It will be the first time a sitting Iowa governor has faced a challenger from his own party since U.S. Rep. Fred Grandy unsuccessfully challenged Republican Gov. Terry Branstad.

Culver, the former secretary of states who won a three-way primary before being elected governor in 2006, has yet to formally announce his re-election plans.

He downplayed suggestions earlier this week Democratic leaders were looking to replace him on the ticket because of polls showing Culver trailing Branstad.

A Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday showed Culver trailing Branstad, who served four terms as governor from 1983 to 1999, 53 percent to 37 percent among likely Iowa voters. The poll, which showed little change in voter preferences since September, found Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats leading Culver 46 percent to 40 percent.

Republicans have suggested that given Culver's low poll numbers, Democrats are looking for a federal appointment for him.

“It's a long time between now and November,” Culver said. “I feel good about the progress.

“So I'm not distracted by anything but getting up and doing my job everyday,” Culver said. “The politics will take care of themselves.”

Narcisse, who said he will run as a third-party candidate if he loses the June 8 primary, said last fall Iowans “are hungry for solutions.”

“The negativity, the sniping, the pandering, the platitudes have grown tiresome,” he said. “Iowans want answers.”

His political mission is simple -- to shift state government's focus from corporate welfare to serving the needs of Iowa citizens.

Narcisse, 46, wants to fix the state budget mess, reform a tax code that punishes success and working people, restore the greatness of Iowa's public education system, and change a government culture built on rewarding “contractors and corporate kings.” Culver, he said, “needs to go.”

On issues that divide Iowans, such as same-sex marriage, restricting abortions, reinstating capital punishment and legalizing marijuana, Narcisse said he would “let the people decide” by putting those issues on the ballot as a way to “retire single-issue politics.”

Such a move would require legislative action to permit ballot issues and issue referendum, something Narcisse said he hoped to accomplish by engaging the media and public to build pressure and momentum for lawmakers to end the partisan divide and do what's in the best interest of Iowans.

“Politicians are like bats. They don't see the light but they feel the heat,” he said. “A governor can create heat.”

Friday night, Narcisse's Web site, www.narcisseforiowa.com, appeared to be under construction.