Iowa Gov. Branstad touts succeses, seeks 4 more years

DES MOINES - Republican Terry Branstad touted the accomplishments of his fifth term as governor to Iowa State Fair visitors Monday, but asked for four more years to continue policies that will make Iowa 'the envy of the nation.”

'We know that the country is going in the wrong direction, but Iowa is going in the right direction, and we want to build on that,” Branstad told up to 100 onlookers, many wearing blue and white Branstad-Reynolds shirts or waving his campaign signs.

'We're not done yet. We want to make Iowa the envy of the nation,” the five-term governor said during a 12-minute stint on the fair's political soapbox sponsored by the Des Moines Register.

Branstad, 67, pointed to the largest property tax cut in state history, education reforms, job creation efforts and a reduction in the size of state government as being among his top achievements since returning to office in January 2011. But he also said he is proud of his administration's effort to stand up for agriculture, noting his farm background and the work ethic he attributed to his farming roots.

'I'm really proud of what we've accomplished,” he said. 'We're not done yet. We've got a lot more to do. But I need your help.”

Branstad will be back at the fairgrounds later this week to face off against Democratic challenger Jack Hatch of Des Moines in the first of three gubernatorial debates that have been scheduled in the run-up to the Nov. 4 general election.

Branstad said he felt 'really good” about his debate prospects, while Hatch told reporters earlier in the day that it will be his first debate experience versus his GOP opponent who has debated many times.

Hatch used a news briefing with reporters to criticize a Branstad administration decision to make a high-ranking administrative law judge's position in the executive branch an at-will job, saying the change would inject political considerations that would hurt Iowa's tradition of fairness.

He called on Branstad to rescind the agency action, but the Republican governor said the decision was made without any political consideration that would impact the judge's future impartiality.

On another topic Monday, Branstad said it was unlikely the state would change any laws in the wake of a recent incident involving a person under civil commitment after serving a prison term for a sex-related criminal conviction who walked away from a northwest Iowa treatment facility.

At issue was a situation where a resident of the civil commitment at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute did not return from work Aug. 3. He was captured four days later in Oklahoma.

Branstad said there is a 'delicate balance” between protecting the constitutional rights of convicted offenders who have served their sentence but remain under civil commitment and the need to protect Iowa citizens.

'This is a delicate area, and it's one the courts have really kind of spelled out what is possible,” Branstad told reporters.