Branstad to name running mate on Thursday

URBANDALE – Gov. Terry Branstad plans to announce his choice for running mate on Thursday and do a statewide tour to introduce his lieutenant governor selection to Iowa voters, according to campaign officials.

The Governor Branstad 2010 Campaign said the initial announcement will take place via text message prior to the start of the fly-around tour that has scheduled stops in Ankeny, Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Clear Lake, Dubuque, Davenport and Cedar Rapids. The party's nominee for lieutenant governor is slated to be ratified by the nearly 2,000 delegates expected to attend the GOP state convention in Des Moines on Saturday.

Campaign officials and top Republicans were being tight-lipped about the selection today, but GOP insiders said first-term state Sen. Kim Reynolds, R-Osceola, was a strong possibility. Other names that have surfaced included former state Senate President Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny and some GOP activists were pushing defeated gubernatorial primary rivals Rod Roberts of Carroll and Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City for the No. 2 slot on the 2010 Republican ticket.

“The governor listened to a lot of people and he went through the process, but he made the decision by himself,” said former state party chairman Richard Schwarm, a Lake Mills lawyer and Branstad ally who declined to comment on Branstad's choice for running mate. The lieutenant governor selection will be announced via the campaign's LieuTEXTant option prior to the tour and interested people can sign up for the notification at www.GovernorBranstad2010.com.

Branstad, 63, who won the 2010 GOP gubernatorial nomination by defeating Vander Plaats and Roberts, said after the June 8 primary that he planned to conduct a “thoughtful and deliberative process” in finding the best possible choice for running mate.

Branstad, a former lieutenant governor himself who also served four terms as governor from 1983 to 1999, said he wanted someone who shared his conservative views on economic and social issues, as well as a person with leadership ability and a strong work ethic.

The newly formed GOP ticket will face the Democratic team of Gov. Chet Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge in the Nov. 2 general election.

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