Branstad, Hatch thank supporters, prepare to kick campaigns into gear

Gov. Terry Branstad and Sen. Jack Hatch thanked their supporters Tuesday night for validating them as the two major-party 2014 candidates for Iowa governor and quickly set their sights on November's general election and on each other.

'Tomorrow can't come soon enough,' said Hatch, 64, a three-term state senator who ran unopposed in Iowa's Democratic primary for his party's gubernatorial nomination. at a victory celebration. 'Tomorrow we begin our campaign to take back Terrace Hill on behalf of all Iowans And, our work will not stop on Election Day. We need a governor who will challenge Iowans to dream of a brighter future and be willing to work hard for it.'

Branstad, 67, a five-term incumbent, appeared to be waltzing to an easy victory in his GOP primary with Lohrville challenger Tom Hoefling. With the unofficial vote tallied in 36 of 1,782 precincts, Branstad held a comfortable lead with 84.6 percent of the ballots to Hoefling's 15.2 percent.

Branstad, who is unbeaten in 19 contested and uncontested elections since he entered the political arena as a legislative candidate in 1972, said he is looking forward to building on the successes he has had since returning to Terrace Hill in 2011 in restoring financial stability to the state budget and attracting quality jobs with more than $8 billion in new business investments.

'Iowa Republicans decided today that they want to see continued job growth, business investment, higher incomes, better schools and lower taxes,' Branstad said. 'We are thankful to the voters who supported us today and to the thousands of volunteers across the 99 counties who made this victory possible.

'Now we will continue to work hard through the November election to help Republicans all the way down the ticket,' he added. 'We look forward to having all of our Republican candidates and their supporters come together and unite for the final five months of the 2014 campaign.'

Branstad brings a lopsided fundraising edge into the general-election race with $4.7 million in his campaign bank, which should help him in facing a challenger running his first statewide bid with a marked disadvantage in name recognition.

Hatch said he hopes to appeal to Iowans who feel that Branstad has been in office too long or are disturbed by recent scandals involving allegations of cronyism, hush money payments, intimidation and questionable hiring and firing practices that call into question his administration's transparency, accountability and integrity.

'This governor has simply been there too long, acted above the law too many times and has been too lax in allowing a culture of abuse of power,' Hatch said.

'People are already cynical enough about what government can do, and now we have a governor who doesn't like the services he is supposed to provide, the workers who he is supposed to manage, the customers who he is supposed to serve or the enterprise he is supposed to lead,' he added. 'No wonder Iowans are cynical. Now I want to be the governor who reverses that kind of leadership.'

Branstad planned to hit the ground running Wednesday by launching a three-day, 13-city re-election campaign swing, while Hatch said he plans to spend time this week in Massachusetts with his 95-year-old father, who is dealing with health issues.