DeJear selects county elections official as running mate in Iowa’s gubernatorial campaign

DES MOINES — Deidre DeJear, the Democratic candidate for Iowa governor, has chosen an Eastern Iowa county elections official as her running mate — Eric Van Lancker, the Clinton County auditor.

“I know that he will make an effective lieutenant governor, and I trust his deep commitment to always doing what is right for Iowans,” DeJear said Friday in a statement.

DeJear, a Des Moines businesswoman and the first Black female Iowan to earn a major party nomination for governor, is challenging incumbent Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.

DeJear ran for Iowa Secretary of State — the state’s top elections official — in 2018. She was defeated by Republican incumbent Secretary of State Paul Pate.

Van Lancker, originally from Cedar Rapids, ran for Iowa Secretary of State in the state’s recently held primary elections. He was defeated by Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, who will challenge Pate this fall.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to join Deidre DeJear in this historic race and fight alongside her to move Iowa forward,” Van Lancker said in a DeJear campaign news release.

“From defending voting rights and improving education, to prioritizing housing, increasing broadband, and protecting health care, Iowans are ready for a team who will deliver and put their needs first,” Van Lancker added. “I am ready to take my experience to the Capitol and be a strategic partner to help implement Deidre’s forward-looking vision for our great state.”

Van Lancker will be installed as the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor — and thus, DeJear’s running mate — during the Iowa Democratic Party’s state convention Saturday.

Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann in a statement regarding Van Lancker’s selection Friday called DeJear a “radical Democrat.”

“The liberal DeJear-Van Lancker ticket would be dangerous for Iowa’s families, taxpayers, parents, and farmers,” Kaufmann said in the statement. “Together they are all hat and no cattle.”

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn in a statement highlighted DeJear’s and Van Lancker’s experience on elections campaigns and, in Van Lancker’s case, in an elections office.

“They are both committed to protecting Iowans’ freedom to vote and safeguarding our democracy for future generations,” Wilburn said in the statement. “Our personal freedoms, our public schools, and our LGBTQ friends and neighbors are under attack from Kim Reynolds and Iowa Republicans’ corporate agenda. I know that the DeJear-Van Lancker ticket will live up to our Iowa Democratic values and put people before politics.”

A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll published in March showed Reynolds starting the campaign with an 8-point lead over DeJear, 51 percent to 43 percent.

Election Day is Nov. 8.

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