Democrat Jack Hatch readies for tough gubernatorial battle with Branstad

DES MOINES - Democrat Jack Hatch is coasting through the uneasy calm before the storm.

Hatch, 64, a three-term state senator who is giving up his District 33 seat to run for governor, is unopposed in his primary bid. He likely will face Gov. Terry Branstad in the November election.

Good fortune seems to be riding with the Hatch camp. A likely primary matchup with state Rep. Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids, evaporated after marital issues forced Olson to pull out of the governor's race. And a series of missteps by a normally sure-footed incumbent have caused poll numbers to move in Hatch's direction.

'The dynamics have changed dramatically in these past couple of months and it's not something that we kind of created,” Hatch said.

Rather than admit mistakes, he said, Branstad has claimed he did not know what was going on or has tried to dismiss or deflect criticism as partisan politics.

'Everything builds on the fact that he thinks that he can get away with it. That's not what people voted for, that's not what people want and as much as they say people aren't interested in this – not true and that's going to be the difference between our campaigns,” he said.

Hatch said he hopes to move at 'lightning speed” now that the legislative session has ended to raise money and build a statewide campaign apparatus that can challenge Branstad's political firepower.

Hatch, a Connecticut-born son of a banker and elementary school teacher, had a middle-class upbringing in a suburb near Hartford, Conn., where he had a newspaper route, did volunteer work, ran track and served as student body president of his senior class in high school.

He came to Iowa as a college student and never left. He became a developer with housing projects in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Hatch's interest in politics first brought him to the Statehouse. He decided to seek the governorship this year when he sensed that Branstad had lost his vision and run out of fresh ideas to move the state forward.

Hatch said he will focus on his background as a successful businessman with a masters degree from Drake University in public administration and his record as a pragmatic progressive who has provided leadership on issues ranging from health care and mental health reforms to education, small-business tax rates, environmental issues and water quality during his 22 years in the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate.

Hatch also said his campaign will focus on promising Iowans a change to rebuild public trust from the damage caused by what he calls 'the Branstad mess.”

'Over the past few months we have learned astonishing details of a government out of control, above the law, abusing power, with little regard for being accountable to Iowans,” Hatch said. 'In each case, the governor is surprised, shocked, seemingly angry to discover his own administration has failed.”

In the past, he said, Branstad was 'kind of a safe bet” for voters. That's not the case anymore, he said.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@sourcemedia.net

BIO

'Name

: Jack Hatch

'Age

: 64

'Occupation:

private developer, state senator 2003-present

'Previous Elected Experience

: Iowa House, 1985-93; 2001-03

'Hometown

: Des Moines