UI's Redlawsk leaving for Rutgers post

Dave Redlawsk, one of the go-to guys for insight on Iowa politics, is leaving the University of Iowa. 

Redlawsk, who's has taught political science at UI for 10 years, is taking a position as professor of

political science and director of the Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He will officially start Sept. 1, but will begin work sooner.

Redlawsk announced his decision in an e-mail to members of the Johnson County Democratic Party.

"I haven't been trying to keep it secret, but I think my ambivalence about leaving Iowa City has kept me from really telling people," Redlawsk wrote.

He called the Rutgers job an opportunity "simply too good to pass up - representing both a promotion to full professor and an opportunity to try out something new and exciting for my own career development."

Redlawsk has been active in Johnson County Democratic politics. He was elected to fill a precinct vacancy in Iowa City 8 less than a month after arriving in Iowa City. He fondly recalled chairing the very first caucus he attended, becoming a county party officer and then acting county chair during the 2004 caucuses, and capping off this great run as a national convention delegate representing Iowa's second district.