Corbett’s decision sparks speculation

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett says he isn't running for re-election in 2017. But he might seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2018.

And maybe it's all just a clever ploy to draw a record crowd to his final State of the City address.

Corbett announced his decision to not seek a third term as mayor on Simon Conway's WMT radio show Monday morning, and then at a City Hall news conference. Questions immediately turned to Corbett's future ambitions. He's been traveling the state for months giving 60-plus speeches on behalf of his Engage Iowa think tank. Speculation has followed.

'That would be accurate speculation,” Corbett told Conway of his gubernatorial signals. 'I am looking seriously at that possibility.”

He also promised a 'big surprise” to be revealed at the end of his Feb. 22 State of the City address. And yet, he also said he'll be weighing his options over the next several months. What is his timeline? We can only speculate.

And as long as we're speculating, let's keep going.

If Corbett runs for governor, and I think it's a good bet, he'll face Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who will be an instant incumbent once Gov. Terry Branstad resigns to become U.S., ambassador to China. Future Gov. Reynolds probably will have the backing of Team Branstad and his check-writing allies.

U.S. Rep. Steve King says he's thinking about running for governor, now that Iowa's political landscape has turned Trumpian red. If not King, it's possible others may run from the cultural conservative wing of the party.

Under that scenario, Corbett, with the more moderate profile of a nonpartisan mayor, could find himself in a Republican primary no man's land. Incumbency and ideology blocking his path.

That doesn't mean he can't make a solid case. He's been mayor of the state's second-largest city during some of the most consequential years in its history, helping lead its recovery from Iowa's worst-ever natural disaster. Public facilities were upgraded and replaced, with new private investments following close behind. And this year, the city responded deftly to its second-worst flooding event. Corbett has his critics, to be sure, but you'd have to be among the most hard-bitten to argue the city isn't far better off than it was in 2009.

But this is, after all, politics. And Corbett is taking aim at an incumbent, and perhaps others, who will not lack for resources. Every municipal tax increase he supported, every fee he voted to raise, will be inflated into a 30-second TV taxageddon. Speed cameras alone could inspire a flotilla of ads.

But this is all speculation. We don't how Reynolds will fare. We don't know if King is serious. We don't know who else might decide the time is right to run.

We do know Cedar Rapids will have a new mayor in 2018. I expect there will be several people interested in the city's top elected job. Council member Kris Gulick already is in. Others will follow.

But it's still Corbett's job for another year. And after all of this grand announcing and speculating, the first call Corbett fielded Monday from one of Conway's listeners was a complaint about snow removal. Terrace Hill will have to wait.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com