For an unofficial candidate, Terry Branstad has a lot of momentum behind his bid for the 2010 Iowa governor's race.

The former Republican governor has a 24-point lead over current Gov. Chet Culver, according to a Des Moines Register poll conducted this month. The news boosted his fundraising efforts, and the Republican kicked off a tour across Iowa.

He stopped at the Telegraph Herald on Tuesday to talk about his informal campaign, and he said he might make an official announcement sometime in January.

"In the meantime, I'm going to try to get around to as many communities as I can around the state," he said. "By that time, I hope to have more formulated what my strategic plan is, where I want to lead the state if I get the opportunity to be governor again."

But Branstad also faces a primary battle to secure the Republican ticket. Cedar Rapids businessman Christian Fong dropped out of the race Tuesday, but five others remain. Some of Branstad's contenders have painted him as "not conservative enough" for the Republican Party.

Iowa Rep. Chris Rants, R-Sioux City, criticized

Advertisement

Branstad for raising taxes when he was in office, and he said that this year voters are looking to candidates who will stick to a conservative platform.

"We're not going to get (voters) back if we don't act like Republicans," Rants told guests at the Dubuque County GOP fundraising dinner on Nov. 14.

Branstad, who describes himself as a "Ronald Reagan conservative," was sworn into the governor's office in 1983, two years after Reagan took the White House. After growing up in a conservative Democratic household, he read Barry Goldwater's "The Conscience of a Conservative" and joined the Republican Party. The political climate was different then, he said.

"Now I have people saying I'm not conservative enough. Now I have people calling me a moderate, or a liberal," he said. "These people don't know me."

Branstad said the "confrontational left" of his youth has been joined by a "confrontational right."

"You ought to be able to have a healthy disagreement and still have a good relationship and try to treat people with respect," he said. "I think we're losing that in politics."

On the list of those he disagrees with is Culver, a Democrat. Branstad said he looks at the state's budget crisis, and he sees a different way to solve the problems. He charges Culver with overspending to create the budget shortfall that led to the 10 percent across-the-board cut to state agencies.

Branstad proposes lowering the commercial property tax to bring businesses into the state. He also would ask state employees to pay a share in their health-care premiums. Currently, most state employees pay no premiums. Some changes could be unpopular, but Branstad said the economic climate makes them necessary.

Jesse Harris, interim campaign manager for Culver, dismissed charges that the current governor has overspent.

"Chet Culver has balanced the budget every year in office and, unlike Terry Branstad, he did so without raising taxes," Harris said.

Harris said Culver isn't worried about Branstad's early lead in the polls.

"We knew going into this that any incumbent race was going to be hard fought," he said.

Branstad was the last Republican governor in office, leaving Terrace Hill in 1999, after 16 years in office. He retired from his job as president of Des Moines University to begin campaigning this year.