Terry E. Branstad
39th Governor of Iowa
In office January 14, 1983 – January 15, 1999
Lieutenant	Robert T. Anderson (1983-1987) Jo Ann Zimmerman (1987-1991) Joy Corning (1991-1999)
Preceded by	Robert Ray
Succeeded by	Tom Vilsack
41st Lieutenant Governor of Iowa
In office January 12, 1979 – January 14, 1983
Governor	Robert Ray
Preceded by	Arthur A. Neu
Succeeded by	Robert T. Anderson
Personal details
Born	(1946-11-17) November 17, 1946 (age 77) Leland, Iowa
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	University of Iowa Drake University
Profession	President, Des Moines University

Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician who was the 39th Governor of Iowa from 1983 to 1999 and President of Des Moines University from 2003 to 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. Branstad was the youngest and longest-serving governor in Iowa's history. ^[1] In 2010, he prevailed in a three-way primary and won the Republican nomination to run again for governor and will face incumbent Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, ^[2] and four third party candidates on November 2, 2010. ^[3]

Branstad entered the 2010 race as the front runner for both the primary and general election. Independent polling in 2009 indicated that Branstad's approval ratings hovered in the 70% range. ^[4] Branstad was widely seen as the front runner for the Republican nomination and had wide leads in aggregate polling against Culver. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]} Branstad won the primary with 50.4% of votes cast, 9.5 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitor.

Early life and career

Born to a Norwegian-American Lutheran farming family in Leland, Iowa, he received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and his law degree from Drake University Law School. He served three-terms in the Iowa House of Representatives and served as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Iowa. When elected governor, he was, at age 36, the youngest chief executive in Iowa history; and, when he left office, he was Iowa's longest-serving governor.

He served as Chair of the National Governors Association during 1989–1990, and was Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association. In 1997, he chaired the Education Commission of the States, the Republican Governors Association, and the Governors' Ethanol Coalition. Persevering amid the economic recession and farming crisis of the mid-1980s, Iowa became the first state to link every school district in a broadband network.

Branstad ignored binding arbitration with employees of the State of Iowa's labor unions by vetoing a salary bill, was taken to court, and lost later in appeals in the state court system (AFSCME Iowa Council 61 et al., v. Branstad) in 1991.

Branstad was a U.S. Army serviceman between 1969 and 1971, and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service. In 1989 Branstad was made an honorary member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity at Iowa State University.

Later career

Branstad has focused most of his efforts on endeavors outside of politics since leaving office. He founded Branstad and Associates, L.L.C. He was also a partner in the firm of Kaufman, Pattee, Branstad & Miller, and a financial advisor for Robert W. Baird and Co.

In August 2003, Branstad accepted the offer of Des Moines University ^[9] to become its president. On October 16, 2009, Branstad announced his retirement as president of Des Moines University in order to make his present run for governor. ^[10]

Branstad was appointed by President George sissy Bush to chair the President's Commission for Excellence in Special Education. ^[11] The commission was charged with developing a plan to improve the educational performance of students with disabilities. After completing his work with the commission in 2003, Branstad was asked to serve as a member of the National Advisory Council for Positive Action for Teen Health, or PATH. The advisory council encourages action toward detecting adolescent mental illness.

In April 2003 Branstad was named to serve as a public member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which comprises both professional and public members who address such issues as student recruitment and professional ethics for CPAs.

Branstad serves on the boards of these companies and non-profit organizations, Conmed Health Management Inc, ^[12] Advanced Analytical Technologies, Inc., American Future Fund, ^[13] Cemen Tech, Featherlite, Iowa Health System, Liberty Bank, The American Institute of CPAs, ^[14] and Living History Farms.

Electoral history

• 1982 election for Governor of Iowa:

1982 General Election: ^[15]

• Terry Branstad (R), 52.8%
• Roxanne Conlin (D), 46.6%

• 1986 election for Governor of Iowa:

1986 General Election: ^[16]

• Terry Branstad (R), 51.9%
• Lowell Junkins (D), 48.0%

• 1990 election for Governor of Iowa:

1990 General Election: ^[17]

• Terry Branstad (R), 60.6%
• Donald Avenson (D), 38.8%

• 1994 election for Governor of Iowa:

Republican Primary ^[18]

• Terry Branstad (R), 51.8%
• Fred Grandy (R), 48.1%

1994 General Election: ^[19]

• Terry Branstad (R), 56.8%
• Bonnie Campbell (D), 41.6%

• 2010 election for Governor of Iowa

Republican Primary ^[20]

• Terry Branstad (R), 114,290 votes, 50.4%
• Bob Vander Plaats (R), 92,759, 40.9%
• Rod Roberts (R), 19,916, 8.8%

2010 Gubernatorial campaign

On August 2, 2009, the Des Moines Register reported that he was actively considering running for the Republican nomination for governor. ^[21] On October 7, 2009, Branstad filed papers to once again run for the Governorship of Iowa in 2010. ^[22] According to a February 2010 Poll conducted in September 2009 by The Des Moines Register, Governor Branstad maintains a 70% favorability rating by Iowans; compared to current Governor Chet Culver's approval rating at 50%. ^[23] Branstad may be helped by an anti-incumbent mood. ^[8]

On Tuesday June 8, 2010 Branstad won the Republican Gubernatorial Nomination in Iowa, ^[24] but when Vander Plaats conceded his loss he did not endorse Branstad. ^[25]

The Des Moines Tea Party gave Branstad a "no" on their report card on "criteria for acceptance" and said Branstad had "a history of raising taxes, not a true conservative, and increased the size of government every year he held office, built a state-owned phone company..." ^{[26] [27] [28]}

Governor Branstad has been accused by former Iowa State Auditor Richard Johnson of keeping "two sets of books" on the state budget when he was governor. Johnson said Branstad needed to be "transparent" to Iowa voters about the reporting of Iowa's finances during his tenure as governor. ^[29]

References

External links

• Branstad Reynolds 2010 official campaign site
• Template:GovLinks

Template:Persondata