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06/09/2010

Hawkeyes pierce anti-equality movement's movement

by Jeremy Hooper

Iowa-kid-colorBright spot for preserving Iowa fairness:

Gay marriage challenge: Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, easily beat Clair Rudison Jr., an ordained minister that campaigned against gay marriage as well as the state’s texting-while-driving ban. Abdul-Samad said it would be contradictory to his life’s work in the civil rights movement to oppose marriage rights for same-sex couples. There is no Republican challenger in that district.
Legislature roundup: Democrats beat challengers; eastern Iowa's Hartsuch loses [Des Moines Register]

But wait, there's more! The Iowa Family Policy Council's endorsed candidate for governor, Bob Vander Plaats, also saw his openly anti-gay beliefs shot down:

IOWA GOP REJECTS BOB VANDER PLAATS IN FAVOR OF GOVERNOR WHO SIGNED SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BAN [Towle]

So in that race, it will now be former Iowa Terry Branstad who'll face incumbent Democratic governor Chet Culver (who supports the marriage ruling) in November. Now, Branstad is not himself an equality supporter -- at all. But unlike the defeated "pro-family" establishment candidate, Branstad hasn't said he'd actively halt the state Supreme Court's decision via executive order, like Vander Plaats has. And an interesting factoid: He is also the person who appointed Mark Cady, the man who wrote the Iowa marriage decision, as well as Marsha Ternus, the chief justice of the court.

So yea, mostly favorable results in terms of our midwest marriage destination rejecting the aggressive "Let Us Vote" crowd. Let's keep up the momentum!

**

*Of course in the case of Branstad, as with many other primaries, there's always the other way of looking at it. Meaning: Perhaps it would've been better for the GOP to have nominated the more hostile Vander Plaats, in hopes that his anti-equality rhetoric would bring more votes to the other side.

Primaries can be weird like that.

***

***UPDATE: But then again, Branstad is coming out in favor of the "Let Us vote" side:

So again: He's not with us. he just isn't (wasn't?) as actively against us as Vander Plaats.

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