Senator Jack Hatch

Iowa Public Television hosted the first gubernatorial debate between Senator Jack Hatch and the incumbent yesterday at the State Fair. It is 60 minutes of time worth spending if one cares about Iowa politics and the future of our state. The link is below. Both candidates seemed engaged and combative in the debate. Hatch won by a distance, but decide for yourself.

Don’t have 60 minutes for politics?

Here’s what Senator Hatch said when asked why people should support his campaign for Iowa governor.

“The important difference in this campaign is leadership. We have been campaigning throughout this state. I may be from Des Moines but I have lived in Iowa my whole adult life and this state is important to me. And when you find out what is going on today when our limited agenda by the governor this last year is not reaching to every corner of the state and we find out that there needs to be new leadership and there needs to be a fresh start in education and job development and in taking care of rural Iowa, quite frankly. I think people feel that the governor has been there too long, that the governor is not in charge of his administration. That he didn’t know about all these scandals that are coming on. It’s nothing that I’m making up. I’m not the one that has secret settlements with fired employees. I’m not the one that had my director of administrative services have hush money to the employees. I’m not the one that had the no hire list, which Governor Branstad created in his second term. These are not things made up. These are now real. And he’s been told by the courts twice that his actions have been unconstitutional. When you have a governor who acts unconstitutionally, he’s acting above the law, he’s acting without the respect of the legislature. People realize they want something fresh and new.”

A full transcript of the event is available on the Iowa Public Television website by clicking here.

Contribute financially to Jack Hatch’s campaign for Iowa governor by clicking here.