Rabid anti-gay bigot Bob Vander Plaats Iowa gubernatorial campaign was extinguished last night by Iowa voters who realize that marriage equality is not affecting anyone and there are bigger issues to worry about. Vander Plaats lost the primary to former Iowa governor Terry Branstad, who still may pose a threat to same-sex marriage in the state if elected.
Vander Plaats campaign was largely built around getting rid of the state's marriage equality law.
Said Vander Plaats in April: "The definition of marriage is also going to be an issue in the campaign, and in particular where the incumbent governor and the Democrat-controlled legislature is saying, 'We don't even want to hear from the people on this issue. The courts have said it so therefore we're going to back away and wash our hands of it.' I think that's going to be a major in the 2010 campaign."
The NYT reported on Monday:
"With Iowans going to polls on Tuesday, same-sex marriage has been a matter of debate among the Republican candidates for governor, but the issue appears to have been overtaken by voters’ worries about jobs, the economy and the state’s budget misery.
'Too many other things are upsetting people,' said David A. Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University and a former political reporter for The Des Moines Register."
Iowa Governor Chet Culver, who has supported the Supreme Court's decision upholding marriage equality in the state, will now face Branstad, who served 16 years as Iowa's governor and left office in January 1999.
Vander Plaats wanted three of those Supreme Court justices removed. He says he's planning a meeting with Branstad.
Branstad signed the law banning same-sex marriage in the state which was struck down by the court. He also supports a vote on a constitutional amendment banning it. But he has made no threats to the court.
