Conlin Wins Primary, Will Face Grassley

Roxanne Conlin declared that incumbent Republican Senator Chuck Grassley "will get the race of his life" this fall as she seeks to break the "glass ceiling" that women seeking high-profile statewide or federal offices have faced in Iowa.   Iowa has never elected a woman to the governorship, U.S. Senate or for any of the U.S. congressional seats.  Conlin declared that "it's time that we end that" as she celebrated her victory in the primary last night.

Conlin won 77.47 percent of the vote with 52,700 votes, while Bob Krause came in second with 12.83 percent of the vote and Tom Fiegen with 9.49 percent of all votes cast.  Conlin won 98 of the state's 99 counties, losing to Fiegen in Cedar County 49 percent to 44 percent.

Democratic Governor Chet Culver ran unopposed, as did Democratic U.S. Congressmen Leonard Boswell, Bruce Braley, and Dave Loebsack.  Bill Maske is now the Democratic nominee for Iowa's 4th Congressional District and will run against Tom Lantham.  In the 5th District, Matt Campbell won the primary over fellow Democrat Mike Denklau in a contest to challenge Republican incumbent Steve King (whom Gawker analyzed recently for keywords in speeches).

On the Republican side, former Republican Governor Terry Branstad won by surprisingly small margin given past polling showing a formidable lead over underfunded conservative candidate Bob Vander Plaats.  In a high-turnout election, Branstad won 50.33 percent of the vote while Vander Plaats earned 40.88 percent statewide.  Rod Roberts earned 8.75 percent of the vote, winning countywide only in his home county of Carroll.  Branstad may face difficulty in uniting conservatives behind him after the primary; the right-wing vote proved its strength even in Polk County (home to Des Moines and Branstad's home county) by bringing Vander Plaats to within 133 votes of a tie.  Some have raised the possibility of a Vander Plaats independent run in the wake of the election results.  UPDATE: Vander Plaats says he is not planning an independent run.

In the heavily-contested race for the 3rd Congressional District GOP nomination, Brad Zaun won against the well-financed party favorite, Jim Gibbons and five other candidates.  Zaun earned 42.12 percent of the vote, which was above the 35 percent threshold required to avoid a convention.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Mariannette Miller-Meeks won the GOP primary over Steve Rathje, Christopher Reed, and Rob Gettemy with 50.7 percent of the vote.  To the north, Benjamin Lange won the GOP nod to compete against 1st District Representative Bruce Braley, defeating self-described tea party candidate Will Johnson and two other competitors.