Tuesday Primary to Determine Senate Nominee

After over a month of early voting, Democratic primary voters will travel en masse to the polling booths on Tuesday, 8 June and decide which candidate would be the best to defeat incumbent senator Chuck Grassley in the fall election.

The primary election comes as increased national attention has been given to the Iowa senate race.  Grassley has not faced a serious challenge since his first election in 1980, but national observers are beginning to describe the Iowa race as possibly "highly competitive" as polls have shown Grassley's approval ratings sinking and sinking since last summer.  Grassley has held elective office since the Eisenhower administration, and he may fall victim to this year's anti-incumbent sentiment.  Several polls have suggested a tightening race.

The three candidates for the Democratic nomination have been campaigning for months.  All three recently appeared together on Iowa Press, and the polling that has been done suggests a lead for Roxanne Conlin over Bob Krause and Tom Fiegen.   However, the recent Iowa Press debate gave Krause and Fiegen the opportunity to criticize Conlin on personal and political issues.  Polls are open from 7AM to 9PM across the state on Tuesday.

On the Republican side, a contested primary race for the GOP gubernatorial nominee is also heating up.  A recent debate gave Bob Vander Plaats a platform to attack former Republican Governor (and current candidate) Terry Branstad, who leads in recent polling.  In the past few days, Sarah Palin and a prominent Christian conservative activist have weighed in on the race, splitting their endorsements between Branstad and Vander Plaats, respectively.  Palin met some resistance for her support of the GOP establishment candidate.  Meanwhile, Vander Plaats also has a roundhouse-kicking ally in movie star Chuck Norris, adding to the competitive spirit of the final days of campaigning.

Republicans also have a hotly contested primary in the 3rd U.S. Congressional District, as seven candidates scramble to challenge incumbent Democrat Leonard Boswell.  If no candidate earns 35 percent of the vote, the state GOP will have to call a convention to decide on the party's candidate.