Rants Makes It Official

Yesterday, State Rep. Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City) posted on Twitter that he plans to file exploratory committee papers so he can being raising money and officially campaign for the 2010 race for governor.

Here's more from the Des Moines Register...

Rants, who has been meeting with GOP activists for months about a possible campaign, said he had met his early target for fundraising pledges. He also estimated it would take $2 million to mount a successful primary campaign.

Rants, 41, is among the party's younger prospects. His announcement via Twitter, the popular social networking Web site, signaled his response to Democrats' advantages in reaching voters through new media.

But Rants added during the program that the Iowa GOP, beset by consecutive statewide election losses and a voter registration gap of 110,000 with Democrats, would need a winning message as well as media.

"If we talk to those Republicans who believe the party has lost its way on things like fiscal discipline and accountability, if we become the party that's about transparency and reforming government - and that's who we are as Republicans - if we're successful in doing that, I believe we'll bring those independents back, we'll bring the majority back," he said.

Rants also appeared on Iowa Press which aired Friday and will be shown again on Sunday morning at 11:30. You can watch the appearance here.

From the Democratic viewpoint, I believe this means 3 things...

1. Steve King isn't going to run for Governor. I don't think Rants would have run against King and instead would have run for King's seat in Congress if King ran for governor.
2. Rants is a more viable candidate than Bob Vander Plaats. Mainly because Rants has more fundraising connection through his leadership positions in the Iowa House.
3. Rants, Vander Plaats, or any of the other rumored candidates will not be able to beat Gov. Culver in the general election. Republican Doug Gross, the party's nominee for governor in 2002, said it himself...

“I think they are all fine people and I don’t think any of them will be the nominee,” Gross said. ”I think we want to win and our nominee is going to have to have that statewide reach.”