Key Race: Iowa Governor

November 8, 2006

Secretary of State Culver Wins Race to Replace Vilsack

Democrat Chet Culver defeated Republican Rep. Jim Nussle to become the next governor of Iowa Tuesday.

Culver and Nussle were competing to replace Democrat Gov. Thomas Vilsack, who did not seek a third term.

With 75 percent of votes tallied, Culver, a former high school teacher and current secretary of state, won 54 percent of the vote to Nussle's 45 percent.

Together the candidates raised more than $16 million during the campaign, more than the 2002 record of $12 million, the DesMoines Register reported.
-- Online NewsHour

August 1, 2006

Race Pits Fiscal Conservative Congressman Against State Official
Iowa, a state known as much for its political straw polls as its rolling prairies, has a tendency to re-elect its governors, so when Democratic Gov. Thomas Vilsack decided not to seek a third term in 2006, the race for his seat was thrown wide open.

The Republican candidate, who ran unopposed in his state's primary, is eight-term Rep. Jim Nussle, representing Iowa's 1st District.

Iowa's Secretary of State Chet Culver won the June 6 Democratic primary by 5 percentage points more than his next closest competitor.
-- Online NewsHour