Iowa Pro-Abortion Governor Chet Culver Behind Brantsad by Double Digits
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 9, 2010
Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) — Iowa’s pro-abortion Governor Chet Culver may enjoy the support of the leaders at Planned Parenthood, but he’s having a hard time getting the backing of Iowa voters. Republican Terry Branstad continues to hold a double-digit lead over the Democratic incumbent, according to a new Rasmussen poll.
The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of likely voters shows Branstad picking up 52% support, while Culver gets 36% of the vote. Another 12 percent prefer another candidate or are undecided.
Branstad is backed by 87% of Republicans, while Culver is supported by 78% of Democrats. The Republican leads by more than two-to-one among voters not affiliated with either major political party.
Most voters in the state view Branstad as a conservative and Culver as a liberal, which, as pollster Scott Rasmussen explains, is a problem for Culver.
"Troubling for the incumbent is that nearly half (47%) of Iowa voters think his political views are extreme, compared to 39% who put them in the mainstream. Branstad’s views, by contrast, are regarded as mainstream by 57% and extreme by just 31%," he said.
Just after he won a three-way GOP Primary contest in June, Branstad, who previously served as governor from 1983 to 1999, jumped out to a 57% to 31% lead. But with the exception of that post-primary bounce, he has earned 52% or 53% of the vote in surveys since February. Culver has earned 36% to 38% support in that same period.
Culver was first elected governor in 2006 with 54% of the vote but the new Rasmussen poll shows just 37% now approve of the job Culver is doing as governor, down four points from June, while 61 percent disapprove.
In June, Parenthood Voters of Iowa PAC endorsed Culver in his race.
"I am so pleased to receive the endorsement of Planned Parenthood," Culver said in response. "I’ve worked very hard in my first term to maintain and improve family planning and women’s rights in the state of Iowa and I am proud to have their support in this election."
In 2007, Culver signed a bill into law that overturned the state’s ban on human cloning and allowed scientists to use embryonic stem cells from days-old unborn children who are cloned and killed.
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