Iowa filing deadline report: Only one contested state executive primary this season

March 15, 2014

By Maresa Strano

Des Moines, Iowa: Seven state executive positions are up for election in 2014 in the state of Iowa: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and auditor, and secretary of agriculture.

The primary election is scheduled for June 3, 2014. A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Iowa, state law provides for a closed primary where every voter must be affiliated with a party in order to participate in its primary. However, a voter can change his or her political party affiliation on the day of the primary.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Six of the seven incumbents are seeking re-election. They are:

• Governor Terry Branstad (R)
• Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds (R)
• Attorney General Tom Miller (D)
• Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald (D)
• Auditor Mary Mosiman (R)
• Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey (R)

The final incumbent, Secretary of State Matt Schultz (R), will leave his office behind after this term. He opted instead to seek the open U.S. House seat representing Iowa's 3rd District.

Yesterday, March 14, the filing period for major party primary candidates came to a close with only Gov. Terry Branstad drawing a primary challenger. Branstad will face Tom Hoefling in the June 3 GOP primary; the remaining candidates are unopposed and will automatically advance to the November 4 general election ballot.

The following list of candidates is official as of March 15, 2014. (* denotes incumbent status)

Governor

• Terry Branstad*
• Tom Hoefling
• Jack Hatch

Lieutenant Governor

• Kim Reynolds*

Attorney General

• Tom Miller*

Secretary of State

• Paul Pate
• Brad Anderson

Treasurer

• Michael Fitzgerald*

Auditor

• Mary Mosiman*
• Jon Neiderbach

Secretary of Agriculture

• Bill Northey*
• Sherrie Taha

See also

• Iowa elections, 2014
• Iowa state executive official elections, 2014

• Iowa gubernatorial election, 2014
• Iowa Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014
• Iowa attorney general election, 2014
• Iowa secretary of state election, 2014
• Iowa down ballot state executive elections, 2014