Iowa Republican Party leaders will meet June 28th to select a new chairman and Republican Governor Terry Branstad insists he is leaving the decision up to the party’s new board of directors.
Branstad put Richard Schwarm, his long-time friend and law partner, in place to serve as party chairman during his previous run as governor, but Branstad says that was “a long time ago.”
As soon as the party’s state convention ended Saturday, the Iowa G-O-P’s new state central committee put current chairman Danny Carroll on notice that his days in the job are numbered and a leadership election was scheduled on the last Saturday of the month. Party insiders say Jeff Kaufmann (COUGH-man) of Wilton who has served as an emcee at Branstad’s campaign events this year is the leading candidate for the job of party chairman.
Once a new party chairman is installed at the end of this month, the Iowa G-O-P will have had four chairman in the past two and a half years. The current chairman, Danny Carroll, has been in the job less than three months.
