As expected, the Iowa Republican Party’s governing board has chosen a new chairman.
Former state Representative Jeff Kaufmann of Wilton was elected at the Iowa Republican Party’s state central committee meeting on Saturday afternoon. He immediately set the goal of raising 300-thousand dollars for the party over the next three months, to help finance a get-out-the-vote effort for the Republican candidates on November’s ballot.

Kaufmann replaces Danny Carroll, a former lobbyist for the Christian conservative organization The Family Leader, who had served as the party’s chairman for just three months. Loras Schulte of Norway, Iowa, led the effort to dismiss Carroll and bring in Kaufmann.

Carroll had taken over as chairman from A.J. Spiker, who came from the party’s “liberty movement.” Kaufmann, who is 51 years old, argues that during his eight years as a state legislator, he was at various points accused of being allied with all the factions of the party, including moderates and the Establishment.

Saturday’s leadership maneuver and the hiring of a new executive director for the party are the culmination of the effort Republican Governor Terry Branstad launched in January to ensure the new state central committee that took office on June 14th could take the reins of the party away from those directly allied with Ron and Rand Paul.