One of the candidates who lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in June is getting his old job back working for the out-going Democratic governor.
Iowa Department of Economic Development director Mike Blouin resigned in July of last year to run for governor, but he lost in a Democratic party primary.
Governor Tom Vilsack’s re-appointing Blouin as director of the economic development agency. His annual salary will be $145,000. But there’s no guarantee Blouin will be around for a full year. Iowa will get a new governor in January who will pick his own agency directors.
Blouin was among the state agency managers who got bonuses from their boss, Governor Vilsack, but this time around there’s no bonus in the works, according to a spokesman for the governor.
Blouin finished second in the June primary behind party nominee Chet Culver. Ed Fallon, the third-place finisher, today announced he’ll spent the rest of the fall working to elect Democrats in November.
Ako Abdul-Samad, the Democrat who is hoping to win Fallon’s old seat in the Iowa House, is on Fallon’s “to help” list even though Abdul-Samad’s in the midst of questions about the way he’s run his inner-city youth programs.