It appears the next chair of the Iowa Democratic Party will be an eastern Iowa legislator — Representative Tyler Olson of Cedar Rapids.
“I’ve put in a lot of leg work on it and talked with virtually, at this point, all the state central committee members,” Olson said late last week.
The party’s state central committee meets this Saturday to select a successor to Sue Dvorsky.
“I have known Tyler for a long time so, from a personal point of view, I couldn’t be more thrilled about the liklihood that on Saturday that is who is going to be elected our next chair,” Dvorsky told Radio Iowa.
Dvorsky, a retired teacher from Coralville, has been the Iowa Democratic Party’s chairwoman since June of 2010.
“I like the idea of once again going outside Polk County and really looking broadly at the amount of talent that we have got in this state,” Dvorsky said.
Olson, an attorney, is the 4th generation of his family to work in Paulsen Electric, where Olson’s now a vice president. Olson has been serving in the Iowa House since January of 2007. Olson is not ruling out the idea he might try to run against Governor Terry Branstad in 2014.
“The world has changed in the last 30 years and I think we need leadership that understands that and, if we do, I think we really have an opportunity for, you know, unprecented growth,” Olson said.
Olson is 36 years old. He and his wife, Sarah, have two young children. He is on Twitter and Sources say Olson is presently the only candidate for Iowa Democratic Party chairman.