A new automated telephone poll featuring Republican Congressman Steve King is reviving speculation he will run for governor. The call is sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage and questions Iowans about their views on same-sex marriage.
King says he participated in the statewide poll because he feels strongly about the issue — not because he’s launching a campaign for governor. "Each one of us potential candidates have a little bit different approach to this and I don’t know that I have to make a decision within the next couple of months, but I think that at some point I have to do so in order to be fair to the candidates and the potential candidates that are out there, considering the race," King says.
Since late last year King has had a standard answer about the prospect of running for governor rather than seeking reelection to congress. "I don’t go to bed at night planning a governor’s race. I don’t get up in the morning thinking (about that)," King says. "But it comes to me throughout the course of almost every day."
King, who lives in the small northwest Iowa town of Kiron, served six years in the state senate before running for congress in 2002. He has been in congress since January, 2003. Two other northwest Iowa Republicans have already formed exploratory committees and begun raising money for a run for governor. Both Bob Vander Plaats and Christopher Rants are from Sioux City