Things are definitely heating up in the Hawkeye State.
Three Iowa Supreme Court justices who joined the unanimous 2009 decision legalizing same-sex marriage in that state now find themselves in the cross-hairs of anti-gay groups across the country. The Iowa Independent reports that, through Iowa for Freedom, Bob Vander Plaats, an Iowa businessman who failed to win the Republican bid for governor, is leading five conservative, anti-equality groups in the charge to unseat Chief Justice Marsha Ternus, Justice David Baker and Justice Michael Streit, all of whom are up for retention election on Nov. 2.
Ordinarily, a man like Vander Plaats should simply be taken for the hate-spewing idiot that he is, but don’t misunderestimate him, as George W. Bush would say. With more than half a million dollars lining his equal-rights-eschewing pockets, his message is definitely reaching the masses.
According to the Des Moines Register, Mississippi-based American Family Association; Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council; Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund; Georgia-based Faith & Freedom Coalition; and New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage (NOM) have together poured nearly $540,000 into Vander Plaats’ campaign to oust the justices.
The Iowa Independent also reports that NOM plans to host 20 events across the state of Iowa beginning next week. The marriage equality foes will urge Iowans to vote against retaining the three justices while making their way around the state in typical NOM fashion: via a big tacky bus.
Republican Gov. Robert Ray is countering the NOM/Vander Plaats voice of contempt with Fair Courts for Us, a grassroots committee that has launched a media campaign that includes radio ads and direct mail pieces aimed at retaining the justices. So far, the committee has spent just under $118,000 in their efforts.
One Iowa also is encouraging Iowans to retain the justices and “vote yes to equality” through its website.
