Bob Vander Plaats
| Bob Vander Plaats | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | The Family Leader |
| Role: | President and CEO |
| Location: | Urbandale, Iowa |
| Education: | Drake University |
| Website: | Official website |
Bob Vander Plaats is the president and CEO of The Family Leader, a conservative Christian parent organization for the Iowa Family Policy Center, Marriage Matters and the Iowa Family PAC.[1] The group consists of two connected nonprofit organizations—a 501(c)(3) called The Family Leader Foundation and a 501(c)(4) called The Family Leader—and an affiliated PAC, the Iowa Family PAC.[2] All are located in Urbandale, Iowa.[3][4] The New York Times called Vander Plaats "Iowa’s most prominent social conservative."[5] In 2010, he campaigned against the retention of Iowa Supreme Court justices and in 2012 suggested that Republican candidates for president sign a "marriage oath."[6] In addition to his work with The Family Leader, Vander Plaats is a public speaker and the author of two books—Light from Lucas and If 7:14...An Urgent Call for Revival...It's Time.[7]
Career
Vander Plaats on the ticket
From 2002 to 2010, Bob Vander Plaats was "on a statewide primary ballot every other election cycle," running for the Republican nomination for governor in 2002, 2006 and 2010.[8] In 2002, he placed third in the primary election to Doug Gross and Steve Sukup.[9] In 2006, Vander Plaats left the race "before the primary and accepted the Lieutenant Governor’s position with Jim Nussle."[10] The two lost the general election to Chet Culver (D).[11] Vander Plaats lost the primary election again in 2010, this time to former Gov. Terry Branstad (R) who went on to win the general election.[12]
Mike Huckabee presidential campaign, 2008
In 2008, Vander Plaats worked as the Iowa chair for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's (R) presidential campaign.[13] The New York Times noted the social conservative aspects of Huckabee's campaign, saying he "grounded his views on issues like abortion and immigration in Scripture, rallied members of the clergy for support, benefited from the anti-Mormon sentiment dogging a political rival and relied on the down-to-earth style he honed in the pulpit to help catapult him in the polls."[14] Huckabee won the Iowa Caucus with 34.4 percent of the votes.[15] According to The Washington Post, Huckabee won the caucus because of his campaign's appeal to social conservative values: "In Iowa, social conservatives rallied around Huckabee after not finding another Republican candidate to champion their positions on abortion, same-sex marriage, guns and immigration."[16]
Rick Santorum presidential campaign, 2012
In the 2012 presidential campaign, Vander Plaats endorsed former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) and "urged other socially conservative candidates to consider dropping out of the race and extending their support to Mr. Santorum."[17] Of Santorum's candidacy, Vander Plaats said, "I saw him as a champion for the family in the U.S. House, I saw him as a champion for the family in the U.S. Senate. I saw him as a champion for the family on the campaign trail. I believe Rick Santorum comes from us, just not to us, he comes from us."[18] Santorum won the Iowa Caucus by 39 votes.[19]
U.S. Senate campaign, 2014
Vander Plaats initially considered running for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat in 2014 but ultimately opted to promote his book, If 7:14...[20] Vander Plaats initially endorsed Sam Clovis for the Republican nomination.[21] Joni Ernst won the nomination with 56 percent of the votes.[22] In the general election, Vander Plaats rallied for Ernst on his "Standing for the American Family" bus tour.[23] Ernst won the general election over Bruce Braley (D) with 52.2 percent of the votes.[24]
Presidential election, 2016
2016 presidential endorsement
✓ Vander Plaats endorsed Ted Cruz for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[25]
- See also: Endorsements for Ted Cruz
Comments on Donald Trump
In June 2016, Vander Plaats commented to NBC that he supported a potential movement for delegates to not vote for Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention, saying that "everything's got to be on the table." He said, "Practically speaking, do we think it's even remotely possible that someone could come out of Cleveland other Trump? ... It's highly unlikely, but it's been an exceptionally unprecedented election. And maybe the unprecedentedness continues."[26] In response to Vander Plaats' comments, Jeff Kaufmann, chair of the Republican Party of Iowa, said the report was about Vander Plaats "getting [his] name in the press and doing so in a way that’s harmful to the credibility of our state nationally."[27]
Vander Plaats tweeted the following about Trump on October 8, 2016:
- See also: Republican reactions to 2005 Trump tape
@realDonaldTrump should focus on saving family, beating Hillary, and preserving our country by resigning his candidacy.
— Bob Vander Plaats (@bobvanderplaats) October 8, 2016
Same-sex marriage
Vander Plaats and his group The Family Leader are prominent Iowa voices on the issue of same-sex marriage. Vander Plaats has consistently voiced his opposition to same-sex marriages, even requiring presidential primary candidates to sign a "marriage vow" to receive his group's endorsement in the 2012 election cycle.[28] The vow specifically committed the candidate "to honor and to cherish, to defend and to uphold, the Institution of Marriage as only between one man and one woman."[29]
The Marriage Vow was criticized on a number of fronts. Former New Mexico Governor and 2012 Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson called the vow "nothing short of a promise to discriminate against everyone who makes a personal choice that doesn’t fit into a particular definition of 'virtue.'"[30]
The pledge was also widely criticized for its section about African American families. The vow reads: "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."[29] Huffington Post called the statement a "hinted argument that a child is better off being born into conscription than being raised by a single parent or same-sex couple."[31] Politico, Time, The Washington Post and others interpreted the vow similarly.[32][33][34] The Family Leader quickly removed the passage about slavery in response.[35]
In a 2011 interview with Time, Vander Plaats clarified his stance on same-sex marriage. He said that the issue is one of widespread movement away from a divine plan:[36]
| “ | I get asked all the time how same-sex marriage impacts my marriage. I say it doesn’t. But that’s the wrong question. How’s it going to impact the next generation? The reason we have a national debt is because you’re looking at yourself, not the next generation. With marriage, when you walk away from God’s design, there’s going to be serious ramifications. For us, it comes down to God’s design: one man, one woman. Anything outside that, we preach abstinence and purity. If everybody practiced that, we’d have a whole different culture today. A much better culture.[37] | ” |
State judge removal
- See also: Iowa judicial elections, 2010
Background
In 1998, the Iowa State Legislature amended the state's marriage statue to define a valid marriage as only "between a male and a female."[38] Six same-sex couples sued in the Polk County District Court, claiming that the ban violated the couples' "fundamental right to marry, as well as rights to privacy and familial association."[39] In the 2009 case Varnum v. Brien, the Iowa State Supreme Court unanimously ruled that "Iowa Code section 595.2 violates the equal protection provision of the Iowa Constitution."[39] At the time, the decision made Iowa "the third state — and first in the nation's heartland — to allow same-sex couples to wed."[40]
Elections
In Iowa's retention elections, voters are asked to decide whether an appointed judge should remain in office. The judge is retained for a new term if a majority of voters answers with a "yes" vote. If the majority responds with a "no" vote, the judge is removed from the bench at the end of the term.[41] According to a brochure released by the Iowa Judicial Branch, the purpose of Iowa's retention elections is to evaluate the competency of judges, as opposed to the popularity of their individual rulings.[41]
In 2010, three Supreme Court justices—David Baker, Marsha Ternus and Michael Streit—were up for retention in the general election. Bob Vander Plaats "founded the organization Iowa for Freedom in August [2010] specifically to target the three Supreme Court justices on the ballot," according to the Iowa Independent.[42] At the time, Vander Plaats said the campaign was about upholding family values and freedom: "We are standing up for the institution of marriage, whose total design is procreation. Marriage is the issue, but every freedom is now up for grabs."[43] Joining Vander Plaats were a number of conservative groups and activists, including the National Organization for Marriage, the American Family Association, Chuck Hurley and Chuck Laudner.[42][44] Time reported that, in total, "activists in Iowa and across the country poured as much as $800,000 into the state" to attack the justices and encourage a "no" vote.[45] On November 3, 2010, the three justices were ousted from the state Supreme Court.[46][47]
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
Vander Plaats was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Iowa.[48]
In Iowa's Republican caucuses on February 1, 2016, Ted Cruz won eight delegates, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio won seven delegates each, Ben Carson won three delegates, while five candidates—Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, and Mike Huckabee—all won one delegate each.
Ballotpedia was not able to identify to which candidate Vander Plaats was allocated based on the results of the Iowa caucuses or which candidate Vander Plaats was bound by state party rules to support at the national convention. If you have information on how Iowa’s Republican delegates were allocated, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.[49]
On June 1, 2016, Eric Rosenthal, the chairman of the Iowa Republican State Convention Nominating Committee, wrote in The Gazette that all 30 delegates from Iowa would support Trump at the convention. "Mr. Trump will be the only candidate nominated [at the convention], therefore, all 30 delegate votes will be voted for him," said Rosenthal.[50]
Delegate rules
Iowa's district-level delegates were elected at district conventions, while at-large delegates were selected by a nominating committee and approved by delegates to the state convention. Iowa GOP bylaws in 2016 stipulated that delegates to the national convention were to be bound to the candidate to whom they were allocated through the first round of voting "regardless of whether any such candidate has withdrawn from the race or otherwise does not have his or her name placed in nomination." Iowa GOP bylaws also stated, however, that if there was only one candidate on the nominating ballot at the convention and if that candidate "received votes in the Iowa Caucuses," then all Iowa delegates were bound to vote for that candidate through the first round of voting.
Iowa caucus results
- See also: Presidential election in Iowa, 2016
| Iowa Republican Caucus, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
 Ted Cruz |
27.7% | 51,666 | 8 | |
| Donald Trump | 24.3% | 45,427 | 7 | |
| Marco Rubio | 23.1% | 43,165 | 7 | |
| Ben Carson | 9.3% | 17,395 | 3 | |
| Rand Paul | 4.5% | 8,481 | 1 | |
| Jeb Bush | 2.8% | 5,238 | 1 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 1.9% | 3,485 | 1 | |
| John Kasich | 1.9% | 3,474 | 1 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 1.8% | 3,345 | 1 | |
| Chris Christie | 1.8% | 3,284 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 1% | 1,783 | 0 | |
| Totals | 186,743 | 30 | ||
| Source: The Des Moines Register, "Iowa Caucus Results" | ||||
Delegate allocation
Iowa had 30 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 12 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's four congressional districts). District-level delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; each candidate who won a percentage of the statewide vote in Iowa's caucuses received a share of the state's district-level delegates.[51][52]
Of the remaining 18 delegates, 15 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated proportionally based on the statewide vote; any candidate who won a percentage of the statewide vote was entitled to receive a share of Iowa's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.[51][52]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION is Now the Family Leader with Bob Vander Plaats as President/CEO," November 21, 2010
- ↑ Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board, "Address Report - PACs," accessed July 9, 2015
- ↑ Guidestar, "IRS Form 990, The Family Leader Foundation," accessed July 8, 2015
- ↑ Guidestar, "IRS Form 990, The Family Leader," accessed July 8, 2015
- ↑ New York Times, "The Road to the White House Is Paved With Pizza," March 11, 2011
- ↑ Washington Post, "He saw her marriage as ‘unnatural.’ She called him ‘bigoted.’ Now, they hug.," July 4, 2015
- ↑ The Family Leader, "Staff Bio: Bob Vander Plaats," accessed July 8, 2015
- ↑ The Iowa Republican, "Bob Vander Plaats is not the 800 Pound Gorilla He Thinks He Is," February 13, 2014
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "2002 Primary Election (6/4/2002)," accessed July 9, 2015
- ↑ The Iowa Republican, "The Hubris of Bob Vander Plaats," June 28, 2010
- ↑ CNN, "Elections 2006," accessed July 9, 2015
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Official Results Report," June 8, 2010
- ↑ George Washington University Democracy in Action, "Key People-Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)," accessed July 9, 2015
- ↑ New York Times, "Pulpit Was the Springboard for Huckabee’s Rise," December 6, 2007
- ↑ New York Times, "Iowa Caucus Results," accessed July 8, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Huckabee Wins Iowa's Republican Caucuses," January 4, 2008
- ↑ New York Times, "Vander Plaats Endorses Santorum," December 20, 2011
- ↑ ABC News, "Iowa Conservative Leader Mired in Controversy After Rick Santorum Endorsement," December 23, 2011
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "GOP caucus results," accessed June 29, 2015
- ↑ The Family Leader, "Bob Vander Plaats Will Not Compromise Message of If 7:14," February 15, 2014
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Bob Vander Plaats endorses Sam Clovis for US Senate," May 13, 2014
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Iowa Election Results," accessed July 9, 2015
- ↑ Siouxland Matters, "Conservative Activist Bob Vander Plaats Rallies Support In Siouxland," October 16, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "Iowa Election Results 2014," accessed July 8, 2015
- ↑ ABC News, "Ted Cruz Secures Trifecta of Key Iowa Endorsements," December 10, 2015
- ↑ NBC News, "Some Republicans Discuss Anti-Trump Convention Coup," June 8, 2016
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Iowa GOP chair slams Spiker, Vander Plaats on Trump 'coup' quotes," June 9, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Michele Bachmann first to sign Bob Vander Plaats' Family Leader gay marriage pledge," July 8, 2011
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 The Family Leader, "The Marriage Vow," accessed July 8, 2015
- ↑ Gary Johnson 2012, "Gary Johnson Calls Family Leader Pledge 'Offensive and Unrepublican,'" July 9, 2011
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Bob Vander Plaats, Iowa Social Conservative Kingmaker, Unveils A New Pledge For 2012ers," July 7, 2011
- ↑ Politico, "Conservative group backtracks on marriage pledge slavery language," July 9, 2011
- ↑ Time, "Two GOP Candidates Wedded to 'Marriage Vow,'" July 11, 2011
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Michele Bachmann’s slavery and pornography problem," July 8, 2011
- ↑ Huffington Post, "The Family Leader Drops Controversial Section Concerning Slavery From 'Marriage Vow' Pledge," July 9, 2011
- ↑ Time, "Q&A: Bob Vander Plaats, Iowa’s Social Conservative Kingmaker," September 22, 2011
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Iowa House of Representatives, "Chapter 595 Marriage," accessed July 9, 2015
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 Supreme Court of Iowa, "Varnum v. Brien," accessed July 9, 2015
- ↑ NBC News, "Iowa Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage," April 3, 2009
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 American Judicature Society, "What you need to know about judicial retention elections: A guide to Iowa's judicial retention elections," 2012, accessed June 7, 2014
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 Iowa Independent, "Anti-retention leaders: Iowa just the start of national gay marriage battle," October 29, 2010
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Battle Over Judge Retention In Iowa," May 25, 2011
- ↑ The American Prospect, "Disorder in the Court," September 19, 2011
- ↑ Time, "Iowa Vote Shows the Injustice of Electing Judges," November 10, 2010
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Iowans dismiss three justices," November 3, 2010
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Official Results Report," November 29, 2010
- ↑ Caffeinated Thoughts, "Iowa GOP State Convention Live Blog," May 21, 2016
- ↑ To build our list of the state and territorial delegations to the 2016 Republican National Convention, Ballotpedia relied primarily upon official lists provided by state and territorial Republican parties, email exchanges and phone interviews with state party officials, official lists provided by state governments, and, in some cases, unofficial lists compiled by local media outlets. When possible, we included what type of delegate the delegate is (at-large, district-level, or RNC) and which candidate they were bound by state and national party bylaws to support at the convention. For most delegations, Ballotpedia was able to track down all of this information. For delegations where we were not able to track down this information or were only able to track down partial lists, we included this note. If you have additional information on this state's delegation, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ The Gazette, "All Iowa Republican National Delegates will vote for Donald Trump," June 1, 2016
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 52.0 52.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
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