Iowa Gov.-Elect Branstad fires shot across bow of Iowa's judicial nominating commission; decries Iowa Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling; attacks Gronstal

Iowa Gov.-Elect Terry Branstad

Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register reports that Gov. Elect Terry Branstad says only candidates who respect Iowa voters’ rejection of last year’s same-sex marriage ruling should be considered for the Iowa Supreme Court.

     “Right now ... you have 12 Democrats and only one Republican [on the judicial nomination commission] and that didn’t just happen by accident,” Branstad said. “So I think that needs to be corrected.”

      The commission...will present several choices to the governor, who will then appoint three justices to replace those that Iowa voters rejected on Nov. 2.

     ...Branstad won’t have an opportunity to alter the political makeup before they recommend replacements for Marsha Ternus, David Baker and Michael Streit.

     ...Branstad said today he’s concerned about the commission members’ impartiality.

     “The Supreme Court, I think, made a tragic mistake in their decision on same-sex marriage,” he said.

      The justices in April 2009 unanimously ruled that limiting marriage to one man and one woman violates the Iowa Constitution.

     ...They need to respect that on issues like this, it’s really the Legislature that has the responsibility and if the Legislature has made a mistake, the courts can indeed send it back to Legislature to be corrected.”
     Another way to restore public support for the judicial system is for the Iowa Legislature to allow a vote of the people on restoring a one-man, one woman marriage, Branstad said.

     The Republican-dominated Iowa House is expected to approve such a vote, but Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, a Democrat, has pledged to block it.

     Branstad said: “Just because you’re a leader in the Legislature doesn’t mean you’re a dictator or you have the right to make unilateral decisions..

     Gronstal later responded: “Dictators are people that make efforts to take away other people’s right. I’m not going down that road.”

     ...House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen said today he anticipates the House Judiciary Committee to study possible changes to the nominating process.

     ...Gronstal added that he remembers Democrats expressing great reservation that the nominating process under Branstad was biased in favor of Republicans. In 1998, at least five of the seven appointed members were Republicans, records show.