The Iowa GOP gubernatorial candidates are heating up the campaign trail as the June 4 primary approaches.

Bob Vander Plaats, Steve Sukup and Doug Gross are vying for the right to challenge incumbent Tom Vilsack in the fall election.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, said the main issue candidates will have to deal with this year is the economy.

“The data shows that Iowans are worried about the economic uncertainties facing the state,” Schmidt said. “The guy who wins will be the one who will be able to convince voters that he is able to deal with the economy.”

Another issue that may affect the primary result is voter turnout, because few voters generally participate in the primary, he said.

He said he believes Gross is likely to be the front-runner, due to his association with former Gov. Terry Branstad.

“He seems to give off an air that he can challenge Vilsack,” Schmidt said. “He also seems to have a little more state-wide name recognition.”

He said it is likely to be a close race, and “a few hundred votes here and there” could potentially swing the race.

Steve Sukup

Sukup, a 1979 ISU graduate in industrial engineering, said he plans to focus on job creation and economic development in Iowa.

Sukup said he believes his business experience in the private sector should give him a unique perspective that will differentiate him from the other GOP candidates.

“I want to focus on job creation in Iowa,” Sukup said. “We’re losing population, and that needs to be reversed. We need to create jobs for university graduates as well, to keep them in Iowa.”

Sukup said cuts to economic development programs such as ISU’s Institute for Physical Research and Technology were unfortunate.

“That hurt. What you see are the effects of government failing to realize a year and a half ago that this was going to happen,” Sukup said. “The last two weeks [the Legislature] has done the fire drill.”

Doug Gross

Gross, chief of staff for former Gov. Branstad, emphasized his combination of public and private experience as his distinguishing factor. He said his experience as head of a prominent law firm allows him to identify with business owners.

Gross said he wants to improve Iowa’s overall economic situation.

“First, our budget is broke, and we need to fix it,” Gross said. “When Vilsack came into office, there was $943 million in the bank. Now with Vilsack, we’re looking at $944 million in deficit.”

Gross said Iowa is also one of three states not growing in terms of income.

“Fifty percent of Iowans make incomes of $8 an hour or less,” said Gross. “As many as 40 percent of Iowa State grads believe they have to leave the state to find a good job.”

Gross said he would like to improve the tax and business climate in Iowa because the state has fallen from 14th to 34th in terms of business climate.

Gross also said recent tuition increases concern him.

“It’s disheartening to see tuition go up as much as 58 percent in three years’ time, and we need to work on that,” he said.

Bob Vander Plaats

Vander Plaats said one thing that differentiates him from his opponents is his “proven leadership experience that focuses on bringing people together.”

Vander Plaats said the key issue for Republicans is nominating a leader who can win on Nov. 5.

“My opponents have divided the party with their attacks on each other’s record,” Vander Plaats said. “We need someone that can unite the party and bring the Reagan Democrats back.”

Vander Plaats said he wants to focus on the budget for the state and get management of the state back in order.

“We need to create a stage where individuals and businesses can dream and thrive,” Vander Plaats said.

Vander Plaats also said education is one of his highest priorities.

“I was in education for 11 years as a teacher and coach and then a high school principal,” Vander Plaats said. “We need to put a focus on reorganizing state government to get dollars back into education.”

Vander Plaats said he would not raise taxes to help fund the budget, but would instead support a zero-base analysis of state spending and a complete redesign of the tax structure.