Jason Noble

For the Press-Citizen

DES MOINES – The leading candidates to be Iowa's next governor mixed stiff jabs at one another with policy proposals for Iowans in their first face-to-face meeting of the campaign on Thursday.

From a hay-bale strewn stage in the cattle barn at the Iowa State Fair, Democratic challenger Jack Hatch lobbed charges of scandal and mismanagement. Republican incumbent Terry Branstad batted the claims aside as "wild accusations."

"There's stale leadership in the Statehouse," Hatch said of Branstad's current term in office, adding, "We've had an administration that has created on his own the most scandal-ridden administration in the history of this state."

Controversies over settlements with terminated employees, reclassification of merit employees and issues at the Iowa Veterans Home and Iowa Juvenile Home, among others, are central to Hatch's argument that Branstad has fallen out of touch and been in office too long.

The governor hit back at his next opportunity, defending his response to those controversies and belittling the Des Moines senator's connection to the rest of the state.

"These are just crazy accusations made by somebody who has never really represented the whole state of Iowa, he just represents a safe Democratic district here in the largest city of the state," Branstad said.

Branstad gave as good as he got, repeatedly linking Hatch's service in the Legislature to the administration of Chet Culver, the one-term Democratic governor whom he defeated in 2010.

"The first thing we had to do was straighten out the financial mess that my opponent and his friend Gov. Culver got the state in," Branstad said, referring to across-the-board budget cuts that Culver enacted late in his term and bonding projects initiated to spur infrastructure development.

Hatch defended Culver's record, calling the budget cuts a necessary step in light of the Great Recession, and the borrowing as the best option for aiding communities decimated by flooding in 2008. Branstad, he said, is perpetuating "myths" about budget deficits and financial mismanagement during the Culver years.

"He's making up these stories," Hatch said.

Jeff Link, a leading Democratic consultant in the state unaffiliated with the race, credited Hatch with putting Branstad "on the defensive." The biggest victory, though, was simply the visual.

"Hatch benefited from the fact that he was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the incumbent governor," Link said. "That's a win for Jack Hatch given the advantage Branstad has with incumbency and his financial edge. For that hour, they were equals."

But Steve Grubbs, a Republican politico, said the night belonged to Branstad — if only because he avoided unforced errors.

"The governor won because he made no mistakes," Grubbs said. "When you are ahead in the polls, ahead financially, you win a debate when you don't make any mistakes."

Amid the salvos, the candidates also offered their positions and prescriptions on a series of issues, rolling out new ideas and challenging each other's plans.

Branstad opened the debate by announcing a new "Connect Every Acre" initiative — an expansion of his "Connect Every Iowan" broadband internet expansion plan that faltered earlier this year in the Legislature.

At the prodding of the debate moderators, Branstad dispelled rumors that if re-elected for a sixth term he might step aside early to allow Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds to succeed him.

"I have the energy and the enthusiasm to serve the state…" he said. "I'm committed to serve the entire term and do everything I can. We've only just begun."

Hatch, meanwhile, led off his policy proposals with an increase in the minimum wage.

His administration would pursue an increase to $10.10 per hour, the amount that Democrats at state and federal levels have been promoting and pursuing legislatively for many months.

"By bringing up the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, we can create thousands of new opportunities for people, and they no longer have to depend on the public assistance they depended on before," Hatch said.

To reporters after the debate, Branstad summed up Hatch's plans on the minimum wage, an increased gas tax and the like as "more debt, higher taxes."

"That's typical Democrat approach. That's why I came back as governor because Culver had put us into debt and he was putting us on the line for higher taxes. We've taken a new direction. It's working. The Iowa economy's growing."

Jason Noble is a reporter for The Des Moines Register and can be reached at jnoble2@dmreg.com.