After McGuire Launch, Prichard Unveils Endorsements From McGuire’s County

It didn’t take long today for two of the major Democratic gubernatorial candidates to engage in a bit of fun shadow-boxing on endorsements. This morning in Andy McGuire’s announcement, she laid out ten big-name endorsers, including some past candidates and major donors. This afternoon – certainly be mere coincidence – Todd Prichard rolled out a list of 14 backers he has in Polk County, McGuire’s home.

Rather than a list of well-known former elected officials, however, Prichard’s endorsements focused on local activists in the Des Moines metro area (including at least one that used to support McGuire). Many of the folks listed are well-respected in local campaigns and activist circles, and are the type of campaign volunteers that get things done and deliver votes. They also represent a decent geographic amount of the metro’s neighborhoods and suburbs.

Prichard’s full list:

Kim Boggus
Michael DuPre
Reverend Dr. Bill Eckhardt
Susan Judkins
Rose Mary Pratt
John McCormally
Shayla McCormally
Jeremy Reynolds
Joe Riding
Leann Riding
Gary Schmidt
Ruth Thompson
Scott Thompson
Marc Wallace

From Charles City, Prichard may do particularly well in many Northern Iowa counties and in his childhood home of Scott County. But he’ll need to compete well enough in Polk County, which has many candidates both announced and considering, to ensure he doesn’t get swamped by a bad margin in the state’s largest city.

Prichard’s exploratory campaign has a number of well-connected Iowa campaign operatives working for it, likely helping secure so many grassroots activists early on.

by Pat Rynard
Posted 4/10/17