Terry Branstad
Former Story County Republican Party chair and Des Moines businessman Russ Cross is among hundreds of Branstad volunteers scattered across all 99 Iowa counties.
“I’m supporting him because of his experience, his knowledge of the state, the governmental success that he had during extremely difficult times in the mid 1980s when the family farm crisis really hit the state hard,” Cross said.
Branstad continued building his reputation when he ran Des Moines University, Cross said.
“I think that experience gave him a great sensitivity toward health needs,” he said.
Cross is Iowa-born, but was raised in Ohio. He came back when his father’s job transfer brought the family to Des Moines in 1973. He said he lived in the state through Branstad’s entire four-term tenure.
Cross remembered when Branstad appointed the nonpartisan Fisher Commission in 1991. He said its recommendations built traditional accounting practices into Iowa budgets.
“He was in the Legislature and he understands how it works,” Cross said. “He knows that if there are 150 people in the General Assembly, depending on the issues, it can mean there are, in effect, 150 political parties and agendas, (and he) knows how to work with people when the opinions get that diverse.”…Read the full story HERE!