... What a difference a week makes! Just 10 days ago, Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby was praising Gov. Chet Culver for his four nominees to the Iowa Board of Regents. ... Within hours praise had turned to grumbling as the Register announced two of the nominees "gave almost as much to [Culver's] gubernatorial campaign as more than 100 new appointees to state boards and commissions combined." ... For those wanting to make an issue of the campaign contributions, there was also another big roadblock: the other two nominees to the Board of Regents weren't supporters... they weren't even Democrats. ... When it became obvious that Iowans weren't buying the 'buying appointments' memo, a new complaint emerged. If confirmed, the new Board of Regents would have no representatives from Western Iowa serving. ... When the nominees appeared before the House Education Committee, Evans highlighted his governing role at Coe College while also pointing out that he was originally from Early (Sac County) in northwestern Iowa and continues to maintain a family farm in that area.

Labels: Chet_Culver, University of Iowa