Former Secretary of State Paul Pate, more recently Cedar Rapids Mayor, may be the Iowa GOP central committee’s pick to replace Chuck Allison, the foot doctor who surprised party insiders by winning the June primary for Secretary of State.
Allison’s drop-out gives me an opportunity to share something that happened before this blog started. I was putting together profiles of Allison and Bob Dopf, the other GOP candidate in the June primary. I asked Allison what his plans were for Primary Day. Allison confided he was a bit worried — he had told his staff at the foot doctor place to book him solid with appointments starting at eight o’clock. "So I may not get to vote," Allison said. I told him the polls opened at seven a.m. "Oh, I didn’t realize that. Great," he replied. "I can vote before work." Need I type more?
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
And they stay open until 9 pm. Didn’t he know that either, or did he really have 13 hours of appointments? We already knew he wanted to crack down on absentee voting, so I guess he was reluctant to use that solution, too. Poor guy.