The 2010 Iowa gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor, to serve a four-year term beginning on January 14, 2011. In Iowa, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ballot. Along with the election in Ohio, this was one of the two gubernatorial elections where the incumbent lost reelection.
The two major party candidates were first-term incumbent governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, who ran for re-election with first-term incumbent lieutenant governor Patty Judge, and former four-term governor Terry Branstad, who won a three-way primary for the Republican nomination and ran with State SenatorKim Reynolds.
Branstad defeated Culver in the general election, becoming the first challenger to unseat an incumbent Iowa governor since Harold Hughes in 1962.[1][2]
Chet Culver (D), incumbent governor; running with incumbent lieutenant governor Patty Judge.
Gregory James Hughes (I), running with Robin Prior-Calef.[1][13]
Terry Branstad (R), former four-term governor; running with State Senator Kim Reynolds.
Eric Cooper (L), professor at Iowa State University; running with judicial administrator Nick Weltha.[14]
Jonathan Narcisse (Iowa Party), former member of the Des Moines school board; running with truck driver Rick Marlar. Narcisse is a Democrat and Marlar is a Republican.[15] Narcisse's campaign and that of Senate District 45 candidate Douglas William Phillips were not affiliated, though both appeared on the ballot under the "Iowa Party" name.[16][17]
David Rosenfeld (SWP), running with Helen Meyers.[1][18]