BOONE, Iowa—Last summer, Steven P. Ray of Boone made a decision to seek the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor. Today, Ray’s campaign committee has announced that he has decided to withdraw his candidacy in the GOP primary race, effective immediately. Ray’s campaign made the announcement with a press release that included a personal statement about the campaign:
“When I announced my intention to run over 7 months ago, I did so with the sole intent to make voters aware of the many deficiencies I have seen first-hand in state government for some time. After a long-time governor had left office, it seemed to be the right time for me to pursue a personal goal to seek higher public office and try to do great things for our state. I am first and foremost a realist and it is clear the Republican support and money remains firmly behind the newly incumbent governor. My decision to quit my career to pursue this interest was not easy, but I can assure family, friends and my supporters across Iowa that I have no regrets in trying whatsoever.
In my initial announcement that I was running for governor I possessed clear differences with my party on many issues that affect real Iowans and the safety of our state. We must put political ideologies aside through continued partisanship and achieve the best for Iowans through, at times, necessary compromise on a myriad of important topics. I will continue to champion for public employees, their rights as workers and union members, as well as supporting our labor force and their unions that make Iowa and our nation strong; we must prioritize our budget to ensure revenue is going toward that which brings the best for taxpayers and our future as a state including funding education (K-12 and higher education) to ensure our young people can stay in Iowa as productive workers and professionals, which also means supporting vocational and trade curriculum in our school districts; working on comprehensive mental health reform and really fixing this problem with the state taking the lead by working with counties, or regionally-based local government partnerships, to bring real mental health reform to Iowans who truly need it; ensuring our Iowa Medicaid program remains strong and works for Iowans and not having their health decisions made on a business model alone; toughening laws against animal cruelty; working to grow the Republican party to be more inclusive and appealing to a wide range of voter backgrounds is a way to keep our party successful and strong in future elections; and lastly, and most important to me, supporting law enforcement, fire, EMS, 9-1-1 dispatchers and all public safety statewide, giving them the resources they need to do their jobs, particularly funding fully our state law enforcement personnel and putting more state troopers and criminal investigative agents in the field to combat growing criminal activity. This must be a top priority for public protection.
I have been a Republican all my life and will always remain proud to be one. I am also pleased that my party was the first to have a female governor. As I reflect on the end of my candidacy I, personally, remain confident and hopeful that Governor Kim Reynolds will also see that in order to move our party forward she must adapt and carve her own path to do what is right for Iowans and, hopefully, take great strides to make changes that need to be done for the good of our state and ALL our citizens, even if it means reminding her party that, in most cases, common sense governing is a way to keep any swamp truly drained. For that reason, I pledge my complete support and formally endorse Governor Kim Reynolds in her bid for re-election as governor of Iowa in the November 2018 election. Her goals and ambition will clearly be better for our state that any of her Democratic opponents. I would encourage the governor to help increase morale among state workers by ensuring executive leadership throughout state government, through the power of her appointment, puts individuals in leadership roles that can garner support and respect, not diminish and disempower front-line workers by dividing and sparing groups against one another in state government. Doing so will ensure success for the governor’s agenda in so many ways.
I would never have run for governor if I didn’t think I could do a great job serving Iowans as their chief executive. This was not the time for me, but as with many great political leaders of my time, and in the past, not all were successful the first attempt, but succeeded later. Perhaps another opportunity will come my way to serve my party and the people of Iowa another day. Unlike most of those running for governor, I left my state employment to run and I am not independently wealthy, a current member of the establishment, a doctor, lawyer or rich businessman. So, it is time for me to concentrate on finding another career to put my heart and soul in and get back to making money again. If the Republican Party of Iowa is ever in need of another individual who has a strong background in government, proven leadership and possesses the personality to appeal to a wide-array of voters, I will always stand ready to take that call.
My sincere thanks to all my supporters I have heard from across the state over the past 7 months of the campaign. I feel like I am letting many of them down and I am sorry to disappoint them, including family and friends, but I will live, again, to fight for Iowans another day.
God Bless each of you, our great state of Iowa and the United States of America.”
The release was signed by Steven P. Ray.
Steven P. Ray, Boone, announces end to Republican gubernatorial bid
