Sheldon native Bob Vander Plaats and his coalition that successfully campaigned against three Iowa Supreme Court justices in 2010 has reassembled, to work for the defeat of a fourth justice who joined in the court’s 2009 ruling that paved the way for same-sex marriage in Iowa.
The names of 75 Iowa judges and justices will be on November’s ballot in a retention election, but the target is Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins. Bob Vander Plaats was chairman of the “Iowa for Freedom” effort in 2010 that encouraged Iowans to vote three Iowa Supreme Court justices off the bench.
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Vander Plaats helped organize a “Family Leadership Summit” on Saturday and used the occasion to announce the effort to unseat Justice Wiggins.
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Vander Plaats told reporters he expects Wiggins and his allies to wage a counter offensive.
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This past week the Iowa State Bar Association urged Iowans to vote “yes” on all the judges and justices on the ballot — and the Sioux City lawyer who’s president of the group said it was wrong for judges to be the subject of “political pressures.” Vander Plaats offers this rebuttal.
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Groups that will support Justice Wiggins issued written statements on Friday. One Iowa — a group that supports same-sex marrige — said Iowans “need leaders who fight injustice and embrace equality.” A former Republican state senator who formed a group called “Iowa Republicans for Freedom” denounced the effort to unseat Wiggins and “divide our neighbors against each other.”
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