Terry Branstad, who already holds records for being the youngest elected and longest serving Iowa governor, cleared his latest challenge Tuesday.
Now two of the most famous names in the state's recent political history will face off in November, with Branstad facing Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, who was unopposed in Tuesday's primary.
When Branstad was first moving up the Republican Party's political ladder in the 1970s, Culver's father John was a U.S. senator from Iowa.
To gain the nomination Tuesday, Branstad had to withstand criticism from conservatives that he was too accommodating.
But support from conservative Christian groups was not enough for Branstad's challengers, Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City or Rod Roberts of Carroll, an ordained minister.
Branstad was viewed as a 35-year-old conservative firebrand tied to Ronald Reagan when he won the first of his four terms in 1982.
In this primary, he ran as a pragmatic job-creator.
Among the barbs thrown at him in the campaign was his friendship with and past endorsement from Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson.
Nelson and Branstad formed a mutual support partnership on economic development and ethanol when they served as governors together from 1990 until they both left office in 1998.
In another historical twist, Roxanne Conlin — the woman Branstad defeated to win his first lease on Terrace Hill in 1982 — also emerged from the Iowa primary as a big winner.
Conlin defeated two foes to claim the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Grassley has been untouchable, but he is expected to face his toughest challenge since he first won the Senate seat in 1980.
In one of those unusual twists that seems to define Iowa, Grassley defeated then-Sen. John Culver — the governor's father — in an upset to win the Senate seat.
Grassley, one of the Senate's most powerful members as the ranking member of the tax-setting Finance Committee, faces the prospect of running in a year where long service in Washington can be seen by voters as a negative.
In recent years, Iowa has been seen as a swing battleground state in presidential and congressional elections.
Unseating incumbent governors or senators is rare in Iowa.
The last time an incumbent senator lost was in 1984. No Iowa governor has failed to win re-election since Republican Norman Erbe lost to Harold Hughes in 1962.
In western Iowa's 5th Congressional District, Democrats picked Matthew Campbell to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Steve King.
Campbell, a tax lawyer from Manning, had a large lead Tuesday night over Mike Denklau of Council Bluffs, who returned to Iowa after working on Wall Street as a banker.
King had no primary opposition.
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