Did Iowa's GOP Governor Outsmart Senate Democrats With This Move to Hire a Marion Man?

Nick Wagner of Marion will serve on the Iowa Utilities Board after all.

During the legislative session, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad had nominated Wagner, an engineering and former Republican state representative, but then withdrew his name after a battle in the Iowa Senate. 

After the session adjourned, Branstad appointed Wagner to the lucrative post on an interim basis. The board regulates utility prices in Iowa. 

Wagner and a couple other interim appointments will go before the legislature next year. 

Branstad had called the fight over Wagner partisan. Senate Democrats rejected two Republican nominees for the Iowa Board of Regents, including sitting Board President Craig Lang. 

Opponents though had expressed concern about Wagner's support for nuclear energy and that with him and Swati Dandekar, Marion would have two representatives on a three-member statewide board, according to a report in the Sioux City Journal.

“This idea that somehow rejecting some of his nominees was partisan never was a valid observation,” said Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, noting that 99 percent of Branstad’s appointments won confirmation.

Hogg said concerns continue over Wagner’s qualifications as a utility regulator and his 2011 support legislation to create a regulatory framework for a small-scale nuclear energy project by MidAmerican Energy.