Yesterday must have been a bit of a trip down memory lane for Governor Culver as he walked the halls of Hoover High School. Noisy and packed with students moving from class to class like a swarm of bees. Students that, had he not been elected Secretary of State in 1998, might have been in his social studies class.

The location and the very presence of the students were symbolic of the event taking place in the auditorium. This event was about Iowa’s future and how Governor Culver believes he is best suited to lead Iowa for another four years as Governor. Joined by Lt. Governor Patty Judge and the whole Culver family, he made it official:

“I would like to have the honor and privilege to lead our state to its destiny, and that’s why I stand before you and proudly announce my candidacy for Governor,” Culver said. “I declare my candidacy on a record of action, tested by fire, and committed to reform, innovation and a clear vision for the future.”

Governor Culver told the crowd of students and supporters about the accomplishments of his administration, praised his Lt. Governor Patty Judge for her work, and outlined his vision for the next five years.

“In sum, to be clear our goals for the next five years include:

• Creating the conditions for unprecedented job growth by making Iowa the best connected, most modern state in America, and by completing the rebuilding effort from the 2008 floods, leading to career opportunities and economic development in every part of our state;
• Making quality pre-school available to every Iowa child whose parents want to take advantage of it;
• Pursuing groundbreaking stem cell and other medical research with the goal of finding breakthrough treatments and even cures for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Diabetes as well as for various forms of cancer.
• Expanding our commitment to energy independence by increasing the percentage of our energy production coming from alternative sources from 20% to at least 30%. We will also decrease our dependence of foreign energy sources by increasing energy efficiency in Iowa;
• Expanding our already successful government reorganization efforts to include finding more efficiencies in state government, and helping our partners in local government and the schools increase their efficiencies as well.

You can see more photos from the event on our Flickr page.

Watch the full speech:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3