Huckabee lines up Iowa stops in May

Tour set after expected announcement

In this April 18, 2015 file photo, former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks at the Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, N.H.
In this April 18, 2015 file photo, former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks at the Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, N.H.

A water-valve factory, a farm museum, and a pizza-and-chicken buffet restaurant: It must be presidential campaign season in Iowa.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced a string of stops across the Hawkeye State for his "Factories, Farms & Freedom" tour early next month, a series of meet-and-greets that will stretch from east to west with a stop in a suburb of the state's capital city of Des Moines.

Huckabee and his staff will kick off the two-day tour May 6, just a day after the former presidential candidate makes his 2016 presidential campaign announcement in Hope, a hometown he shares with President Bill Clinton.

In 2008, Huckabee finished first in the Iowa caucuses, traditionally the first electoral competition in the nation, only to lose the GOP nomination to Sen. John McCain of Arizona. McCain was defeated by President Barack Obama.

A spokesman for Huckabee, Alice Stewart, said the two-day tour will focus on farm policy and issues affecting business owners and working Iowans, such as taxes and workers' wages.

Instead of Democrats talking about increasing a minimum wage, Huckabee is interested in increasing a "maximum wage" for working Americans, Stewart said.

"We need to put Americans to work and help them achieve a maximum wage," Stewart said. "That's what resonates with the hardworking people of Iowa."

The first stop May 6 will be in the rural central Iowa town of Oskaloosa for a visit with workers at Clow Valve, an iron valve and hydrant company dating to the 1870s.

"It's a great company there in Iowa," Stewart said. "They make fire hydrants. The governor's father was a firefighter. It's a good place to go for him to talk about what he plans to do to help working Americans."

Huckabee and company will then head to the Living History Farms event hall in Urbandale, just north of Des Moines, for a rally.

On May 7, Huckabee will host a rally at a hotel lobby bar, Charlie's American Grill, in the western Iowa city of Sioux City, before zipping back to the eastern end for a lunchtime meet-and-greet at a Cedar Rapids Pizza Ranch.

Pizza Ranch, a Midwestern buffet chain with extensive pizza and chicken offerings, has proved to be a popular meeting place for Democrats and Republicans alike during campaign seasons.

"The good thing about Pizza Ranch ... our [campaign] budgets are tight, and we had to go to places that were affordable," Stewart said. "They're great places. ... Just as importantly, they have really good fried chicken."

So far, several Republicans have announced their presidential bids, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Other big Republican names, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, have yet to announce their campaigns but both have spent much time in Iowa.

Huckabee will enjoy spending time in the state, Stewart said.

"The thing about Iowa is that they want and expect to meet these candidates in their living rooms, not once, but twice," Stewart said. "That's the kind of retail politicking he likes doing. He likes talking to people. You look at the entire field of all these candidates, he's the best retail politician that's there."

Metro on 04/29/2015

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