Caffeinated Thoughts, an Iowa blog that looks at culture and politics from an evangelical reformed point of view, recently called for a four-candidate Iowa gubernatorial debate, instead of the Democratic-Republican debates that are already being planned.  See the post here.  It recommends that the Libertarian Party and the Iowa Party gubernatorial candidates be included.  Iowa has a recent tradition of excluding minor party candidates from gubernatorial and U.S. Senate debates.  Green Party and Libertarian Party candidates for Governor were not able to debate their major party opponents in either 2006 nor 2002.

The November 2010 gubernatorial ballot will feature six candidates:  Democratic incumbent Chet Culver, Republican nominee and former Governor Terry Branstad, Jonathan Narcisse of the Iowa Party, Eric Cooper of the Libertarian Party, David Rosenfeld of the Socialist Workers Party, and independent candidate Gregory Hughes.

The Iowa Party was formed by Jonathan Narcisse, a former member of the Des Moines School Board.  It emphasizes education and seems to be a blend of conservative and liberal positions on other issues.  Narcisse, who is black, was originally planning on running in the Democratic primary this year, but changed his mind and formed his own party.  The Iowa Party also has a candidate for the state legislature.

The independent gubernatorial candidate, Gregory Hughes, seems to stress problems with domestic relations courts, and is a founder of IowaFathers.  The Iowa Green Party has no nominees for statewide office this year, but has a candidate for the state legislature.