The Iowa Republican Party on Wednesday
issued a statement in support of voters removing state Supreme Court
Justice David Wiggins, one of seven judges whose unanimous 2009
ruling brought gay marriage to the Midwest.
According to the Pioneer Press,
state party chairman A.J. Spiker, speaking on behalf of the party,
criticized the ruling as being based on “the whims of unelected
activist judges attempting to impose their personal views on the
public.”
Wiggins faces a nonpartisan retention
vote in the fall. In 2010, social conservatives, angry over the gay
marriage decision, axed three judges from the bench. The remaining
three justices are up for retention votes in 2016.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue
Dvorsky criticized the GOP's move, warning that a campaign to oust
Wiggins would likely be financed by out-of-state special interest
groups.
“We are very concerned about the
risks these out-of-state special interest groups are bringing to our
state, and we will not sit quietly as they crusade to eliminate an
independent judiciary and taint the entire democratic system,” she
told the paper.