The Family Leader (stylized The FAMiLY LEADER) is an American

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

umbrella group comprising The Family Leader Foundation, Marriage Matters, Iowa Family PAC, and Iowans for Freedom. The Family Leader is loosely affiliated with the national social conservative organization

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is an American Christian fundamentalism, Evangelical Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of Evangel ...

. According to its website, The Family Leader "provides a consistent, courageous voice in the churches, in the legislature, in the media, in the courtroom, in the public square...always standing for God’s truth."

Arms of the organization

*The Iowa Family Policy Center is the educational arm and works through the media and also operates the Iowa Liberty Justice Center, a

public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

handling cases "in the areas of religious liberty,

family values Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...

, or sanctity of life." *Marriage Matters seeks to strengthen marriage through individual mentoring and seminars. *The Iowa Family PAC is a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

which supports social conservative candidates. It was formed in 2004 *Iowa for Freedom "stands up against judicial activism" and was heavily involved in the campaign to remove three

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

justices who legalized

same-sex marriage in Iowa Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Iowa since a decision of the Iowa Supreme Court on April 3, 2009. Marriage licenses became available to same-sex couples on April 27. This ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by six ...

in the '' Varnum v. Brien'' case.

2012 presidential election

Through the new group, the organization planned to play a more influential role in the 2012 Iowa caucus campaigns than in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, including offering an endorsement for the first time. In mid-2011, The Family Leader gained national recognition for its pledge, " The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence upon MARRIAGE and FAMILY", which it asked 2012 presidential hopefuls to sign. Vander Plaats himself also gained recognition, being referred to in one news post as a "kingmaker". ''The Hill'' claimed Vander Plaats' endorsement as one of the top 10 coveted endorsements for Republicans running for president. Though the pledge was signed very quickly by candidate

Michele Bachmann Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican P ...

, others were not so quick to sign or support it. Former Iowa State Senator Jeff Angelo, a Republican, said: "This pledge is an attempt to shut down dialogue between voters and the people vying to represent them." Presidential hopeful

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

called the pledge "undignified and inappropriate". Romney's campaign later clarified that he would not sign because language in the pledge made the assertion that African American children born into slavery in 1860 were better off than children raised today. He was not the only one to take issue with this language. The "slavery portion" of the pledge was soon removed. After the controversies with the pledge, House Speaker Pro-Tem Jeff Kaufmann, said the pledge has "ridiculous implications", questioned Vander Plaats' integrity, and said that his "political credibility is waning to the point of no impact." In November and December 2011, the organization "agonized" over whether to make an endorsement and whom to endorse. After removing

Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist in the Republican Party. Cain graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He then earned a master's degree ...

, Jon Huntsman,

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

, and

from consideration, the seven-member board of directors of the organization could not decide on one candidate among

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum Sr. ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's Chairman of the United Sta ...

, and

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

. The organization announced on December 20, 2011 that it would officially stay neutral and instead allow board members to make their own endorsements; Vander Plaats and Hurley endorsed Santorum.

References

External links

The Family Leader
{{DEFAULTSORT:Family Leader, The Non-profit organizations based in Iowa Political organizations based in the United States Conservative organizations in the United States Polk County, Iowa