Today, Rep. Tyler Olson released the following statement regarding his campaign for Governor:
“I am saddened to announce today that my wife Sarah and I are separating. This decision was made only after significant discussion and professional support to deal with the issues facing our marriage. We are working through divorce proceedings but remain friends whose number one priority is the happiness and well being of our children.
The decision about whether to continue the race was complicated, starting with the needs of my kids and my core belief Iowans will have greater opportunity with a new perspective in Terrace Hill. This has been a fact of life since the start of my family: Sarah and I married while I was running for the Iowa House and both my kids were born during my service there.
While this is a family matter, because of my candidacy for Governor I felt it necessary to publicly acknowledge the situation. I am scaling back campaign events for the remainder of the year to focus on my family and helping them through this transition. I am deeply committed to this race for governor, as I believe Iowans will have greater opportunity with a governor with a strong, positive vision for the future. I plan to resume my campaign after the holidays.”
33 thoughts on “Tyler Olson, candidate for governor, announces separation from wife”
50% or more of marriages today fail. That is a reality. If we are going eliminate all people whose marriage doesn’t work out from running for public office, then we are eliminating 1/2 of our potential candidates.
Who’d get married that is in their right state of mind and doesn’t plan to stay in it forever? Tyler fell in the trap and now he proved he doesnt have what it takes to manage his own life. Unfit for public office for sure.
@Pastor-it is because people have lost all values. They make it so easy to split up and they just do not have the guts to stick it out. The liberals promote this kind of crap. That is why they think nothing of getting a divorce.
Did you find Ronald Reagan unfit because of his divorce? Or for impregnating a woman outside of marriage for that matter?
@Anonymous-Did you find Bill Clinton unfit for having sex with another woman in the White House? Do you find Hilary unfit because she has more women lovers than Bill?
Like all humans, they are all flawed. Can you prove your assertions about Hillary? There is nothing wrong with being gay or bisexual.
Nothing wrong except Jesus and the bible said that gays are sinners with no chance of salvation.
Lew that is only your interoperation of the bible. the bible says a lot of things that most Americans don’t abide by. Shaving, cursing, gossip, eating lobster and pork, associating with women who are having their periods. There are many more. So let’s pick and choose which parts of the bible we want to live by and call ourselves Christians.
@Anonymous-Can you prove it isn’t true? I don’t think so.
@Anonymous-there certainly is something wrong with cheating on your husband or wife. It makes no difference if you are gay or straight, it is cheating anyway you look at it and show a complete lack of morals or character. Most of what Hilary claims are made up. She has really accomplished almost nothing.
this is a prime example of how flawed the republicans thinking works. You spew all kinds of imaginary crap and when someone asks to prove your statements your come backs seem to be you prove me wrong. That is the big difference between the left and the right. True facts are important to the left. As a rule we can back up our statements. The right seems to think just because I said it or heard it from Beck, O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Jones, or any other right wing nut it is true.
Anyway the bottom line is what does it matter who future President Clinton has or has not slept with?
LVS, you are right. I can’t prove Hillary isn’t a lesbian or bisexual. I also can’t prove you’ve stopped beating your wife or kicking the neighbors dog. People who cheat on their spouses could be considered less trustworthy by some. Since Ronald Reagan had an affair with Jane Wyman when she was married to someone else, it would seem he would fit into that category. However, I am hesitant to step inside someone’s marriage because I believe that people marry for a lot of reasons and I also believe that a marriage is based on a lot more than romantic love. I’m sure that you agree marriage is hard work, and some days it is excruciatingly hard. If spouses set rules for their marriage and those rules are neither illegal or inflicting pain on another person, should you judge them so harshly? I think many Americans focus on marriage in terms of the first flush of lust/love they experience and not from all the other more factors that may drive a marriage decision. I also believe that Americans demand much more perfection in our leaders than we honestly posess in ourselves. Unfortunately that disqualifies many truly talented people who may have minor flaws and only leaves us with the mediocre.
@Anonymous-Good post. Can’t argue with much of it as divorce seems to be common right now. I still say it shows a lack of character as almost all marriage vows I have heard of require a oath to be loyal. As for Hilary being the next president I don’t think that will happen. People are fed up with the liberals and what they are doing to our country. There ares several law suits going through the courts right now because Obama has violated the law with Obamacare. He has stepped on the constitution one to many times. I will post some information I have found in about Hilary Whiners Den. Of course the liberals will try to deny it but it is true.
We all plan to stay in it forever. I will continued to stay married but I am not so self-righteous to believe that those who find their marriage isn’t what they had hoped for are less worthy than someone who has stayed in a marriage just because he or she believed it was necessary because of other people’s beliefs. Most of the time, if there are children involved, the divorce is to keep them away from the ugliness that often occurs when love disappears. Marriage isn’t about religion. It is a partnership that grows either stronger or weaker as time passes. Many of those who do divorce go through counseling before the divorce in order to preserve it. If that doesn’t work, why stay together in a partnership that isn’t working for either party?
I am still not willing to vote for someone and let them use the Governor’s office to prove himself.
It take years to heal and mature from the effects of divorce and a broken family.
Those of you that are willing to look the other way so quickly, have your empathy and compassion out of whack. Think with your head not your heart!
Just my opinion.
There are many who have held political office that have been divorced and do a good job. One has nothing to do with the other. I find it sad when any couple splits and many times it is no ones fault. You just grow apart. So we shouldn’t speculate on who did what. We should just wish them both well as I would imagine it is very hard on all concerned.
Ya know… Maybe the wife simply doesnt like the public life. Maybe she simply wants to have a husband home every night at 5pm. able to spend quality time with their kids. I really dont think a person in politics can spend the amount of time with family that they really would like to.
Just a thought maybe she did it different than councilman Kuhn wife. For whatever reason she stayed with him played the perfect family, pictures in paper, meeting people and then when he got on the council she wasn’t even there at the swearing in. With in weeks they were filing for divorce. Which is worse coming out and bing honest about things or playing the game just wondering.
@Riley, a few things.
Re: Tyler Olsen, He has made bad choices and therefore I am not interested in having him as a Governor. The details of his marriage are of no interest.
Re: Grammar and sentence structure, I don’t considering criticism bad on mean. I actually wished I possessed your skill of the English language and appreciate you pointing out my writing flaws. I will try to do better, although I have to accept my reality as I don’t see myself going back to school anytime soon.
Re: Gaining experience from life’s trials and hardships. Yes this usually helps to create wisdom, I get that. I am just not willing to let someone use the Governor’s office as a testing ground.
Re: Your long diatribe. You sure worked hard coming across as an educated feller. Here is some advice for you Mr. Patrick Riley.
Stupidity is fatal, ignorance can be corrected!
consider not considering, should have proof read better.
Sorry
however you look at it watchdog, Patrick Riley served it to you but good. Period. It is obvious that you are a republican. Your original comment was totally uncalled for. However using your own thinking, everyone reading this must also remember that the current governor, Terry bumstead, couldn’t even control his Juvenile delinquent son from killing two innocent people after stealing a government vehicle and driving drunk. THIS is a hell of a lot worse than getting a divorce mister. Look at the three fingers pointing back at you first before you point a finger at someone else. Once again. all comments here for this article are uncalled for because of your original statement.
I am not a Republican. I am conservative and believe in self-reliance. The Republicans are far from conservative. Progressive at best.
Liberals are way off the charts as Communist/Socialists. In fact the Democratic Party is becoming known as the “New Communist Party of America”. The name change does not surprise me. I am told the official announcement is yet to come to avoid controversy.
Me, I am a self proclaimed member of the Cynic Party. Although I do start every day with a feeling of hope!
@50 Miles, I don’t know if you have ever had kids or boys, but I can tell you, you can’t control them as you suggest. Some of the best families have teens that do things that can’t be excused and their is no reason for it. I am not a Brandsted fan but I am a parent and thought I would point it out.
I do have a son and three step daughters. I understand what you are saying. however, how a child is reared definitely reflects how they are as they grow up. I know families that yell, shout, and are basically aggressive. their kids learn and repeat what they see. Some kids are spoiled brats. and need to have their ass kicked. (figure of speech) kinda. I am proud to say my son has been the best kid ever. 3.85 GPA and now at ISU. Unlike his dad. Are you sure some of the kids you refer to, arnt spoiled brats that got everything they wanted???
First off, “My Voice” you should not give these hypotheticals. The fact of the matter is that any attempt to determine what happened in their marriage is simply conjecture. More importantly, there is no reason that we need to know or that it matters as far as Tyler’s qualifications are concerned (at least as far as the reasons alluded to are concerned. I think that it does matter, but I’ll keep my reasons for thinking so to myself).
Secondly, “Watchdog,” one would think that after 50 years of life, let alone enough life to be married for 50 years, you could put together a grammatically correct sentence. The word you are looking for is “there” not “their” in your sentence: “especially when their [sic] are kids involved.” Actually, it is possible that “their” was intended to denote possession of the “kids” in which case the sentence should read: “especially when their kids are involved.” I have no idea what this sentence means: “To many other candidates out there that still have their credibility.” It is possible that you are trying to express the idea that there are too many other candidates out there who still have their credibility, for anyone to think that Tyler is a good fit. You write: “Something wrong with this picture!” This is what you meant to write: “Something is wrong with this picture!” Also your over reliance on the exclamation point diminishes the meaning behind that particular form of punctuation. Rather than highlighting any particular sentence, I merely gloss over the exclamation point and treat it as if it were a period. Honestly though, try not to butcher our language, I like to use it every once and awhile myself; I prefer that it remain intact.
I would refute the substance of your argument (instead of merely attack your ‘intelligence’). However, forgive me if I find it pointless to engage in a moral debate with someone who has trouble mastering elementary English.
OK, I am being really mean, please forgive me. However, what you said is offensive. How dare you say that someone who decides to seek a divorce is somehow dishonest or lacks commitment. Forgive me if I am slightly irritated by your presumptuous and idiotic ramblings. Let me ask you this, should a battered wife try to work out her problems with her husband, or is it ok for her to “walk away”? Is it possible that someone who has marriage issues might be the best person to be governor? Now I would argue that the two are not related. Still, have you considered the possibility that the personal trials and hardships that come with divorce actually make individuals who experience divorce better suited for public office? Certainly they have experienced something that you, in your 50 years of marriage, could not possibly understand. You have a complete lack of perspicacity in this subject. In fact, this is a whole aspect of life that is beyond your cognition, making individuals like you unfit for public office, due to your lack of worldliness. Thus, one might conclude that divorce should be a prerequisite for public office, rather than a disqualification.
It must be amazing to have the level of insight to look into the lives of others and really understand their flaws. I mean, we have no idea why they decided to separate, yet you are able to deduce so much out of what little information the public has been given. Mr. “Watchdog” I commend you. Brilliance is certainly hard to come by, but what you have is indeed something special.
You have much to learn, weedhopper!!!!!!
When you write a post that is the truth and some of the people on here that hide behind a user names don’t like it they resort to name calling immediately. It is very hard to have an adult conversation with them.
Well, isn’t that sweet? He can’t run his own life properly and he thinks he can run the State of Iowa.
Something wrong with this picture!
I thought the same thing at first but then I realized…we have no idea why they are separating. It doesn’t mean it’s his fault or that he could have done anything to prevent it. Maybe his wife is a lying, cheating whore. If that’s the case, then it would have no impact on his ability to run his life or the state. So why do you believe he is incompetent based on this story with no facts to give any indication that he is or isn’t?
Like I said, I thought the same thing at first but I realized i was assuming. You know what the makes…another Casper.
When you make a commitment you work it out you don’t walk away!!
After 50 years of marriage and going thru many different kinds of crisis. You work it out.
Your word is your bond!
The man is not fit to be Governor. To many other candidates out there that still have their credibility.
Sorry
Sorry Watchdog…i don’t agree with you on that. It would be nice to be able to always…”work it out” but as the intellectual blogger “laughing out loud” points out the obvious…IT TAKES TWO. That might have worked for you but it doesn’t with all. People change for the good and for the bad. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Sometimes it just isn’t meant to be for a multitude of different reasons. I’m glad you worked it out. I wish everyone could. But you’re ignorant with the thought that it’s just that simple, cut and dried.
You have every right to disagree with me.
Oh, especially when their are kids involved!
it takes two people to want to work it out, may be he does and she said no I am done and instead of being controlling, emotionally manipulating and or fighting all the time that makes a home a hostile environment, they decided as adults to do what is best in a bad situation. You can’t make someone love you if they don’t