After earning his undergraduate degree, Vander Plaats became a high school teacher and basketball coach. He was principal at Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn High School and later Sheldon High School. Vander Plaats served as president of Opportunities Unlimited before moving on in the same role with MVP Leadership, Inc.
Elections
In 2002, Vander Plaats unsuccessfully ran for the Iowa GOP gubernatorial nomination, losing to Doug Gross. Vander Plaats was a candidate for the 2006 Iowa Republican gubernatorial nomination, competing against Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle. As the race progressed, he withdrew his candidacy for governor in favor of being Nussle's running mate in the general election. Calls by GOP party higher-ups for Vander Plaats to get out of the race were reportedly due to Vander Plaats reporting only $459,000 cash on hand compared to Nussle's $2,500,000. The Republican ticket of Nussle–Vander Plaats lost the election to the Democratic ticket of Culver/Judge. On January 26, 2009, Vander Plaats announced the formation of a 2010 gubernatorial campaign committee with state Representative Jodi Tymeson as chair and former state Auditor Dick Johnson as co-chair of the committee. In the Iowa gubernatorial election of 2010, incumbent Democratic Governor Chet Culver ran for re-election. The Republican candidates were Vander Plaats, state representativeRod Roberts, and former governor Terry Branstad. In the Republican primary on June 8, 2010, Vander Plaats lost to Branstad, receiving 40 percent of the vote compared to 50 percent for Branstad. Roberts was third with 9 percent of the vote.
Political activism
In February 2007 Vander Plaats released his first book, Light from Lucas. This story of his third son was published by Tyndale House Publishers. Vander Plaats served as the Iowa state chair of Republican Presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's 2008 failed presidential campaign. On many occasions, Huckabee called Vander Plaats the "next Governor of Iowa," suggesting that Vander Plaats would run for Governor again in 2010. In 2010, Vander Plaats successfully led the campaign against the retention of three members of the Iowa Supreme Court who had voted to overturn Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act in Varnum v. Brien. In November 2010, Vander Platts became president and chief executive officer of an umbrella group called The Family Leader, a group that includes the Iowa Family Policy Center, Marriage Matters, and a political action committee. Through the new group, the socially conservative organizations planned to play a more influential role in the 2012 Iowa caucus campaigns than in 2007 and 2008, including offering an endorsement for the first time. In December 2011, Vander Plaats endorsed Rick Santorum for president. ABC News reported that Vander Plaats had solicited up to a million dollars from Santorum and other candidates in exchange for his endorsement, that he and Santorum had discussed the subject of money when negotiating the endorsement, and that he had tried to get Michele Bachmann of Minnesota to drop out of the race. The Family Leader denied the report. In 2015, Vander Plaats endorsed Ted Cruz for President, saying Cruz was the "most consistent and principled conservative who has the ability to not only win Iowa but I believe to win the nomination." In 2018, he published an opinion piece in the New York Times titled "Cruelty at the Border Is Not Justice" in which he characterized the Trump administration family separation policy as "unconscionable. Inexcusable."
Personal life
He and his wife Darla have four sons: Hans, Lucas, Josh, and Logan.
