I do like Iowa's system, more than the systems of many other states anyway, but the serious effort put into this campaign by anti-gay groups is a pretty serious attack against the independence of the judiciary.
On another note, I looked up information about Iowa's courts and fortunately this campaign did absolutely nothing. Besides the fact that the four members still on the court all agreed to the gay marriage decision, the governor actually has almost no power of who to appoint. In Iowa, an independent panel appointed to staggered six year terms (half by the governor and half by the state bar) and also including the longest serving associate justice, gives the governor three candidates to pick from per vacancy. So Branstad, even if he wanted to, couldn't appoint a reactionary that would reverse this decision. 
Yeah, Iowa does it Right (tm) on the judicial branch
