 Behn was a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010 but withdrew, endorsing Terry Branstad.His platform included promoting fiscal restraint, preserving right-to-work laws, and allowing Iowans to vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.He called for voters to vote against retention for those Iowa Supreme Court justices who decided that Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional in "Varnum v. Brien".