September 2015

Now that we’re 4 months out from the Iowa Caucus, and the political silly season of summer has finally dissipated, all eyes turn increasingly to Iowa. But who really has the advantage here? Who’s connecting with caucus-goers and who’s just coasting on publicity? The best way to learn what’s actually happening is to follow the…

Were Rob Sand to run for office in the near future, he’ll already hold many qualifications of a successful candidate for public office: an Assistant Attorney General, family man, rural upbringing and… chicken wrangler. That last one he added to his resume early on growing up in Northeast Iowa, where he developed an appreciation for…

Starting Line has been out on the Iowa Caucus trail a lot recently, hitting up both Democratic and Republican events, mostly in central Iowa the last week and a half. There’s always something interesting to take out of each candidate’s visit, though oftentimes not enough to fill a full post (or I’m just too tired…

Longtime Democratic State Senator Dick Dearden will be retiring next year and not running for re-election in 2016. Democrats looking to succeed the Senator in Des Moines’ East Side/Pleasant Hill district are quickly making their intentions known. Earlier this week, Dearden’s daughter, Pam Conner, who works at the Iowa Division of Labor, made public that…

When Miyoko Hikiji’s friends first suggested to her that she run for office, she was hesitant. Am I really qualified for this? Would I be prepared? Those were the questions that went through her mind before she realized how silly the doubts were. “I’ve done a lot of scary things in my career,” the Iraq…

Pour one out for Scotty boy, his all-too-brief campaign has come to an end. After Scott Walker’s surprising announcement on Monday that he’s quitting the race, many political observers are asking the question: who’s next? If someone like Walker, who was the Iowa front-runner for all but about one or two months, could suddenly implode…

(Guest Post from Hector Salamanca, an immigration activist who attends nearly every Iowa Caucus campaign event) Happy national Hispanic Heritage month! It has been quite the presidential campaign summer in Iowa and if you happen to be Latino, specifically Mexican, it’s been pretty rough. As a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipient with an…

It’s different this time. That must have been the thought going through Hillary Clinton’s mind as her campaign van crossed the border into Iowa days after her official announcement in April. It was a fun, impromptu-like start to her second presidential run, the idea that the most-watched woman in the world would just jump in…

Influential Democrats seem to increasingly see Jim Mowrer as the most formidable candidate to take on freshman Republican Congressman David Young in the 3rd District. His campaign is releasing a number of new endorsers, shared early with Starting Line, many of which are well-known names to Democratic activists. Former Lt. Governor Sally Pederson, former Planned…

It can be hard at times during the non-stop 2016 coverage to find reliable, well-informed analysis of what’s actually going on inside the campaigns and the mood of the voters. This year has proven particularly volatile, with outsider candidates no one thought had any chance surge to the front of the pack. But it hasn’t…