2016
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Democrats Should Get Rid Of The Counterproductive Superdelegate System
It looks like the debate on superdelegates may take central stage at the Democrats’ national convention in Philadelphia in July – not about how they vote, but how the delegates vote on them. Bernie Sanders campaign is looking to use their delegate haul from the primaries and caucuses at the convention to push for significant changes to…
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At GOP Fundraiser Tamara Scott Basically Prays For Hillary’s Arrest For Benghazi
Iowa Republicans gathered in Des Moines last night for their annual Lincoln Day Dinner, one of the state party’s big fundraisers of the year. Last year they had 11 presidential hopefuls speak. This year was an understandably smaller affair, with their keynote speech given by Kris “Tanto” Paronto, an Army Ranger who was part of…
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No Joint Fundraising Talks Yet Between Trump and Iowa GOP
Politico reported earlier this week that the Donald Trump campaign is looking to set up a joint fundraising operation between them and the RNC and state parties. The structure they’re envisioning would allow for major donors to write much bigger checks that would eventually end up in the Trump and RNC’s coffers. It would also…
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A Day On The Trail With Mike Sherzan
“Hi, I’m Mike Sherzan. I grew up near the Fairgrounds and I’m running for Congress.” Former businessman Mike Sherzan repeated that line close to a hundred times this past Saturday, working his way through festivals and picnics as he campaigned for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. One of three Democrats running for the chance to take…
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Hillary Clinton Wins Nebraska Primary After Losing Nebraska Caucus
Hillary Clinton is the projected winner of the Nebraska primary this Tuesday night, handily outpacing Bernie Sanders by a 60%-39% margin in the early returns [Update: Clinton finished with a closer 53%-47% win as Sanders closed significantly throughout the night]. The win is merely in a beauty contest, however – the delegates to the national convention…
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5 Reasons Joni Ernst Will – And Won’t Be – Donald Trump’s Vice President
While many high-profile Republican leaders around the country have struggled in embracing Donald Trump as their nominee, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is all-in. So much so that he’s even offering up Iowa’s own Senator Joni Ernst as Trump’s potential running mate, saying he’ll personally press Trump on selecting her. Senator Chuck Grassley joined the chorus…
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A Day On The Trail With Patty Judge
Patty Judge was running a few minutes behind when she got her travel schedule last Thursday, full of meetings and event drop-bys in northern Iowa. She gathered with her campaign staff in her East Village office housed out of Jeff Link’s consulting firm. “I need a fast car and somebody to drive it,” Judge told…
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Meet Iowa’s First Transgender National Elector, Jack Schuler
Last week at the 3rd District Convention in Creston, Democrats made a bit of history by electing Iowa’s first transgender person to serve as one of Iowa’s national elector. Jack Schuler – formerly Elyse Schuler – was elected to the position after a few rounds of balloting by the Democratic activists in the Des Moines…
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Why Iowa Democrats’ First 2016 Office Openings Are In These 2 Rural Counties
Iowa Democrats opened their first two coordinated campaign field offices of the 2016 cycle on Wednesday and Thursday. But it wasn’t in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids or Davenport. Instead, it was much farther north, and in the considerably smaller counties of Mitchell and Floyd, where Iowa Democratic Party Chair Andy McGuire traveled to christen their new…
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What Early Voting Numbers May Say About Iowa’s Primary Races
Early voting in Iowa’s June 7th primary has now been underway for a week. Iowans can vote in person at their county auditor’s office or by an absentee ballot at home. The number of those absentees are always a very interesting thing to track (especially to this former field staffer). It’s one of the only…
