2017
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Iowa Senate Democrats Oust Rob Hogg As Leader, Elect Janet Petersen
That didn’t last long. Iowa Senate Democrats met today to take the rare step of electing a new minority leader not even halfway through a campaign cycle. Senator Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids was replaced by Janet Petersen of Des Moines, who will now lead the Senate Democrats in the upcoming legislative session and head…
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State Of The Race In Iowa’s 4th District (October 2017)
Starting Line finishes its analysis of Iowa’s four congressional races today by looking west to Steve King country (you can read our previous district posts here: 1st District, 2nd District, 3rd District). There’s no one Democrats would like to see go away more than King, but his reliably Republican district has always made that a…
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When The Door To Democracy Closes
Call them liberals, progressives, activists, or Indivisible, but do NOT call them paid protesters or political operatives. What they do is not dictated by some outside entity, it is matter of personal belief and their actions come from the heart. The payment they seek is an America where each is able to live their life…
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More Political Ads Like This, Please
Iowans won’t be seeing too many TV ads for Novembers’s municipal races, most of which are relatively low-profile affairs where not a whole lot of money spent. But one of the few they will watch is really quite good and a “refreshing” change of pace from the typical campaign ads we’ve come to expect. Josh…
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Iowa’s Sexual Harassment Problem Starts At The Top, Too
Iowa Senate Republicans’ disgusting sexual harassment behavior cost you as an Iowa taxpayer $1.75 million. That was the settlement reached to end a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Kirsten Anderson, the former Communication Director for the Iowa Senate Republicans. That payment ended the lawsuit but it shouldn’t end the investigation of Senator Bill Dix. Dix…
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State Of The Race In Iowa’s 3rd District (October 2017)
Starting Line’s analysis of Iowa’ four congressional races continues today with the most intriguing primary of all: the Des Moines-based 3rd District. Four, possibly five Democrats have a real shot at winning the party’s nomination to take on incumbent Republican Congressman David Young. It’s also more likely than not that the nomination goes to a…
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How Many Iowans Must Die Before Reynolds Reverses Medicaid Privatization?
This week the Des Moines Register reported another Iowan on Medicaid died following refusal of Medicaid providers to pay for adequate care. Her nursing home’s decision to refuse accepting Medicaid patients on ventilators would require her to move 90 miles from Des Moines. The Register reported, “the Fleur Heights nursing home blames insufficient and untimely…
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State Of The Race In Iowa’s 2nd District (October 2017)
With the 3rd quarter financial filings all getting posted on Monday, Starting Line continues its series of reports on where the field stands in each Iowa congressional district. Up today: Iowa’s 2nd District, where incumbent Democrat Dave Loebsack, the last elected Democrat on the federal level in the state, is looking to secure a seventh…
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Host Of Elected Officials, Key Activists Back Thomas Heckroth In 1st District
Thomas Heckroth’s campaign rolled out a long list of endorsers for his candidacy in Iowa’s 1st District Democratic primary today. State Representative Art Staed of Cedar Rapids joins Iowa House colleague Bruce Bearinger (who announced his support earlier) in backing the Waverly native. And he added a large host of activists and former elected officials…
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Reasons To Raise The Minimum Wage, From Both The Right And Left
For some time, both across the nation and recently in Iowa, the issue of raising the minimum wage has been hotly debated. Although the Iowa General Assembly has failed to ac – and working to stop it all together – it looks like Polk County and other parts of the state believe differently. Traditionally the…
