2017
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Josh Mandelbaum Scares Christine Hensley Into Retirement
In news that shocked the Des Moines political world, longtime City Councilwoman Christine Hensley announced she would not seek reelection in 2017. The Republican representing a deeply-Democratic seat was already facing what likely would have been her toughest race yet in her 24-year career on the council. Environmental attorney Josh Mandelbaum kicked off his candidacy last month…
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Mark Chelgren Compares Abortion To Time Shares
The Iowa Senate engaged in a passionate debate last night over the 20-week abortion ban and 72-hour waiting period legislation. Republicans sent the bill to the governor’s desk after a 30-20 party-line vote, but not before a few senators made some interesting comments during debate. Senator Mark Chelgren of Ottumwa expressed his dismay that the…
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Protests Put Trump’s Tax Returns Back In The Spotlight
National tax day protests this past weekend focused on President Trump’s stubborn refusal to reveal his tax returns. His unsupported claim that he can’t reveal his returns because he’s under audit has been thoroughly debunked. The IRS is on the record confirming that Trump can make his returns public while under audit. Trump’s spokesman Sean…
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Democrats’ Plan To Retake The Iowa House Starts With You
As the 2017 legislative session draws to a close, many Iowans want to know what they can do to hold Republican legislators accountable and win back the Statehouse for Democrats. Many eyes are focused on the big gubernatorial race, but the battle for control of the Iowa House will be a prominent fight as well. And for activists…
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Big Business Wins Again Over People On Internet Privacy
It’s an unusual day when Congress can bring together the disparate factions in the United States. But our lawmakers in Washington have done just that. And it has largely slipped past public view because of cable news’ fixation on all things Trump. This is unfortunate, because the actions that occurred in the past three weeks…
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Mike Sherzan Bows Out Of 3rd District Race
Democratic candidate Mike Sherzan is shutting down his recently-launched campaign for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Sherzan came in second place in Democrats’ primary in 2016, and had hoped to use lessons learned from that bid to better-position himself for the primary, as well as a general election matchup with Republican David Young. But fundraising concerns and…
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Will Any Endorsement Be Worth A Damn In Governor’s Race?
Democrats’ gubernatorial nominee for 2018 will not simply be the most important name on the ballot. He or she will also be the defacto leader of the party in a state that hasn’t really had one since Tom Harkin’s retirement in 2014. They have a very big task ahead of them. To say the Democratic Party…
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Vote Smart Opens Fact HQ At Drake University
If you love and value facts, you should be excited about this announcement. Vote Smart, one of the nation’s premier non-partisan political research organizations, opened their new headquarters at Drake University on Monday. Vote Smart President Richard Kimball said they had looked at 17 schools before selecting Drake University as their new national headquarters. This…
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Round 2: Konfrst To Hold Hagenow Accountable For Broken Promises
House Republican Majority Leader Chris Hagenow campaigned for reelection last year on a platform that bore no resemblance to his voting record in the Legislature just a few months after. So Jennifer Konfrst has decided to give Hagenow a rematch in 2018, announcing today she’d run for House District 43 again. “I love this community, and…
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Focus On Issues In Governor’s Race, Not Fake Des Moines “Curse”
Recently, I have been in a public discussion with members of the Eastern Iowa press corps. Columnist Todd Dorman of the Cedar Rapids Gazette believes a Des Moines candidate for Governor is the wrong voice for Democrats. He defends his position by acknowledging Governor Chet Culver’s loss and my loss to Governor Terry Branstad in…
