We’ve built up an important community that has stood up for Iowans. What a world. Amidst all the stupidity and suffering so far in 2025, our team has had one small reason to celebrate: Iowa Starting Line turned 10 years old earlier this year. It’s a minor miracle...
Iowa Senate Democrats voted tonight to remove Sen. Zach Wahls as minority leader and replace him with Sen. Pam Jochum. The leadership change was precipitated by Wahls dismissing two longtime Democratic Senate caucus staffers, both of whom worked at the Statehouse...
The Iowa Democratic Party has a new chair: Rita Hart, a former state senator and farmer who was the party's lieutenant governor candidate in 2018 and a congressional candidate in 2020. The party's state central committee elected Hart in a three-way contest this...
Iowa teachers would be required to out many LGBTQ students to their parents regardless of home situations in a new bill introduced this morning by many House Republicans, including Speaker Pat Grassley. House File 9 aims to prohibit schools and their teachers from...
Iowa Starting Line closes out its best year yet as 2022 comes to an end, one in which we saw rapid growth and significant success with our social-first reporting efforts. Our focus in getting Iowa news journalism in front of Iowans where they're already at...
Iowans returned their absentee ballots at record rates this year despite fears that a new law passed by Republicans might cause a significant number of ballots to go uncounted. Secretary of State data appears to show an overall absentee return rate of 97.5%, the...
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks registered to vote at state Sen. Chris Cournoyer's house in LeClaire on the last day for pre-registration this year, then voted in Scott County the day before the election. The Scott County Auditor's office confirmed in response to an...
Well, it was fun while it lasted. The end of Iowa's lead-off role in the Democratic presidential nomination calendar is about to be official. Reporting on Thursday revealed the plans that everyone expected, that the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee will boot Iowa...
As Senate Republican leadership faces internal tumult over their failure to recapture the majority last week, it's worth noting an interesting exchange between Iowa's Sen. Joni Ernst and some conservative constituents earlier this year where she declined to say...
It looks like voters have returned Rob Sand to the State Auditor's office, after the last outstanding county reported its results today. Sand now holds a 2,614-vote lead over Republican opponent Todd Halbur, a margin that–while close–ought to be enough to withstand...
