Zachary Oren Smith is your friendly neighborhood reporter. He leads Starting Line’s political coverage where he investigates corruption, housing affordability and the future of work. For nearly a decade, he’s written award-winning stories for Iowa Public Radio, The Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Send your tips on hard news and good food to zach@iowastartingline.com.
Zachary Oren Smith
Latest from Zachary Oren Smith
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Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan stumps for Sarah Trone Garriott as Iowa feels healthcare cuts
Slotkin came to Iowa with a warning: the healthcare crisis hitting rural communities isn’t coming—it’s already here. US Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan made a stop in Iowa on Tuesday to campaign alongside Democratic congressional candidate Sarah Trone Garriott. The pair held a town hall in Des Moines focused on the crisis emerging around health…
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Rob Sand proposes term limits, election overhaul as part of accountability plan
Iowa’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate wants to overhaul how Iowans vote, who can run, and how long they can serve—and he thinks Republicans might go along with it. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand is calling for sweeping changes to Iowa’s political system, including term limits, age caps, and a restructured primary election process. Sand, who serves…
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Iowa residents asks courts to intervene after Trump administration cancels citizenship ceremony
A 26-year Iowa City resident was approved for US citizenship. Then the Trump Administration canceled his citizenship ceremony at the last minute. Dr. Sunday Goshit came to Iowa City from Nigeria in 2000 on a student visa with a specific plan: earn a PhD in geography and go home. But over the next quarter century,…
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Trump tries to take control of Iowa’s ‘secure’ mail-in voting system
Trump’s new executive order would require Iowa to submit its mail voter list for federal approval before each election — a move election experts say is unconstitutional and courts are likely to block. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday targeting mail-in voting nationwide, creating new federal oversight over a system Iowa election officials…
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Ottumwa residents say ‘the system will crash’ after Medicaid cuts
Democratic congressional candidate Sarah Trone Garriott held a roundtable in Ottumwa where local health care professionals and patients discussed the closure of MercyOne’s Ottumwa clinic and how the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” led to it. OTTUMWA – Kerri Rupe, a retired family nurse practitioner, said working in the health care system taught her how broken…
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Five ways the Affordable Care Act improved health care in the United States
The Affordable Care Act turns 16 this month. Before it passed, insurers could deny you coverage for a pre-existing condition, cut you off when your bills got too high, and charge you full price with no help. Here’s what changed. Sixteen years ago, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. Since…
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Nathan Sage drops out of US Senate race, endorses Turek
Nathan Sage dropped out of the Democratic primary for Iowa’s US Senate race, endorsing Josh Turek. This reshapes the 2026 Democratic primary as Turek and Zach Wahls duke it out to take on Republican establishment pick Ashley Hinson for the open seat. Nathan Sage, the Marine and Army veteran who was the first Democrat to…
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Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Nunn back bill that could make it harder for married women to vote
The SAVE Act is a massive overhaul of the country’s elections. Iowa’s House delegation was part of the razor-thin margin that passed it. The bill could disproportionately impact eligible women voters. The US House of Representatives passed an elections overhaul bill Wednesday that would implement sweeping regulations on how people register to vote and how…
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Iowa Republican bill would classify all abortions as homicide
Legislators have been happy to prosecute abortion providers in the past. But their new move is to target Iowans who get abortions themselves, classifying the procedure as a homicide. Iowa Republicans have been pushing for years to make abortions less accessible to Iowans and criminalize their healthcare providers. This session, however, Republicans are pushing legislation…
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Iowa Republicans push to eliminate school vaccine requirements, other sweeping changes
As measles returns to the United States, Iowa Republicans want to remove school vaccine requirements shown to reduce spread of deadly viruses. Iowa Republicans advanced legislation Wednesday that would make Iowa the first state in the nation to completely eliminate vaccine requirements for K-12 students, marking a dramatic shift from nearly five decades of public…
