Category: Democrats

The Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus says they’ve been marching in the State Fair Veterans Parade for the past ten years, yet were denied participation at the last minute this year from an official in Kim Reynolds’ administration. The group says they were already approved this year to join the parade, but were called on Friday by Chair of the Iowa Veterans Commission Dan Gannon, a Reynolds appointee, and told they could not participate because they were political. They were apparently not given a specific rule as to why the change was made. “We were informed Friday, after we followed the instructions […]

Turning out female voters who typically only vote in presidential races will be key to Democrats’ success in Iowa’s midterm elections, former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards told a packed room in Des Moines of over 250 women on Thursday. Speaking to the Polk County Democrats’ annual Women’s Event fundraiser, Richards congratulated Planned Parenthood of the Heartland for their recent Iowa Supreme Court victory on the 72-hour waiting period for abortion. But she reminded them that the November election could determine just how long-lasting those wins are. “This battle to protect access to women’s healthcare and affordable healthcare in this […]

Democrats in Iowa are feeling good as they head into the 2018 elections, boosted by turnout and registration data from the primary that shows their base energized and involved. The party added over 24,000 new registered Democrats in a month and saw their largest primary turnout in decades. But the numbers weren’t all positive across the state. Certain counties, including those that saw large shifts to Donald Trump and the Republicans in 2016, didn’t enjoy the same kind of improvements in Democratic momentum. While 38% of registered Democrats turned out to vote in Story County, only 17% showed up in […]

There’s a lot more registered Democrats in Iowa following last month’s high-profile, competitive primaries for governor and three congressional districts. Updated voter registration numbers from the Secretary of State’s office today shows 24,189 new registered Democrats over last month’s pre-primary numbers. They’re up 28,352 voters if you compare to the May numbers, before early voting started. Republicans grew their voter registration totals by 3,479 in the last month. Registered Democrats still trail registered Republicans in Iowa, 618,388 to 642,827, but it brings them much closer to parity after being down 45,000 to Republicans, which was some of their worst numbers […]

Many of Democrats’ elected officials at all level of Iowa government will look a lot younger if things go well this November. A new generation of young Democrats won primaries and secured nominations in last night’s primary in key races across the state. Half of Iowa Democrats’ congressional candidates will be under 40. As will half of their non-incumbent statewide candidates. And exciting, young Democrats prevailed in several local legislative primaries that will ensure them a seat at the Statehouse. That all is no small feat in a state with a much older population that often prefers to vote for longtime […]

Iowa held its primaries today and the results in several key races have big implications for the state and national political environment in 2018 and beyond. Here’s Starting Line’s summary of what happened for all you national political watchers. Democrats Smash Turnout Records By far the best news of the night for Democrats was the record turnout in many places around the state. Just over 100,000 voted in the 2016 Democratic primary. Only 72,388 showed up in 2014. Neither of those years had statewide contested primaries with big spending. 2006 was the last time that happened, and just under 150,000 […]

For this evening’s Democratic primary election results, Starting Line will be using this page to keep you updated on all the major developments. I’ll be filling in results and add a little bit of commentary for the key races below as the numbers come in. I will also have individual stories that I’ll post separately on. Just keep refreshing this page and watch our social media feeds. Forgive any of the awkward formatting below. Governor’s Race Fred Hubbell has won (see story here), and may end up with over 50% of the vote statewide. He’s currently at 58% of the […]