Category: Iowa Caucus

Here they come. A deluge of potential 2020 presidential candidates is set to make appearances throughout Iowa over the next few weeks. The lead-off caucus state has seen its fair share of White House hopefuls make the rounds here since the 2016 election, but the upcoming gauntlet of the Wing Ding Dinner, the State Fair Soapbox speeches and the coming announcement of September’s Steak Fry guests marks a new phase. August will essentially be the unofficial kick-off of full 2020 caucus campaigning. But a lot of folks have pointed out in recent days that there’s one thing missing from all […]

Congressman Ro Khanna stumped for local Democrats in Iowa this weekend while pitching his unique brand of progressive vision mixed with Silicon Valley innovation. It’s his second trip out to the state after visiting for a Pete D’Alessandro congressional event back in May during the primary. Khanna drew a large crowd of over 100 people to the Asian & Latino Coalition’s Saturday afternoon reception for him and congressional candidate Cindy Axne. Khanna, the first-term congressman who represents the Silicon Valley area around San Francisco, has emerged as a leading voice on the party’s left in recent years. He’s gotten involved in […]

Montana Governor Steve Bullock joked that he wouldn’t talk about his Iowa ties at his meet-and-greet in Coralville this weekend, but those local connections showed up all the same. Barbara Smith, Bullock’s second cousin that lives in Iowa City, heard through the family grapevine that the governor would be in town and came out to meet him for the first time. Bullock was on a two-day swing through Iowa to help out down-ballot Democrats. He headlined a fundraiser for House Democrats in Dubuque, for Rob Sand in Decorah and held local meetings with Democratic activists in Davenport, Coralville and Cedar […]

Best get your tickets now for the annual Iowa Democratic Wing Ding Dinner on August 10 because it’s going to be a wild night. With the unexpected news that Story Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti will attend – and that he’s thinking of running for president – the speaker line-up got quite interesting. Expect an extra contingent of national news reporters to be hanging out in the booths at the Surf Ballroom to take in the curious move from the high-profile thorn in President Donald Trump’s side. The evening itself may serve as the perfect preview of the competitive free-for-all that […]

Will voters be eager to support “the exact opposite of Trump,” as Jeff Merkley describes himself, for president in 2020? That’s the sentiment the senator from Oregon hopes he finds among Iowans as he makes some early trips out to the lead-off caucus state and seriously considers launching his own presidential candidacy next year. Merkley traversed the Democratic activist scene two weekends ago in Iowa (his second major trip here since 2016) right as his efforts to expose the Trump Administration’s family separation policy gained steam. While Trump’s policy was first implemented back in April, the dam of public opinion didn’t […]

Congressman John Delaney, the only declared Democratic presidential candidate for 2020, is staffing up his Iowa operation with a new hire that has some solid in-state experience. Monica Biddix will serve as Delaney’s new communications director for the lead-off caucus state, building out Delaney’s current presence here a year and a half out from the Iowa Caucus. Biddix most recently worked as Andy McGuire’s campaign manager in the gubernatorial primary. A native of North Carolina and proud Tar Heel sports supporter, Biddix first came to Iowa in 2012 and was instrumental in keeping the Iowa Senate under Democratic control. She […]

The release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 13 Russians charged with interfering with the American election added extra proof to what many already suspected and knew of Russia’s 2016 meddling. The 37-page indictment added plenty of new details to the far-reaching efforts of Russian operatives’ efforts to use social media to turn Americans against themselves. The most disturbing aspect of it may be just how easy it was for a small group of dedicated people with some money to implement it – and the fact that there’s little to stop them from carrying it out again in 2020. […]