Category: Iowa Legislature

Pottawattamie County voters elected Republican Jon Jacobsen to fill the remainder of recently-passed Representative Greg Forristall last night. But the surprising part here was just how close the independent bid of Forristall’s widow, Carol, got to victory. Jacobsen received 1,069 votes (43.9%) to Forristall’s 803 (33.0%), with another 465 write-in votes (19.1%). The vast majority of those write-ins were presumably for Ray Stevens, the Democratic nominee who failed to turn in his nominating papers in time to get on the ballot. Voter turnout in the special election was only 10.3%. The entire ordeal was a mess for Democrats following their […]

State Representative Curt Hanson of Fairfield has passed away, House Democrats confirmed this morning. The Democratic lawmaker and retired teacher had represented House District 82 in Southern Iowa since 2009. Hanson was a very well-liked and respected member of the Legislature, known for his kind personality and dedication to his work. “Iowa lost an exceptional public servant today with the passing of Rep. Curt Hanson,” House Democratic Leader Mark Smith said in a statement. “Curt taught thousands of students to drive safely on the roads in Jefferson County and was an active member of the Fairfield community his entire life. Rep. […]

Last week, Governor Kim Reynolds took over the reins of state government. As the new Governor, she has a unique opportunity this summer to rise above politics and break out from the over-sized shadows of both Trump and Branstad. I went to the transition ceremony and heard her outline her top priorities in her first speech as Governor. Reynolds said her top priority was reforming Iowa’s tax structure to make it more “fair.”  While I agree it should be fair, the path of the Iowa GOP today is massive corporate tax giveaways that have already led to a slowing state […]

If Iowa Republicans were concerned about a voter backlash in response to the deeply conservative agenda they passed in the Iowa Statehouse this year, they’re not letting on. After a legislative session in which new GOP majorities passed sweeping rightwing reforms that transformed the very nature of Iowa government and society, Republicans are promising to go even further next year. As Speaker Linda Upmeyer and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds explained in the days after Saturday’s adjournment, Republicans will consider large tax cuts, pension reform and school privatization efforts in 2018. And some abortion opponents want to revisit a “heartbeat bill” that would […]

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 bill didn’t go further, and then made a curious comparison when defending the 72-hour waiting period provision, which he called the “time share” clause. When the bill is signed into law, Iowa will become the sixth state in the nation to impose the three-day waiting […]

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 I’m running to fight for all families in our district,” Konfrst said in a press release. “As a mom and an educator, I’m deeply troubled by politicians at the Capitol who put special interests ahead of Iowans. The residents of our district deserve a representative whose policies […]

When Iowa became the third state in the nation to legalize gay marriage eight years ago, I was working in Washington, D.C. My coworkers were taken aback by what they thought was a conservative, red, rural Midwestern state taking such an important leap forward in equal rights. They were even more surprised when I informed them that, actually, Iowa often has a progressive streak on social policies and we’re a very purple state politically. That was true then. It’s not anymore. Just over three months ago the Iowa Legislature gaveled in with a fully Republican-controlled Statehouse. For the first time in 20 years, […]