Drawing heavily on her life experiences growing up in a working-class family, Dubuque State Representative Abby Finkenauer officially entered the 1st Congressional District race today. She's currently in her second term in the Iowa House, and at age 28, would...
You could call it The Revenge Of David Johnson. Ever since the Republican Senator from Northwest Iowa bolted the party over Donald Trump, his former party members have given him the cold shoulder in the Legislature. So it perhaps was not a coincidence that the...
Nate Boulton is not the type of candidate that Iowa Democrats have usually put up for statewide office over the past few cycles. He does not have a famous last name. He has served in public office for just four months. At 37, he is the youngest member of the Senate...
The 2017 legislative session was a disaster for working Iowans. I have never seen an administration fight so hard for low-paying jobs. Iowa can and must do better, particularly for rural and smaller communities – like my hometown of Charles City – that too often...
Iowa State University professor Dirk Deam won't be running for the Democratic nomination in Iowa's 4th District this cycle. His now-ended campaign informed Starting Line that some new family health obligations will keep him from devoting the full time he felt he...
In what could easily become the most interesting 2018 campaign to watch, Pete D'Alessandro filed papers today to form an exploratory committee for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. D'Alessandro is a longtime Iowa political operative, with a resume that includes...
Congressman Rod Blum has caused quite a commotion among many of his constituents, both Republicans and Democrats, for his response to being asked about holding public town hall meetings in his District. Rep. Blum, with an alarming casualness, brushed off the...
Democratic candidate Mike Sherzan is shutting down his recently-launched campaign for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. Sherzan came in second place in Democrats' primary in 2016, and had hoped to use lessons learned from that bid to better-position himself for...
Democrats' gubernatorial nominee for 2018 will not simply be the most important name on the ballot. He or she will also be the defacto leader of the party in a state that hasn't really had one since Tom Harkin's retirement in 2014. They have a very big task ahead...
Recently, I have been in a public discussion with members of the Eastern Iowa press corps. Columnist Todd Dorman of the Cedar Rapids Gazette believes a Des Moines candidate for Governor is the wrong voice for Democrats. He defends his position by acknowledging...
