Videos
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Cornhole Champions #6: Just feed the kids (with Sen. Janice Weiner and Mike Zimmer)
Half a million students are enrolled in Iowa’s public schools. And because Iowa charges students for meals, some rack up lunchroom debt and others go hungry. Studies show hunger impacts academic performance, classroom behavior, as well as overall health and even test scores. But so far, the powers that be in Iowa aren’t interested. On…
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Cornhole Champions #5: A history of pre-Roe Iowa (with Dr. Lina-Maria Murillo)
Politics has a short memory. And consequently, it’s challenging to remember that the movement for reproductive rights does not begin with Dobbs or even Roe v. Wade. People here in Iowa and elsewhere have been locked in a fight for reproductive freedom that far predates any of us. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host…
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Cornhole Champions #4 – Counting every ballot (with Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott)
State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott of Windsor Heights was cold-calling the local school district. An employee was among a group of new citizens who Secretary of State Paul Pate targeted for additional screening. If the employee didn’t show additional IDs to the auditor, their vote wouldn’t count. The Democrat from Windsor Heights was out curing…
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Cornhole Champions #3 – Talking turkey (with Rep. Jennifer Konrfst)
When the Iowa Legislature returns to Des Moines in January, the chambers will only have gotten redder. Iowa Democrats did not have many successes this November. Meanwhile, Republicans expanded their majorities. The Iowa Senate will have a 35-15 Republican majority; the House will have a 67-33 majority. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary…
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Cornhole Champions #2 – Lessons from the grassroots (with Rep. Josh Turek and Sharon Lake)
US Sen. Joni Ernst is a combat veteran with deep experience in military policymaking through her work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She expressed interest in leading the US military in President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet. But she got snubbed by a guy who doesn’t believe women should be combat veterans. On this episode of…
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‘A stunning public rebuke’: When voters had the choice, they rejected private school vouchers
On Election Day, voters in Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska squarely rejected private school choice ballot measures, demonstrating how much voters of all stripes oppose the use of taxpayer dollars to fund private school tuition.
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Cornhole Champions #1 – Recounting the count
Iowa Democrats didn’t exactly get points on the board in 2024. But it’s not all bad news. Toss the bags with us as we get a temperature check on what a recount can—and more importantly, cannot—do. I don’t have to tell you that 2024 was not a good year for Democrats. But it wasn’t all…
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Opinion: Comstock is Trump and the GOP’s backdoor to a national abortion ban
In an op-ed, Kate Kelly highlights how the 1873 Comstock Act, passed at the behest of Anthony Comstock — a man so obsessed with abortion providers, he drove one to suicide with his relentless harassment — could be revived by Republicans to enact a nationwide abortion ban.
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Walz and Vance offer wildly different visions for how to solve America’s housing shortage
During Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Tim Walz highlighted the importance of building more affordable homes for families and holding accountable Wall Street investors who buy up housing and treat it as a commodity, while JD Vance continued to demonize undocumented immigrants and blame them for the nation’s housing shortage.
