Search
Thomas Heckroth's campaign rolled out a long list of endorsers for his candidacy in Iowa's 1st District Democratic primary today. State Representative Art Staed of Cedar Rapids joins Iowa House colleague Bruce Bearinger (who announced his support earlier) in backing...
Democrats face large primary fields for the 1st, 3rd and 4th congressional districts in Iowa, making it a little tough at times to figure out how things could shake out. But after months of candidate announcements, the races are starting to come into focus. At this...
School has been back in session across Iowa for college and high school students for a few weeks now. While Donald Trump is certainly a constant topic of discussion, important Iowa campaigns are well underway for governor, Congress, the Iowa Legislature and other...
To Cedar Rapid's George Ramsey III, running for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District is an extension of the service to country he pursued in his recently-ended military career. Ramsey spent 31 years in military service before retiring in 2016, and for much of this summer...
Some of the adjectives used to describe Hurricane Harvey: unprecedented disaster, catastrophic losses, all-time record breaking rainfall, economic calamity, biblical flooding, unparalleled devastation. When rainfall totals reach 50 inches and meteorologists talk about...
Constituents in Iowa’s 1st District couldn’t get an in-person meeting scheduled with their two-term Republican Congressman Rod Blum this summer despite repeated attempts for months. So they set up meetings with the next best thing: the four Democrats running to...
An open letter to Congressman Rod Blum from a 1st District constituent: Congressman Blum, at your Cedar Rapids town hall in May you told the crowd politicians’ financial disclosure forms reveal more than their tax returns. On that advice, I scrutinized your financial...
It's been a busy couple of days for Iowa campaigns. Here's a quick look at many of the new developments. Tyler Olson Is Back On The Ballot Former state representative and 2014 gubernatorial candidate Tyler Olson is running for an at-large Cedar Rapids City Council...
Don’t come knocking on my door looking for support for the Trump administration’s latest effort to get rid of what the president likes to call job-killing regulations. Why? I will answer that question, but first let me tell you about my brother-in-law, Jim. He grew up...
The theme of the night for the Democratic Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake, Iowa on Friday night was “Rising Stars,” meant for keynote speakers Jason Kander and Congressman Eric Swalwell, both 36, but also for the many young candidates for Iowa office. About half the...
A guest post from Cindy Garlock, a 1st District resident, who has been trying to set up a meeting with Congressman Rod Blum. The November election left many of us in shock. In response to the Republican sweep of the federal and state government, a group of concerned...
The Senate is moving ahead with the repeal of Obamacare with their vote on Tuesday to begin floor debate. However, hours after the first vote they failed to pass the repeal-and-replace proposal. That failed vote signaled the desperate straits the Republicans find...
The Republicans’ latest Senate bill to repeal Obamacare would cut $800 billion dollars from Medicaid, devastating the program that covers 69 million Americans. A great deal of the debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare has focused on people losing coverage on the...
Despite the national outrage over Senate Republicans' healthcare bill, Senator Joni Ernst hasn't suffered much fallout in her popularity numbers in Iowa, James Lynch of the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported yesterday. Looking at the Morning Consult Senate Approval...
If Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse plans on coming back to Iowa, he may want to plan a detour on a different route than the usual I-80 one. Republican Pottawattamie County chair Jeff Jorgensen declared today that the neighbor-state senator should stay far away from his...
State Representative Abby Finkenauer brought in an impressive fundraising haul for her first reporting quarter as a candidate for Iowa's 1st Congressional District, a key swing seat that Democrats hope to retake in 2018. Her campaign told Starting Line they raised...
John Norris is launching his campaign for governor this weekend, touring the state on a six-day, 20-stop journey. It'll be the culmination of months of preparation, and he's expected to be a serious contender in the primary, in part thanks to his significant...
Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett kicked off his campaign for governor last week in front of a crowd of about 250 well-wishers in the city’s NewBo Market. There was no singing this time. But will Corbett's candidacy grow to anything more than a sideshow in the many 2018...
Though two of the candidates have yet to officially declare their campaigns, Iowa Democrats’ eight-person gubernatorial field is nearing the end of the introductory phase. Now we’re into the never-ending forum stage, also known as the “fun” stage for people who have...
An open letter to the governor from State Senator Joe Bolkcom Dear Governor Reynolds: [Last week], you will have had an opportunity to speak one-on-one with President Trump in Cedar Rapids. I support your announced plan to raise the issue of Iowa’s failing individual...
In advance of Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett's announcement for governor today, Kim Reynolds' campaign looked to flex their organizational muscle by releasing a list of 1,050 county chairs. Yes, 1,050 for a state with 99 counties. I've seen a lot of county leader...
State Representative Abby Finkenauer got a big boost in her quest to take on Republican Rod Blum in Iowa's 1st Congressional District today. EMILY's List, the major political advocacy group that helps elect pro-choice women, endorsed Finknauer today. “Abby’s record...
It’s too early to know, three weeks into her tenure as Iowa’s chief executive, whether Gov. Kim Reynolds will be much different from Gov. Terry Branstad. It’s too early to know whether she will approach issues from a different perspective. It’s too early to know...
While Iowa's Democratic leaders congratulated Kim Reynolds on her swearing in as Iowa's newest governor, they also offered up deeply skeptical and critical concerns. Only a handful of well-known Democrats attended Reynolds' ceremony, including legislative leaders Rob...
The options for women's healthcare services are being dramatically reduced in Southeast Iowa thanks to the actions of local Republican lawmakers like Mark Lofgren, Tom Greene and Gary Carlson. Planned Parenthood announced today that they will close four clinics by the...
Speaking in a legislative conference room at the Statehouse just down the hallway from the office he hopes to soon occupy, Todd Prichard told supporters and the media he would campaign for “forgotten Iowans” as he launched his official gubernatorial bid. He kicked off...
There was a moment about halfway through last night’s town hall in Cedar Rapids when a guy everyone seems to know, Dale Todd, approached our congressman with his teen son Adam. Into the mic, he said he was going to bring the discussion back to health care--maybe the...
Iowa Republican Congressman Rod Blum had to look directly into the face of one of his constituents who might get hurt the most by the recent AHCA vote at his Cedar Rapids forum last night. Dale Todd, a well-known local businessman and political advocate, brought his...
In one of the bigger unforced political errors of the year, Iowa's 1st District Congressman Rod Blum walked out in the middle of an interview with reporter Josh Scheinblum of KCRG yesterday. It only took a few hours for the story to work it's way on up to the national...
The first leg in Nate Boulton's long marathon to the Democratic gubernatorial nomination saw a common theme at his kick-off events in breweries, restaurants and coffee shops this week: energy. Boulton was met by cheering crowds in packed rooms where the atmosphere...
