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I've watched as Donald Trump buzzed his helicopter directly over Hillary Clinton at the Iowa State Fair, then come back for a second pass. I've attended a Ben Carson event that turned a downtown bridge into a lavishly expensive family fun concert complete with Disney...
Guest post from House Leader Mark Smith The last two weeks have been the most contentious in my 17 years in the Legislature. In just 10 days, Republican lawmakers and Governor Branstad unraveled Iowa’s successful, bipartisan collective bargaining law. After watching...
Guest post from Josh Hughes, Iowa's youngest school board member It has been a rough, rough few weeks for public education both in Iowa and nationwide. Last Monday, Iowa House and Senate Republicans underfunded Iowa schools with a meager 1.1% increase in public...
Iowans might assume the Iowa Republican controlled Legislature’s anti-labor collective bargaining bill resulted from a massive demand from their Iowa constituents. That assumption would be wrong and a bit naïve. The author of this shameful anti-labor bill and various...
Angry crowds of Iowans packed legislative forums and listening sessions across the state once again this Saturday. Opponents to Republicans' far-reaching and fast-tracked agenda easily outnumbered supporters at close to a dozen events around Iowa. Emotions ran high as...
While frustrated Democratic activists and voters are vowing to unseat Republican legislators in 2018 for their recent votes, an earlier test for the party out of power looms in 2017: municipal races. City councils, mayor's offices and school boards will be on the...
It is assumed that the Republicans in the legislature will introduce anti-public employee bills today. It may range from Governor Branstad’s proposal to remove health care from the current menu of benefits to an all-out assault on public employees rights to negotiate...
The first early signs of an electoral backlash against Republicans' plans for 2017 started to show in Iowa and elsewhere today at rallies in support of the Affordable Care Act. Iowans worried about the future of their and their family's healthcare and lives turned out...
Excerpt from Jack Hatch's new book, now on sale at Amazon and available at Barnes and Noble. Iowa acted before the passage of the federal Affordable Health Care Act with insurance reform, a limited expansion of Medicaid and enrolling the highest percentage of children...
After a year of terrible losses, Democrats around the country have been searching for a handful of silver linings and moral victories to give them hope for the future. Many have looked to Jason Kander's impressive - if ultimately unsuccessful - campaign for U.S....
In a radio interview this morning with Simon Conway on WMT Radio, Republican Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett announced he will not seek reelection for mayor. Instead he is taking a very serious look at challenging Kim Reynolds for Iowa Governor in 2018. Secretary of...
One the greatest remaining frustrations from the past six years in Democratic politics has been that after the blowout losses in 2010 and 2014, the party did no real self-reflection or analysis of what went wrong. It seems we'll finally get that effort, at least in...
Guest Post from Christian Ucles I write this post in hopes that whoever plans to run for position as Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party heeds the call to not ignore one of the most loyal set of voters of the Democratic Party. People of Color (POC) stand to lose their...
A guest post from Kent Kroeger, who managed his brother Gary Kroeger's State House race in Cedar Falls/Waterloo “Winning campaigns is a thrilling experience, but losing campaigns crush your soul,” veteran Republican communications strategist, Michael McKinnon,...
The path back to victory for Democrats will start with a host of gubernatorial races in 2018, with many of the most competitive contests located in the Midwest. Of the 38 governorships up in 2018, 27 are held by Republicans, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and...
For Democrats looking to rebuild in Iowa following our 2016 losses, two dates in 2017 loom large: September 12 and November 7. That's when Iowa's elections for school boards and municipal elected positions are to be held, respectively (there's also a October 10...
Where do we go from here? That’s the question on every Iowa Democrat’s mind following last Tuesday’s election results. There’s no need to rehash how bad it was. We already know. And we know it will take a massive amount of work to fight our way back. But how?...
Governor Terry Branstad and legislative Republicans will wield full control over the executive and legislative branches of Iowa government come next January. Democrats lost their majority in the Iowa Senate, which they've held since 2006, as early returns showed...
Here we go! Election night approaches, and we'll start getting a sense of who has won and lost in Iowa starting at 9:00 PM when polls close. Here's a handful of things that I think will be important for Iowa politics watchers to keep their eye on tonight. If you want...
When Barack Obama won Iowa in 2008 and 2012, college students were a key part of his winning coalition, turning out at record rates. For Hillary Clinton to overcome Iowa's Trump-trending voter base, she'll need to at least come close to generating the same turnout...
If you know nothing about this challenger with a tough-to-pronounce name, maybe you know the man she’s looking to take down, State Senator Brad Zaun. Zaun’s history as a legislator, no matter what your party affiliation, either baffles or makes one want to run for the...
Jessica Kean did not plan on running for office this year. The 31-year-old mother was happily content raising her family in Maquoketa and working in her nonprofit job that helps children with cancer. Then Democrat Pete Hird withdrew his candidacy from the open House...
Senator Grassley is running ads bragging that he “works.” He claims he has a nearly perfect attendance record. He claims he rarely misses a vote. So why isn’t he fighting for Iowans that have been flood victims multiple times? Why can’t Grassley get adequate flood...
Dr. Christopher Peters, the Republican candidate in Iowa's 2nd Congressional district, is announcing today that he will not vote for Donald Trump for president. His decision comes after the release of Trump's 2005 comments where he bragged about sexually assaulting...
As the Cedar River slowly raised foot-by-foot to flood levels these past few days, political campaigns in Eastern Iowa slowed to a halt. Iowa's largest river winds its way through many of this year's biggest electoral battlegrounds in the state, from Charles City to...
While only a small handful of Iowa Senate races seem like pure toss-ups at this point, there's nearly a dozen Iowa House campaigns that could easily go either way. An unusually large number of incumbent Republican retirements, suburban swing districts possibly...
Guest post from Jack Hatch on his upcoming book Iowa’s economic priorities are going in the wrong direction and Iowa Democrats and progressives will need to engage our leaders in a new and different dialogue, and advocate bold strategies for future economic and social...
A guest post from Rob Barron For all of you who watched the Iowa-Iowa State game last night, you witnessed the product of years of preparation. Each player that took the field trained so that they could perform at an elite level in the biggest game of their lives....
While most Iowa news stories focus on the presidential and senate race, every Iowa activist knows the real battle for Iowa's future lies in the Iowa State Senate races. With a 26-23-1 majority in the Iowa Senate, Democrats can't afford to lose a single seat....
The Iowa State Fair has come and gone, with another year of political candidate visits in the books. Starting Line attended nearly all the of the Soapbox speeches hosted by the Des Moines Register, but got a little distracted with fair food afterward and I didn't...
