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The Iowa Democratic Party announced several new field offices around the state this week, bringing their total number of offices to 24 in the state. The party began opening local offices for the 2016 election back in early May. Taking a look through the list, most of...
Iowa families dealing with mental health issues have hit the breaking point. The closure of mental health institutions and the privatization of Medicaid have put increasingly unbearable strain on many seeking help. That frustration is quickly spilling over into the...
The High School Democrats of Iowa held their kick-off event this weekend, looking to expand their membership throughout the state in a more formal structure. Young activists gathered at Drake University for their inaugural event and to meet local candidates whose...
Iowa delegate Josh Hughes is writing up his experience at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Here's his takes from the first two days. We'll update throughout the week on this post: Day 2 Hello again! Tuesday proved to be a very busy day indeed again....
After two straight weeks of Steve King racial controversies, much of the country is once again asking: how on earth does this man keep getting reelected? It’s an understandable conundrum about a Congressman who displays a Confederate flag on his desk, who repeatedly...
The Des Moines Register reported today that two churches will sue the Iowa Civil Rights Commission over the transgender bathroom issue and their ability to speak from the pulpit about the church's teaching on sexuality. Fort Des Moines Church of Christ filed a lawsuit...
The Iowa Secretary of State's office released this morning the updated registration totals for July, which are the first to show major shifts from the June 6 primary. Overall, Republicans saw the largest registration gain, adding 10,094 voters to their rolls while...
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took some time this past week to visit the all-important swing state of Scotland, during a visit to the opening of one of his luxury golf courses outside Aberdeen. Trump praised his son for his management of the property,...
During a lengthy state convention this weekend, the new official platform for the Iowa Democratic Party got notably more progressive, thanks in particular to the many new Bernie Sanders supporters. An addition to a $15/hour minimum wage was easily passed, the...
Before we move completely on the general election, let's take one last look at some of the specific numbers from last week's Iowa primary. For a website like Starting Line, we love having numbers to pore over and didn't want to move on before examining a few more...
Iowans didn't have to stay up too late last night to see who came out on top of the main primary races on both the Democratic and Republican side. For the most part things played out as people expected. Starting Line will spend part of the next week taking some dives...
It's primary day in Iowa! Polls are open until 9:00PM, and campaigns are going all-out today to get their identified supporters to the polls. What should Iowa politics watchers keep their eye on tonight? Starting Line has a few suggestions below. You can also watch...
Iowa Democrats opened their first two coordinated campaign field offices of the 2016 cycle on Wednesday and Thursday. But it wasn't in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids or Davenport. Instead, it was much farther north, and in the considerably smaller counties of Mitchell and...
Early voting in Iowa's June 7th primary has now been underway for a week. Iowans can vote in person at their county auditor's office or by an absentee ballot at home. The number of those absentees are always a very interesting thing to track (especially to this former...
Coming soon to a byline near you... Student journalists got a front row seat to national politics during this past year's Iowa Caucus. The access and opportunities they had to interview presidential candidates and break news on the most fascinating campaign in decades...
The Clinton campaign celebrated their Iowa Caucus victory back on February 1st, but they had certainly hoped for a larger margin. Nearly two months later, however, that win is looking better and better after a string of blowout defeats to Bernie Sanders in other...
Most politicians typically advocate for more jobs and economic development. Unless you're Rod Blum, apparently. The Iowa Congressman from the 1st District set off a small firestorm of controversy and criticism on Tuesday evening when he tweeted out from his...
As the final rumblings over the caucus process slowly die out, Democrats have a chance to regroup and refocus on what their priorities moving forward must be. Iowa Democrats are at their weakest point in years after two consecutive midterm blowouts, but there's plenty...
I was excited when I saw Hillary Clinton's final Iowa schedule. Sunday, her last day of full campaigning in the state, took her through Western Iowa, her stronghold of support from 2008. It was where I worked for her in 2008 in Council Bluffs, so I thought it would be...
Here we are: the final few days of the Iowa Caucus. How a candidate spends their time in the precious waning hours says a lot about the state of the race and what each feels they still need to accomplish. The three Democrats plan on barnstorming the state, with...
Good morning readers! I hope you all had a great holiday and are rested and relaxed for the final month of the Iowa Caucus. This Sunday Grab Bag will be a lot shorter as I've been spending the past couple days with family and there isn't as much to write about. 5...
The Iowa Caucus isn't just about the presidential candidates. Every cycle a multitude of issue-based organizations pop up in Iowa to advocate for their priority. Some are just here for the caucus, while others use the excitement around the presidential race to build...
Good morning readers! So that was an interesting week in American politics, huh? I'm not sure if I can remember anything quite like a presidential candidate proposing a complete ban on an entire religious group from entering the country. Every time we thought the 2016...
Guest Post Bench Building Problem Democrats. The party of the young and idealistic. The party that looks toward the future and not the past. The party with policies to help the struggling 20 and 30-something’s get a job, buy a house, and start a family. The party...
The Des Moines restaurant scene has seen an explosion in fine dining options, craft breweries and quirky specialty joints in recent years. Reporters and campaign staff traveling to Iowa's capitol for the Iowa Caucus often come away pleasantly surprised. Sometimes,...
The mood at the Democrats' Jefferson Jackson Dinner last weekend was electric. Each campaign went all-out to provide Democratic activists an entertaining spectacle and show of organizational strength. How did it compare to the many Republican multi-candidate events...
Usually when a campaign puts together a memo for their top donors you try to highlight your accomplishments and project momentum. Perhaps that's what Jeb Bush's top advisers thought they were doing with the internal campaign briefing that got leaked to U.S. News and...
A little under eight years ago, a crew of Western Iowa Hillary Clinton staff and their best volunteers gathered after finishing their final task in Iowa, corralling Iowans into the Clinton corner at precincts across the county. Crowding around the TVs in a German beer...
Now that we're 4 months out from the Iowa Caucus, and the political silly season of summer has finally dissipated, all eyes turn increasingly to Iowa. But who really has the advantage here? Who's connecting with caucus-goers and who's just coasting on publicity? The...
Update 9/8: The O'Malley campaign released a list of 17 Iowa endorsements the day after Labor Day, framing it as part of their entrance into a new phase of campaigning in the Iowa Caucus. A handful of these names were already known from a while ago (well, to me...
