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Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer has taken a concern about Iowa workers’ safety directly to Gov. Kim Reynolds with a letter outlining recent assaults at state facilities and Reynolds' administration’s effort to reduce the number of public sector jobs. Finkenauer said in...
Congressman Steve King’s legislative profile has now diminished to the point of needing to be defended by online celebrities at his own Capitol press conference. Outside the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., the Iowa Republican was...
The real collusion between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is evident in Trump’s pro-Russian actions across the world. President Trump’s relentless attacks on NATO, his promotion of far-right nationalist politicians, his defense of...
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders marched with a crowd of hundreds to the Iowa Hall of Fame event in Cedar Rapids Sunday afternoon with striking McDonald’s workers from Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. The workers were demanding the right to unionize so they can raise their...
It's the most important weekend of the Iowa Caucus yet, with 19 candidates descending upon Cedar Rapids to speak at a major fundraiser that nearly every key Iowa Democratic activist is at. The Hall of Fame Celebration is officially about honoring party activists and...
Democratic presidential hopefuls will fan out across Des Moines' East Village this weekend to enjoy the Capital City Pride Fest. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Mayor Pete Buttigieg will kick off events Friday evening. Gillibrand is expected to make an appearance at...
Senator Bernie Sanders is unveiling his first slate of key endorsements from Iowa progressive leaders today. Among them are some local elected officials and party leaders who were first mobilized to activism from Sanders' previous presidential run, including LULAC...
Theresa Greenfield made it clear in her campaign launch video that she'll go toe-to-toe with Senator Joni Ernst over who the real "farm kid" is in the 2020 Senate race. A small business owner who grew up on a farm in a rural Minnesota town near the Iowa border,...
Two weeks ago, Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer presided over the U.S. House chamber, sitting in the Speaker's chair as the chamber discussed and passed a major flood relief package. The bill was of particular importance to Iowa, which has seen crippling flooding in...
With a presidential field that now numbers 23, Democratic candidates need every tiny advantage they can find in Iowa to deliver them delegates on caucus night. For a lucky few contenders, they come to the state with a special connection in their pocket thanks to...
State Representative Ashley Hinson of Marion has filed official papers to make a run for Congress in Iowa's 1st District. The filing appeared online this morning, two days after Hinson posted about a four-day trip she recently made to Washington, D.C. A run by Hinson...
A nonstop parade of presidential candidates has visited the good people of Iowa nearly every day this year. Turn around any weekend in a major Iowa county and you're likely to bump into a White House hopeful. However, not every corner of the state has received the...
He's back. Embarking on his third attempt to win the presidency, former Vice President Joe Biden returned to Iowa this week for public events in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Des Moines. He enters the incredibly crowded 2020 Democratic primary as the clear...
The First Amendment isn’t long, but it certainly packs a lot of angst into those few words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press or the right...
Cracking the rural code by finding a successful message is essential to Democrats’ future elections. It’s not only critical in Iowa, but in much of the so-called red flyover country of the heartland. Iowa Democrats understand that they can’t win majorities in the...
Places like Iowa Falls feel a long way away from the national discussion on the Democratic primary. An Iowa town of 5,000 people, it's a long drive away from any county that even used to vote regularly for Democrats, and the kind of place where Fox News is the default...
Above photo via Joe Crimmings. Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke is well-known for his energetic, non-stop campaigning style, and that was certainly on display during his ambitious Polk County schedule on Saturday. He held six house parties, spread out across the...
A sponsored guest piece from Marianne Williamson's campaign. Presidential candidate and best-selling author Marianne Williamson will return to Iowa for five days of campaign events over the next two weeks. These will be her third and fourth visits to the state since...
Back during Elaine Baxter’s childhood, party loyalty was a simple matter. “When I was growing up, it would be unthinkable if you worked in a factory and were a Republican,” Baxter explained to Starting Line last week. “The two didn’t go together.” Now 86, Baxter, who...
Busloads of farmers and other rural advocates from across the Midwest are rallying in Iowa to put their concerns at the front and center of the 2020 presidential race. The Heartland Forum is happening March 30 at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, and it’s going to...
If you had your ear cupped just right and were listening closely Sunday afternoon, you might have heard my head explode. The pressure inside the old noggin has been building for months, thanks to what can be called politics as usual in Washington, D.C., and Des...
Kirsten Gillibrand will take a tour next week through the Eastern Iowa counties that gave her predecessor in the Senate so many difficulties in the 2016 presidential campaign. The planned trip for next Tuesday and Wednesday takes Gillibrand along the Mississippi...
This Friday, March 15, tens of thousands of the world’s students will strike for climate in 80 different countries. This is predicted to be the largest global environmental protest in history. It was all ignited by Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish student, last...
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst was spotted yesterday morning walking into the Monocle Restaurant in Washington, D.C., for a high-dollar fundraising event with the healthcare industry. In a video captured by American Bridge, Ernst heads into the upscale steak and seafood...
Who's brave enough to run against Joni Ernst? The first-term senator should be a top target for Democrats nationally, but she begins the 2020 cycle with an all-time high approval rating. The Des Moines Register found Ernst had a 57% job approval last week, a...
Voters might find themselves Googling his name, or they may recognize him from a recent viral video of a blistering Senate floor speech against colleague Ted Cruz. Colorado’s Senator Michael Bennet dropped into Iowa this past weekend to meet with and listen to Iowa...
Republicans are beginning their 2020 messaging early with campaign attacks that paint all Democrats as socialists. They plan to demonize Democrats as crazy leftists out to destroy America. They have focused on the Green New Deal (GND) resolution sponsored by...
In every presidential campaign cycle, candidates in a crowded primary field are always looking for that "breakout moment." The clever debate stage quip that gets replayed endlessly on cable news. The powerful speech at a major state party fundraiser that wows the...
For those who have been involved in multiple caucus cycles, you know that the campaign process in Iowa often takes on its own unique character. Every cycle, there are a new group of key local players, issue groups, favorite hang-out spots, and campaign strategies that...
A Cedar Falls Democrat just announced her candidacy for the Senate District 30 special election, and it's hard to imagine anyone with a better profile for public office. Amy Petersen, a professor of special education and a labor activist, wrote on Facebook this...
