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Interviews with past and present Iowa Democratic Party Chairs provides a fascinating inside look at how they see the requirements of the job. Following the crushing Democratic election losses in Iowa, the role of the next IDP Chair will be crucial in rebuilding the...
There is one dominant issue emerging as Democrats sift through the recent election losses and search for answers: the developing debate over the role that “Identity Politics” played in the losses. Identity Politics refers to the way Democrats have divided themselves...
It was 7:00 p.m. on December 23, 1967 on the floor of the United States Congress. Just two days before Christmas, former Iowa Congressman Neal Smith finally got his anti-nepotism legislation passed. 49 years later Smith’s legislation may prevent President Donald Trump...
Guest post from Tim Urban Donald Trump captured the anxieties of middle America with the theme MAKE AMERICAN GREAT AGAIN. America is already a great nation, but not for all Americans. President Obama and candidates Sanders and Clinton built their campaigns around...
Guest post from Sean Bagniewski and Jason Frerichs The Republican Party has won the popular vote just once in the last 28 years. Our Democratic Party witnessed significant issues throughout the Iowa Caucus process and the conventions thereafter. We are...
As the final countdown begins for the close of polls in Iowa, thousands of volunteers are spread out across the state knocking on doors, collecting absentee ballots and dragging every last person they can get to the polls. A big part of Democrats' GOTV efforts come...
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...
The Republican Party should be very concerned about more news stories this week linking Donald Trump to the Russian government. These new allegations reinforce the building narrative that Trump has questionable business relationships and foreign investments with...
One week to go, finally. We're at the point of the campaign cycle in Iowa where campaigns cease signing up new people for absentee ballots and go solely into ballot chase and GOTV mode. The increases in requested ballots in the daily totals from here on out will be...
It's crunch time for Democrats' and Republicans' early vote efforts in Iowa. With just two and a half weeks left until Election Day, campaigns are scrambling to pick up absentee ballots and turn voters out to early voting locations. There's plenty of numbers to pore...
Earlier today we took an in-depth look at where the Democrats and Republicans are spending the most money in state legislative races. Now let's go district-by-district to see how much each candidate raised, what contributions were interesting and what it all means...
The biggest fundraising report of the year for Iowa legislative races dropped yesterday, revealing important information on where each party sees their best pick-up opportunities. The mid-October report covers everything from mid-July to now, the timeframe where major...
Hillary Clinton will get to 270 electoral votes with or without Iowa. It's time for Iowa Democrats to look out for their own and make sure our state doesn't become the next all-GOP controlled Wisconsin or Kansas. Democrats hold the slimmest of margins in the Iowa...
You can’t grow up in a state like Iowa and not have close to an equal number of Republican friends, friends who are Democrats and friends who are politically independent. That’s certainly been the case for this kid from southern Iowa. Through the years, I’ve had some...
To many Democrats and independents watching the debate, the most shocking part of Sunday's forum didn't come during the personal attacks on sexual misconduct. It happened when Donald Trump promised to prosecute and jail Hillary Clinton over her email server if he is...
Far from both parties’ activist cores and the state political press, a Northeast Iowa legislative race might hold the key to which party controls the Iowa House next session. The Decorah-based House District 55 features an open seat where both parties have fielded...
Guest post from Jack Hatch on his upcoming book The Second Security: Fight Income Inequality By Creating Better Paying Jobs For Working Families No greater security exists for an Iowa family than that of a decent job that has the potential to lead to a better life. ...
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...
At times during Jill Stein's Des Moines rally yesterday, you could have closed your eyes and imagined you were right back at a Bernie Sanders caucus event. All the old hallmarks were there: income inequality, marijuana laws and oil pipelines were the big themes of the...
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....
A guest post from AFSCME Council 61's Danny Homan: I recently saw a post online that was a great reality check. It read, “Thank God for a three-day weekend! No, thank a Union.” What a great reminder of how easy it is to let the accomplishments of the labor movement...
The two multi-billionaire petrochemical moguls, David and Charles Koch, have committed to spend nearly $1 billion in the 2016 election to drive their extreme agenda. That agenda includes union busting, opposition to environmental protections, climate denial and the...
People love Joni Ernst. A lot happened at Ernst’s 2nd annual Roast and Ride this weekend, where Donald Trump headlined with an immigration-heavy speech. What stood out to me, however, was Ernst herself and how she gives off a sort of effortless charm at these events....
Part 5 of the series. View Part 1, 2, 3, 4 on IDD's website Reprinted with permission by People for the American Way Major players working to stop women’s economic freedom measures American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) As People For the American Way wrote in a...
A guest post from Sean Bagniewski on his convention experience Lee Greenwood is singing "God Bless the USA." Former FDR Democrat Ronald Reagan is displaying his trademark optimism. There are flags. There are lots of flags. It's the 1984 Republican National Convention....
By the time Iowa Senator Joni Ernst finally took the stage at the RNC convention last night, the crowd in the arena was smaller than what she would typically find at a Montgomery County chili dinner. Ernst began her speech around 11:10 PM Eastern, missing out on the...
After weeks of discussing Tom Kaine, Elizabeth Warren, Tom Perez and Sherrod Brown, a familiar Iowa name emerged in the vice president nominee debate for Democrats: Tom Vilsack. The current Secretary of Agriculture and former two-term Iowa Governor has reportedly been...
Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King appeared on a story on Sioux City's KCAU TV this Friday, talking about the bill he introduced named "Sarah's Law." King explains how his law would change ICE deportation policies in honor of Sarah Root, a young woman killed by an...
Each election cycle in Iowa, the biggest campaign battlegrounds center around swing legislative districts. In suburban Linn County, the rural northeastern counties, Cedar Falls, central Iowa around Marshalltown and Newton, along with a few pockets out west,...
