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The Iowa Democratic Party's state convention dragged long into the night yesterday, and there were stretches where voting and the agenda moved very slowly. So what to do? How about start speculating about 2018? Obviously this year's presidential election and...
Democrats have recruited an impressive candidate for the now-open House District 88: Ryan Drew, an operating engineers leader from Burlington. Longtime incumbent Tom Sands surprised many last week when he decided to withdraw his name from the ballot two days after 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...
For years Democrats in Iowa have bemoaned the lack of younger elected leaders within the party. While 13 Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are 40 years old or younger, only 4 Democrats are. That's led to some concern about who will lead the party into the future....
What will progressive voters do on Tuesday when it comes to the Democrats' Senate primary? The talk online has centered around two candidates: State Senator Rob Hogg, an experienced legislator with a proven progressive record who wrote a book on climate change; and...
While most of the state is focused on the major Democratic primaries in the U.S. Senate race, 1st and 3rd Congressional, the most contentious intra-party battle is playing out in Newton. Three-term incumbent State Representative Dan Kelley faces a particularly strong...
Jim Mowrer has heard this speech before. Sitting at a table in Plymouth Church’s Waveland Hall two weeks ago, Mowrer listened as Mike Sherzan gave his pitch about his business background and issues he cared about. The speech Desmund Adams gave later hit on his usual...
Monica Vernon's Memorial Day started like many other Iowans: doing a little bit of yard work. She picked several pink peonies from her garden to fill a vase to welcome home her youngest daughter, Eleanor, flying in later in the day. That was about all there was time...
What do you get when the so-called "establishment" fails to back the so-called "establishment" candidate? The Iowa Senate Democratic primary, apparently. Throughout this year's presidential primary, both Republicans and Democrats have obsessed over "establishment"...
What good is an endorsement? That’s an open question in any political campaign. Some bring an army of volunteers, others bring only the single vote of the endorser. State Senator Rob Hogg has a lot of public endorsements in his quest for the Democrats’ nomination for...
Monica Vernon is getting some help in her campaign for the Democrats' 1st District nomination. EMILY's List, which has endorsed Vernon, is running a new ad under part of their Women Vote Project that looks to elect pro-choice female candidates. Women Vote is...
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Desmund Adams was on the road again. This day he was headed west, to campaign stops in Adair County and Council Bluffs. Adams, one of three Democratic candidates in the 3rd District primary, has logged a lot of miles during his campaign...
“Hi, I’m Mike Sherzan. I grew up near the Fairgrounds and I’m running for Congress.” Former businessman Mike Sherzan repeated that line close to a hundred times this past Saturday, working his way through festivals and picnics as he campaigned for Iowa’s 3rd...
While many high-profile Republican leaders around the country have struggled in embracing Donald Trump as their nominee, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is all-in. So much so that he's even offering up Iowa's own Senator Joni Ernst as Trump's potential running mate,...
Last week at the 3rd District Convention in Creston, Democrats made a bit of history by electing Iowa's first transgender person to serve as one of Iowa's national elector. Jack Schuler - formerly Elyse Schuler - was elected to the position after a few rounds of...
Iowa Starting Line will be doing a series of posts where we follow along a major primary candidate for most of a day as they campaign. We hope it gives a different, unique look into who the man or woman running for office is, beyond just their stump speeches and...
It's Teacher Appreciation Day today, where we thank the committed professionals who get up each day to prepare our state's children for the future. And many of them in Iowa could probably use an extra reminder of how grateful we really are for all their hard work....
Tornadoes to the southwest of Des Moines threatened to cut short the 3rd District Democrats’ forum in Johnston on Wednesday night, but the candidates in the room were at least all blowing in the same direction on policy issues. Meanwhile, the 1st District forum proved...
What does a political party believe? That's a tough question to answer, especially in the era of candidate- and personality-driven elections. Does who a party elects as their presidential nominee reflect their policy stances? What about a state party's candidate for...
Late last week the Iowa Democratic Party released the list of members of its long-awaited caucus review commission, formed to take a look at how to improve the Democrats' caucus process. The party says it's part of their tradition in finding ways to better the caucus,...
When Amy Nielsen ran for mayor of North Liberty in 2014, few expected her to succeed. It was her first campaign for public office in a city she had only lived in for seven years, up against an incumbent who had been involved in local government for 15 years. While her...
Time to throw out the old campaign playbooks for 2016. With Donald Trump the likely nominee for the Republicans, and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats, we're entering the most unpredictable election year in a very long time. As such, campaigns in Iowa need to be very...
Donald Trump will be the Republican Party's nominee. After his dominant Super Tuesday showing and Marco Rubio's many pathetic third-place losses, he is all but unstoppable in his march to leading the party in the general election. Ted Cruz did well in winning three...
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 want to set aside all the social media debates for the next few minutes and refer to Feb 1st, not in terms of a presidential caucus, but rather, as the night you became an Iowa Democrat. Honestly, I'm so excited to have you. As I've heard throughout the state, it...
Guest post by John McCormally The Register’s recent editorial “Something smells in the Democratic Party,” perpetuates misinformation about the historically close Iowa caucuses. Here’s the truth: The results were really close. When the results are so close, every...
The Iowa Caucus is done and over with, but the ramifications of the final results will live long for the national campaign, but also on what happens in Iowa after. Reputations have been made and tarnished during the caucus every cycle, and consequences over who backed...
While the large majority of national union endorsements have gone to Hillary Clinton this cycle, Bernie Sanders does have some very active, very visible labor groups on his side. National Nurses United was the first labor union to back Sanders. They've been a constant...
Campaign staffers around the state rose bright and early this morning to finish up final preparations for the launch of GOTC (Get Out The Caucus). Normally called GOTV in most elections (Get Out The Vote), the final four day stretch leading up to the Iowa Caucus is...
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...
