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“Something Different.” That could easily be the slogan for Cathy Glasson’s campaign for governor in 2018, as she said at one point in an interview with Starting Line that “Iowans want to see something different.” She believes Iowans will find just that in her...
Local Iowa television stations WHO in Des Moines and WQAD in Davenport could become considerably more politically conservative as a result of their acquisition by Sinclair Broadcasting. WHO is the NBC affiliate in Des Moines and WQAD the ABC affiliate serving...
Speaking in a legislative conference room at the Statehouse just down the hallway from the office he hopes to soon occupy, Todd Prichard told supporters and the media he would campaign for “forgotten Iowans” as he launched his official gubernatorial bid. He kicked off...
Education reviews of the Republicans’ mismanagement of the Iowa state budget has focused on the inadequate funding of K-12 schools. They actually brag about increasing K-12 funding by 1.1% or $40 million even though most independent analysis suggest 4-6% is needed to...
As Iowa Democrats strategize on ways to rebuild the state party, they can begin by focusing on strengthening their county party foundation. The Democratic county parties - especially in rural areas - are the building blocks that the state party is built upon. It’s the...
Science and fact-based scientific research is under attack by Republicans at all levels of government. The national scientific community is asking the public for support. There will be national Science Marches in cities all across the country tomorrow. Here’s the...
If you love and value facts, you should be excited about this announcement. Vote Smart, one of the nation’s premier non-partisan political research organizations, opened their new headquarters at Drake University on Monday. Vote Smart President Richard Kimball said...
If Mike Matson pulls the trigger on a gubernatorial run and wins, it will be the revenge of the local official on Terry Branstad and Kim Reynolds’ legacy. A member of the Davenport City Council for the past ten years, Matson is fed up with the unfunded mandates coming...
Here at Starting Line, I've written several posts looking at precinct-by-precinct results from both the 2016 election and the Iowa Caucus to give readers a sense of how and why Iowa's voting trends are changing. No swing state shifted more than Iowa in the general...
In the world of Iowa politics, people move around from job to job a lot. This is especially so in the months after an election, as former campaign staffers figure out their next move. It hasn't been an easy transition for many Democratic operatives, as when all your...
Guest post from Ruth Thompson The “Running with Scissors Administration” is striking fear in the hearts of everyone but fetuses and the NRA. In Iowa, so far this session we’ve seen our Republican friends introducing a bill that if passed would force people who file...
Guest post from Eric Saylor Statehouse Republicans have mounted several high-profile legislative attacks on their political opponents this session, Planned Parenthood and public sector unions chief among them. However, Republicans are also pursuing their goals through...
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,...
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...
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...
The final days of the 2016 campaign are closing out ugly in Iowa, and not just in how candidates attack each other. An act of homophobic vandalism against a gay candidate in Waterloo and racist fliers on the campuses of Iowa State University and the University of Iowa...
“That’s Clinton’s position, that’s my position, that’s not Donald Trump’s position.” Bernie Sanders repeated that line often during his visit to Drake University’s campus yesterday in an effort to win back his disaffected former supporters. He continually implored the...
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...
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...
The Iowa Democratic Party met at Drake University last Saturday to conduct a diversity workshop. In the press release the Party described the workshop: “The goal of the workshop is to educate, motivate and facilitate discussion among IDP Constituency Caucuses with an...
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...
Bernie Sanders' campaign for the presidency is starting to wind down, but the impacts of his incredible run will be felt for years to come in the Democratic Party, progressive politics and the American electoral system. Around this time last year the early hints of a...
For weeks Republican Party of Iowa chair Jeff Kaufmann has traveled the state as part of his #UnitedIowa tour, telling activists and media that they're "ahead of schedule" in coming together for their presidential nominee. Well, not so fast. If Iowa Republicans...
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...
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...
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...
Guest post from Addisu Demissie I landed at the Des Moines airport as a 22-year-old on May 31st, 2003 completely unaware of what I was getting myself into. A month or so earlier, I had been offered a job as a Field Organizer for John Kerry in the Iowa caucuses. I...
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...
Bernie Sanders has talked to a whole lot of people in Iowa. On Sunday he passed the big milestone of combined Iowa turnouts of 50,000. It happened at a notably smaller and more subdued conference room at Upper Iowa University, filled with about 300 people. But, true...
