Election 2020
Iowa Republican legislative primaries reveal party divisions
Rep. Dean Fisher, R-Montour, held his seat in the Iowa House of Representatives for nine years serving District 72. But starting next year, that seat will no longer exist. Iowa’s newly redistricted election maps went into effect this year, changing the boundaries of many seats in the state Legislature. While the represented area has changed, […]
Dem campaign chief says GOP congressional moderates try to avoid talking abortion, guns
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Democrat in charge of keeping the chamber blue in November’s midterm elections said Tuesday he expects abortion and gun issues to play a big role in suburban swing districts. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney said during a call with regional reporters that GOP candidates in centrist districts […]
Misinformation, violence and a paper shortage threaten midterm elections, officials say
Members of a U.S. Senate panel and election administrators raised a bevy of concerns this week about the challenges elections officials will face this fall, saying problems ranging from a lack of paper to coordinated misinformation campaigns could affect confidence in U.S. democracy. A bipartisan panel of current and former elections officials and experts told […]
Democratic Senate candidates seek to distinguish themselves in debate before primary
The three Democrats vying for Iowa’s U.S. Senate nomination diverged on fiscal issues pertaining to student debt, universal health care and taxes for the super wealthy during a final televised debate before the June 7 primary. Abby Finkenauer, of Cedar Rapids, Michael Franken, of Sioux City, and Glenn Hurst, of Minden, are competing for a […]
Congressional Democrats scrutinize state elections laws for effect on minority voters
WASHINGTON — Members of a U.S. House panel on Monday debated whether some state elections laws disenfranchise certain voters, including people of color, and split along party lines in their conclusions. The chair of the elections subcommittee of the House Administration Committee, Rep. G. K. Butterfield, D-N.C., voiced his concerns about recent voting requirement laws […]
Republican lawmaker denies Heritage Action involvement in election bill
A key Republican lawmaker on Thursday denied statements by the head of Heritage Action for America about the conservative lobbying group’s role in the approval of voting restrictions this year in Iowa. Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action for America, said in a leaked video that her organization had drafted parts of and helped […]
Democrats ask for state recount changes following Hart concession
Two weeks after Democrat Rita Hart withdrew her challenge of election results in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, legislative leaders are asking for changes in state recount procedures. “I think the time is right for a leadership bill for Democrats and Republicans to come together and make some bipartisan changes to how recount elections are handled […]
GOP lawmakers use budget to bludgeon state universities
Iowans who remember what it was like to live in a state that prized education no doubt heaved a sigh of relief when a vindictive and counterproductive bill to ban tenure at state universities failed to advance in the Legislature. Iowa employers, chamber groups and agriculture associations lobbied against that bill, which they said would […]
Democrat Rita Hart withdraws challenge in Iowa 2nd District congressional race
WASHINGTON — Democrat Rita Hart in a surprise announcement Wednesday said she’s withdrawing her challenge to the results in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, citing a “toxic campaign of political disinformation” as her request for a review of the race’s six-vote margin grew into a nationalized, increasingly partisan dispute. Hart, who has claimed that 22 ballots in […]
As GOP rewrites election laws, voting rights advocates point to Tennessee’s low turnout
As Republican-led legislatures pass laws they say are aimed at ratcheting up election security, voting rights advocates worry the entire nation could soon look a lot like Tennessee, where voter turnout and voter registration figures are among the lowest in the country. The policy debate over voting rights and election integrity has exploded in statehouses […]
Iowa secretary of state looks to raise campaign cash from 2nd District contest
Republicans on Monday moved to raise money and political capital with their reactions to the fight over Iowa’s prized House seat in the 2nd District. GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks was seated conditionally in January after state officials certified her six-vote win in the November election. Democrat Rita Hart, citing at least 22 uncounted, legal votes, […]
Aide revises Pelosi’s comment on timing of next steps in contested Iowa race
WASHINGTON — A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is clarifying a remark Pelosi made Thursday, when she indicated that a House panel would decide on Monday whether a challenge to the results in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District meets “certain criteria to go forward.” Pelosi made that comment to reporters Thursday during her weekly press […]