Enter Tim Walz, school book bans, and campaign ads on Iowa airwaves
August 12 "Capitol Week" is online
One last reminder: I’ll be speaking and answering questions about Iowa politics in Chicago on Wednesday, August 14 from 4-7 pm at the Iowa Building in Jackson Park (Hyde Park neighborhood). Here’s a pdf of the invitation and here’s the Facebook event page. Although this event is a fundraiser to support my work, donations are not required to attend. All are welcome!
Spencer Dirks and I never run out of things to talk about on the show. The audio from our latest program is at the top of this message, or you can find it on podcast platforms and smart speakers as “KHOI’s Capitol Week.” Our full archive (going back to February 2021) is available on KHOI’s website.
Here’s the recap:
We began with a short summary on what Minnesota Governor Tim Walz brings to the ticket and why Vice President Kamala Harris chose him over other finalists including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. I misspoke by saying that as a member of Congress, Walz voted to censure then-Attorney General Eric Holder. In fact he voted to hold Holder in contempt of Congress for not turning over documents;
Iowa Democrats were thrilled with the VP pick. We quoted some of the comments from state party chair Rita Hart, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, and former U.S. Representative Dave Loebsack;
Harris and Walz drew capacity crowds at several venues last week, and my Democratic contacts around Iowa report a surge in enthusiasm for the new ticket. The night before Harris announced her choice, about 1,000 Iowa Democrats joined a virtual meeting organized by Deidre Dejear. Volunteers turned out in large numbers over the weekend to knock doors for legislative or Congressional candidates;
We still haven’t seen an Iowa poll measuring support for Harris against Trump, but many Democrats believe she will reduce Trump’s winning margin in November. If so, that would be good news for down-ballot candidates;
Iowa Republicans (like their national counterparts) threw a lot of things against the wall last week, looking for an attack that would stick against Walz. I thought this social media post by Senator Joni Ernst was disgraceful;
Since I avoid editorializing on the radio show, I only briefly touched on Iowa GOP state chair Jeff Kaufmann’s absurd claim that it was “blatantly antisemitic” for Harris to pass over Shapiro. I had much more to say at Bleeding Heartland about Kaufmann and the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s poor handling of that story;
On Friday, a three-judge panel on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction on Iowa’s Senate File 496, the 2023 law that included school book bans for grades K-12 and “don’t say gay/trans” teaching restrictions for grades K-6. You can read the court’s ruling here;
Although the ruling was a short-term win for the state, which will be able to enforce the book bans, the Eighth Circuit rejected some important state arguments while sending the case back to District Court, where Judge Stephen Locher will have to apply a different legal test;
I explained how Attorney General Brenna Bird and Governor Kim Reynolds misrepresented the Eighth Circuit decision in their written statements about the ruling;
We summarized comments from several of the plaintiffs that are challenging the book bans and teaching restrictions. This case is far from over;
Field Day Brewing and Climbing Kites are dropping their lawsuit against the state’s new restrictions on cannabis-infused beverages, after failing to convince a federal judge to block enforcement. But the companies are still in business and have launched new products that comply with state law;
You know the general election campaign is in full swing when you see candidate tv ads. We talked about the new spot by IA-01 challenger Christina Bohannan, which spotlights Iowa’s near-total abortion ban:
There’s some controversy about this ad, because Bohannan says “Iowa now has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country because of Mariannette Miller-Meeks.” Although Miller-Meeks has supported abortion restrictions, she wasn’t in the Iowa legislature when Republicans passed this law. Miller-Meeks also claims she supports some exceptions to abortion bans, but she did co-sponsor a life-at-conception bill in 2021 that had no exceptions;
Miller-Meeks isn’t on tv yet, to my knowledge, but I expect to see those ads soon;
Bohannan highlighted abortion rights, infrastructure spending, and border security during her speech on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Like most Republicans, Miller-Meeks declined the invitation to speak on the soapbox;
IA-03 Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam launched his first general election tv ad last week as well. It focuses on his background of military service.
IA-03 Republican incumbent Zach Nunn has been on the air for a while. His first spot focused on his service in the Air Force. The spot that went up last week highlighted his bipartisan work.
Nunn is the only Republican who agreed to speak at the Des Moines Register soapbox. He brought his wife and several kids on stage and didn’t use up all of his time as he played up his work on “America-first” policies, border security, and community;
Most of the soapbox speeches are over. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled his scheduled appearance, citing security concerns;
Republicans filed objections to all three Libertarian candidates who are running for Congress in Iowa. I briefly explained the substance of the objections. The Libertarians say they are unfounded (see here and here). In late August, a three-member state panel consisting of Secretary of State Paul Pate, Attorney General Brenna Bird, and State Auditor Rob Sand will decide whether these candidates can stay on the ballot;
Tom Barton reported for the Cedar Rapids Gazette in late July about the state granting waivers to two companies seeking to employ 16- and 17-year-olds in hazardous jobs. We only had time to scratch the surface on this story, which stems from Iowa’s 2023 law relaxing child labor regulations. I recommend that you read Barton’s story in full;
Speaking of teenagers, we touched on a story I wrote up at Bleeding Heartland: the Trans Youth Emergency Project is now offering grants and navigation services for Iowa families affected by our state’s law banning gender-affirming care for people under age 18;
One of the best stories of the summer has been State Representative J.D. Scholten’s return to professional baseball. He’s now on the regular roster for the Sioux City Explorers, and the cap he wore on his first game back is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. You must read Tommy Birch’s feature story on Scholten’s pitching career;
Finally, we gave a quick shout out to the athletes with Iowa ties who medaled at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Thanks for reading or listening! Spencer and I were both sad to see the Olympics end, but we are excited to watch the Democratic National Convention unfold starting next Monday. Whose speech are you most looking forward to?
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