Episode 250! News on the Iowa governor's race and more

Oct. 27 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"

Rob Sand at his 100th town hall in his home town of Decorah on October 21 (photo originally published on his campaign’s Facebook page)

A couple of below-the-radar stories hit me hard this week.

Natalie Korach reported for Status that “CNN chief Mark Thompson made a rare appearance at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave” last Wednesday. The next day,

Thompson suggested during the daily network editorial call that it should ease up on covering Trump’s East Wing demolition, claiming that their viewership isn’t all that interested in the story, according to two people familiar with the matter. The comment struck many as bizarre coming from Thompson, who despite carrying the editor in chief title generally tends not to wade too much into the minutia of the network’s editorial process.

The guidance suggested Thompson was trying to soften CNN’s coverage of Trump on an issue the administration has sought to keep out of public view as polls show most Americans disapprove of the action. Whether or not the East Wing project was among the topics of conversation during Thompson’s White House meeting, the timing felt suspicious, with staffers wondering what coverage might be discouraged next.

Meanwhile, Alan Greenblatt wrote for Politico magazine on why he recently quit as editor of Governing, a “wonky publication” about state and local governments. “I received edicts from above throughout this year warning me to stay away from a variety of topics,” he said. The last straw happened last month, when his boss declined to publish a piece he had written in defense of the First Amendment amid the Jimmy Kimmel controversy. “She told me she did not think running the piece was a good idea; after all, she noted, it violated the stated company policy against setting off alarm bells within the Trump White House.”

In my “past life” writing about Russian politics, I closely followed the demise of several independent media outlets as new bosses fired anchors, ordered changes in political coverage, and sometimes shut down news programs or even whole television networks. Some reporters and editors censored themselves to avoid losing their jobs.

I never thought I would see the same process play out at prominent news organizations in the U.S.

I’m thankful every day that no corporate executive or shareholder can meddle with my reporting in this space or at Bleeding Heartland. And I’m beyond grateful to KHOI Community Radio (a nonprofit that doesn’t broadcast any commercials) for giving me a chance to cover Iowa politics in my own way, every week for nearly five years.

If you value editorial independence, please consider donating to KHOI if you are able, and/or supporting my work with a paid subscription. (Other ways to make a one-time or recurring contribution are here.)

On to the show. Dennis Hart filled in for Spencer Dirks on Monday evening, and it turned out to be a milestone: the 250th edition of “KHOI’s Capitol Week.” By his count, Dennis and I recorded 174 episodes together from February 2021 through April 2024. I learned so much from him!

The audio file from the October 27 show is at the top of this post. You can also listen to “KHOI’s Capitol Week” through any podcast platform or smart speaker, and find all episodes from the past three years here (KHOI’s website is currently under construction).

Here’s the written recap, for those who would rather read than listen. If your email provider truncates this post, you can view it without interruption here. Dennis and I spent a minute reflecting on the show’s origins, then turned to the news:

Rob Sand wraps up 100 town hall tour

Last Tuesday, State Auditor Rob Sand finished his statewide town hall tour with a swing through northeast Iowa, ending in his home town of Decorah. According to the Democrat’s campaign, more than 10,100 people attended this year’s 100 town halls (he hits all 99 counties and does events in each of Lee County’s two county seats). Iowans who attended asked more than 750 questions, and the top issues they raused included the school voucher program, health care, higher costs, Iowa’s cancer rates, and water quality.

Several Iowa Republicans brag about their 99-county tours, but none have done what Sand just did for the eighth year (previous town halls were organized by the State Auditor’s office). His events are open to the public, with the schedule published well in advance. The buildings are accessible: community centers, small businesses, libraries, public schools, and so on.

Senator Chuck Grassley holds some town halls (typically in red counties), but many stops on his tours are closed to the public—for instance, visiting a private workplace. That’s true for most of Senator Joni Ernst’s events and almost all of Governor Kim Reynolds’ stops around Iowa. Ordinary people have no way to find out where their leaders will be. They usually find out the politician was in their county from a social media post after the fact.

Sand must be happy with how his statewide tour went. He consistently had good turnout, based on my contacts who attended many of these events. The two town halls I attended in person were both packed, and one of those was on a high school football Friday evening in Winterset.

The town halls generated a lot of news coverage—his campaign says Sand did more than 100 local media interviews, and I would guess that many midterm election voters are also news consumers. He was also able to hammer home key campaign themes, including breaking what he calls the “shared monopoly” of the two parties, and criticizing the school voucher program, mismanagement of the state budget, and Iowa’s poor economic performance.

Sand’s town halls all start with the same rituals: having people applaud the Republicans and independents in the audience, and singing the first verse of “America the Beautiful” together. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think people liked it.

Finally, there was very little counter-programming, since the Republican candidates for governor aren’t doing a lot of public events yet.

Sand has also appeared on lots of national podcasts and programs. In a recent interview with CBS News (watch here), Major Garrett asked him why Iowa has so many counties that voted for both Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Sand said voters were looking for “outsiders who wanted to change the system.” He mentioned that this is his “home turf,” since he grew up in Decorah. “And these are counties that have seen hard times, they remember better times, and they’re pretty fed up with politics as usual.”

Garrett also asked whether Sand would ever agree to let President Donald Trump deploy the Iowa National Guard outside the state, he said of course if there’s a natural disaster. What about immigration enforcement? He said he won’t be driven by the president’s party affiliation. He would be looking at “the facts on the ground,” the law, the constitution, and public safety.

Julie Stauch approaching “interview sessions” differently

While Sand is heavily favored to win the June 2026 primary, Julie Stauch continues to actively seek the Democratic nomination for governor. We’ve discussed her public events (she calls them “interview sessions”) on the show before, but I wanted to remind listeners how it goes. As she described in a September guest post for Bleeding Heartland, she gives everyone a worksheet to fill out, with these questions:

What is your community known for?
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing your area?
What does a successful Iowa look like to you?
What worries you most about the future of Iowa?
What is standing in the way of achieving your vision for Iowa?

Stauch then divides the room into small groups where people talk about their answers, while she listens and takes notes. Then she speaks for a while about her background and answers audience questions.

She is also organizing her tour by community college district, rather than having events in each of the 99 counties. Her goal is to have events in every community college district each quarter. In addition to events scheduled by her campaign, she encourages local groups to invite her for an interview session.

Feenstra comes out against eminent domain for CO2 pipelines

We spent a few minutes on each of the four GOP candidates for governor. I mentioned during the show how bizarre it is that U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra had not officially announced that he’s running for governor, even though his social media feeds have all said “governor” for months. I wasn’t sure what he’s waiting for.

The joke was on me, since Feenstra launched his campaign on Tuesday morning. Spencer and I will cover his opening salvo next week.

Anyway, I wanted to flag this story from Radio Iowa: Feenstra told KILR Radio in Estherville that he does not support giving Summit Carbon Solutions the power to seize farmland for its pipeline using eminent domain: “I’ve always said this and I’ve never wavered on this. This has always been my stance for the last two years.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about. One of the biggest reasons Kevin Virgil got almost 40 percent of the vote against Feenstra in last year’s Congressional primary was that Virgil was hammering on private property rights and speaking against the pipeline. (Feenstra is perceived to have support from Big Ag interests including ethanol producers who want the Summit Carbon pipeline.)

When KILR Radio asked Feenstra whether he would have signed the pipeline bill that Governor Kim Reynolds vetoed in June, he gave an amazing answer: “I have not read that bill. All’s I know is where I stand and I’m against the use of eminent domain to be used for this type of situation.”

What on earth? That’s a huge issue for many Iowa Republicans. By now Feenstra should have read the bill lawmakers approved in May. To my mind, this illustrates the drawbacks of skipping candidate forums and other public events. If Feenstra had held town hall meetings over the summer, when Congress was on extended break, he would have been asked about the pipeline bill many times, and he might have a better answer.

GOP field for governor looks set

In addition to Feenstra, three others are seeking the GOP nomination for governor: State Representative Eddie Andrews, former State Representative Brad Sherman, and former state agency director Adam Steen.

State Senator Mike Bousselot formed an exploratory committee in the spring and seemed likely to jump in this race a few months ago, when he attended a major GOP candidate forum. I get the impression he has had second thoughts. His social media accounts say Mike Bousselot for Iowa Senate. I think it’s more likely he will abandon his current seat (Senate district 21, covering most of Ankeny) to seek a second term in Senate district 23, where Jack Whitver isn’t seeking re-election. That’s safer Republican territory.

I’m not aware of any other Republicans seriously considering the governor’s race, but let me know if I’m missing anyone.

“Iowa Press” interviews rest of GOP field

The Iowa PBS program “Iowa Press” has recently interviewed the three announced GOP candidates for governor. I don’t know whether Feenstra will come on the show; he turned down the Iowa Press invitations to debate his Democratic opponents in 2022 and 2024.

We mentioned a few points of interest from the other candidate appearances. Andrews (watch here) emphasized his support for property rights, saying, “I’ve actually written legislation to remove that. The granting of eminent domain from the Iowa Utilities Commission. I am part of the intervenors who are presently suing the Iowa Utilities Commission. [...] As governor, I would put on day one that we cannot allow eminent domain to be used for any non-utility period, full stop.”

In an unusual move for a Republican candidate, Andrews is also on the record supporting campaign finance reform, especially limits on out-of-state contributions to Iowa candidates.

During his one term in the Iowa House, Sherman co-sponsored a bill that would roll back same-sex marriage rights. But he seemed to dodge that question on “Iowa Press” (watch here). Sherman was clear about one thing, though: he is for a “personhood” law that would completely ban abortion. That’s no surprise, since he dissented from the Republican Party platform in 2024 because it didn’t call for a nationwide abortion ban.

Steen kept a low profile as director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, but he seemed comfortable in front of the cameras on “Iowa Press” (watch here). As we’ve previously discussed, he is really going for the social conservative voters. He said he would support something like Education Savings Accounts (school vouchers) for homeschoolers, if they wanted to join.

Unlike Andrews, Steen opposes campaign finance reform. Like Sherman, he wants to ban all abortions through a law that would declare life begins at conception. He’s against using eminent domain for CO2 pipelines but advocated using carbon capture technology to produce more “beverage grade CO2.”

What Iowans need to vote in local, school elections

City and school elections are coming up next Tuesday, November 4. So I wanted to remind listeners that although it’s too late to request a mailed absentee ballot, you can vote early in person at your county elections office on weekdays through Monday, November 3. On election day, polls will be open from 7 am to 8 pm.

You will want to research your school board and city candidates ahead of time. Some school districts have bond initiatives on the ballot. Those need 60 percent “yes” votes to pass.

Every Iowan needs to bring some form of voter ID, such as a driver’s license or non-operator ID, passport, military ID, or tribal ID card. Student IDs don’t qualify for this purpose, unless they have both a photo and an expiration date.

You can register to vote or change your registration right there at the polls, or when you vote early in person. If you aren’t registered to vote in Iowa, or have moved since the last time you voted, you can still cast a ballot, but you will need to bring proof of address as well as voter ID. Documents that can prove your current address include a lease, utility bill including cell phone bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or property tax statement.

Democrats nominate Renee Hardman for Iowa Senate district 16

I was in West Des Moines last Tuesday evening, when Democrats packed the room for a special nominating convention for Iowa Senate district 16. That’s the district the late State Senator Claire Celsi represented. I’ve never seen so many people at one of these conventions.

Five candidates sought the nomination, and after three ballots, it came down to Renee Hardman, CEO of Lutheran Services in Iowa and WDM city council member, and Mike Andreski, a West Des Moines school board member. It was a very emotional scene, as Claire’s mother Ellen Celsi was on hand. (She had endorsed Andreski.)

After winning the nomination, Hardman promised to honor Claire’s memory and uphold her values and her fight. She knew Claire well, since Claire managed her first campaign for city council in 2017.

I have a post in progress about this special election. I see Hardman as strongly favored. She has a lot of experience fundraising and public speaking, has won a slew of awards, and is well-known in the community. Democrats have a voter registration advantage in Senate district 16, and voters in this area preferred Kamala Harris to Trump by a wide margin. In addition, the strongest potential GOP candidate, West Des Moines Mayor Russ Trimble, told me on the record last week that he is not running for the Senate seat.

Democrats aren’t taking any chances. At the nominating convention, Polk County Democratic leaders vowed to make this seat a high priority. Turning people out for a December 30 election won’t be easy, but Democrats have done this work before, when the Iowa caucuses were held in early January. They will be highly motivated to ensure Senate Republicans don’t get their supermajority back.

If elected to the legislature, Hardman does plan to keep working at Lutheran Services, but she would need to resign from the city council. (She’s on next week’s ballot and is running unopposed.)

I didn’t mention this on the show, but I spent part of Saturday afternoon at Claire’s celebration of life at Valley High School. There was a massive turnout—some estimated more than 1,000 people. In case you missed it over the weekend, I compiled some of my favorite videos of Claire in action, so readers could get a sense of her advocacy, in her own words.

Eight classic Claire Celsi moments in the Iowa Senate

Iowans in Congress oppose extending health insurance subsidies

We’re going to spend more time on the federal government shutdown next week, but Dennis and I briefly mentioned that so far, Iowa’s Republicans are holding firm against extending the subsidies for health insurance policies that people buy on Affordable Care Act exchanges. Democrats in Congress have demanded an extension as they refuse to vote for a “clean” spending bill.

I don’t know when the shutdown will end, but it’s likely to break a record. Pressure to make a deal will be ratcheted up next week, when states including Iowa will not be issuing food assistance known as SNAP. There are also big questions about how air traffic controllers will be paid. So far Trump has moved defense budget funds around (illegally) to keep paying military personnel.

Governor insists “IPERS isn’t going anywhere”

Governor Reynolds held a press conference last Tuesday to highlight the recommendations of her DOGE task force (read the whole document here). She was adamant about one thing: “IPERS isn’t going anywhere.” She promised that every current public employee would continue to receive the same pension benefits they were promised.

It was hard for reporters to ask good questions about the report, since the governor’s office didn’t make it available to us until after the press conference. Also, Reynolds wasn’t ready to say which recommendations she would ask the legislature to implement.

We covered the final DOGE task force meeting on the show last month. I wanted to talk about IPERS because Democrats have accused the Reynolds administration of trying to weaken the state’s main public pension system. The governor said last week, “There’s been a lot of public speculation, not to mention misinformation, about the potential changes to benefits that state employees, law enforcement officers, teachers and others rely on,” she said. “And you can rest assured that IPERS will be there for your retirement, just as you’ve planned and we’ve promised. And that, by the way, was the intent of the task force from the very beginning.”

The report recommends a study of public employee compensation and an option for new employees to choose a defined contribution plan, like a 401(k), rather than a defined benefit pension through IPERS. Democrats say that would weaken the system.

Iowa House Minority Leader Brian Meyer pointed to language buried deep in the report, which lists “success indicators” such as, “Aim for significant uptake of the direct contribution plan (e.g., 25% or more of new employees) as a demonstration of demand for portability and to stabilize pension costs.”

State auditor to review Iowa’s education licensing process

Last week, State Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, formally requested that State Auditor Rob Sand look into the state’s process for licensing educators, and why state entities didn’t spot a “series of deceptions” by the former Des Moines Superintendent Ian Roberts.

Sand confirmed his office will review “procedures related to the licensing and background checks of educational practitioners conducted by the Iowa Department of Education and the Board of Educational Examiners.”

The State Auditor’s office is already investigating Des Moines Public Schools procedures after district officials made a formal request.

Voters sue over new law on county supervisor elections

We had time for several stories related to the courts. In the spring, Iowa Republican lawmakers approved Senate File 75, which requires a new system for county supervisor elections in the counties where state universities are located. Last week, residents of Johnson, Story, and Black Hawk counties, filed a lawsuit in state court. You can read the complaint here.

The plaintiffs say this law burdens their fundamental voting rights. For many years, Iowans in each county have been able to choose one of three systems for electing supervisors. Currently, Johnson, Story, and Black Hawk all elect their supervisors in at-large, county-wide elections. Senate File 75 requires those three counties to elect supervisors by district. (The obvious goal is to make it easier for rural voters to elect a Republican outside each county’s largest metro area.)

The plaintiffs argue that the state has no compelling interest in restricting the rights of voters in three counties. They say the law violates their due process rights, the equal protection clauses of the Iowa and U.S. constitutions, and a state constitutional provision mandating “uniform operation of law.”

If courts uphold the law, all three counties would have to elect supervisors by districts. So for instance, you couldn’t have Ames residents hold all three Story County supervisor seats.

Appeals court leaves Iowa immigration law blocked

Moving to the federal courts: last week, a panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the block on Iowa enforcing an immigration law approved in 2024. You can read that decision here. There has been a complicated procedural path for this case, and it was hard to explain in just a couple of minutes. The Des Moines Register covered the state of play well.

Senate File 2340 was modeled on a Texas law which makes “illegal re-entry” a state crime. Under the law, someone who was once deported or removed from the U.S., and later entered the state of Iowa, could be prosecuted in state courts and eventually deported.

The Biden administration’s Justice Department sued, and so did the nonprofit Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and some individuals who could be charged under the law, even though they now reside in Iowa legally. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher found the law unconstitutionally intrudes on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate immigration.

The state appealed, and an Eighth Circuit panel upheld the temporary injunction. But the appeals court dismissed the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice lawsuit as duplicative. Then the Trump administration switched sides and dropped its challenge to the Iowa law. So the appeals court allowed the Iowa MMJ lawsuit to be revived.

The Eighth Circuit panel found that any enforcement of this law would infringe on federal authority. But they sent it back to U.S. District Court to determine whether the scope of Judge Locher’s statewide injunction was too broad. (It seems illogical for the appeals court to say any enforcement is unconstitutional, but leave open the idea that an injunction should apply only to certain plaintiffs or defendants.)

Iowa AG backing Trump’s birthright citizenship order

Speaking of bad immigration policy, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced last week that she is co-leading a coalition of two dozen states supporting President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. Trump wants babies born to undocumented parents to be denied citizenship.

Every federal court that has looked at this issue has found Trump’s order violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the order is constitutional. You can read the amicus brief from Iowa and other red states here.

Federal court blocks firing of Iowa teacher

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger issued a temporary restraining order last week, blocking the Creston school district from firing Melisa Crook. The high school teacher has been on leave, facing likely dismissal, since she posted a Facebook comment about Charlie Kirk, which some found offensive. (She posted an apology and clarification the next day.)

Crook’s lawsuit points out that the Creston superintendent and school board president have a history of making politically charged social media posts, and have not faced consequences for that.

Iowa Capital Dispatch reported that the judge found Crook is likely to succeed in showing she faced “adverse action” in response to “exercise of her First Amendment rights.” The judge noted that Crook “spoke as a citizen on a matter of public concern” and “posted her Facebook comments on her personal time, at home, from her personal Facebook account.” Moreover, “She did not purport to speak as an employee of the Creston Community School District.”

Miller-Meeks pushed for Oskaloosa teacher’s firing

At a fundraiser on Friday night, U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks said she had a role in getting a different teacher fired over a post about Charlie Kirk.

That teacher, Matthew Kargol, has also filed suit in federal court, saying his free speech rights were violated.

From the Iowa Capital Dispatch report on the Miller-Meeks event:

To show voters why they should support her, she brought up her involvement in a case where an Oskaloosa school teacher was fired after making a controversial social media post in response to Kirk’s assassination. When the post was brought to her attention, Miller-Meeks said she contacted the principal and superintendent of the school district and told them to investigate the situation.

“People need to know that we are working for them, that we are looking out for them, and that we are protecting children,” Miller-Meeks said. “… That teacher was fired after an investigation, after the board met, they had due process, they were terminated. That’s what your congresswoman, who’s working for you, does.”

That’s all from us this week. Spencer and I will be back at the microphones next Monday evening. Thanks for reading or listening.