Fallout from ICE detention of DSM superintendent
Sept. 29 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"
Greetings from hot and humid Okoboji, where I’m attending another amazing Julie Gammack production: the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat. I need to keep this post shorter than usual today, so I can get to the evening activities.
The audio file from the September 29 edition of “KHOI’s Capitol Week” is at the top of this post. You can also listen to the show through any podcast platform or smart speaker, and find all of our shows from the past three years here (KHOI Community Radio’s website is currently under construction).
Latest news on Des Moines superintendent situation
and I spent about half the show bringing listeners up to date on fallout from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining Dr. Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. (Note: Roberts submitted his resignation on Tuesday, but we didn’t have that information when we recorded.)My Bleeding Heartland post on Friday compiled news from the day the story broke, and over the weekend I covered additional details released following Saturday’s special school board meeting.
The board held another special meeting shortly before we went on the air on Monday. I was listening to board President Jackie Norris take questions from the media until around 6:58 PM.
Here’s the full video of the meeting, a statement read by Norris and board member Maria Alonzo, and the news conference, which begins around the 19:00 mark.
Key developments on Monday:
The Des Moines School Board learned that the Iowa Board of Education Examiners had revoked Roberts’ administrator license, and received from federal authorities a copy of the final order of removal and other documentation indicating that Roberts was not authorized to work in the U.S. Norris said the district asked the state board for documentation they had received before revoking the license.
Since Roberts’ contract required him to be licensed by the state, the board voted on Monday to put the superintendent on unpaid administrative leave. They also gave his attorneys from the Parrish Kruidenier law firm until noon on September 30 to provide documents supporting his claim to citizenship. Otherwise the school district will start the process of terminating his contract.
Norris said she was “shocked” to learn Roberts apparently had a loaded gun in a school-issued car before he was detained. She confirmed during the news conference that that violated district policies and that alone could be grounds for termination.
Many unanswered questions remain
We still don’t have all the details about the alleged prior “weapons charges” that ICE cited in their initial statements from Friday. ICE told the Des Moines Register “that Roberts was arrested on the weapons charge by port authority police in February 2020. But the agency hasn’t responded to questions asking for additional details about the alleged crime.” If he was not lawfully present in the U.S., it would be a crime for him to possess firearms, and that alone could be grounds for deportation.
The district had previously said Roberts affirmed he was a U.S. citizen on documents submitted during the hiring process. She said on Monday that he had provided a driver’s license and Social Security card. It’s not clear when or where those were issued.
Norris said the board will do an after-action review later to see if there’s anything they can do to strengthen their hiring practices. But she said she wouldn’t do anything differently, because they went through the regular process for vetting employees through criminal background checks and I-9 verification.
We still don’t know why ICE carried out this “targeted enforcement action” now, or why the Des Moines Public Schools were never notified about the order for final removal, or when Roberts himself learned about it.
Over the weekend, U.S. Representative Zach Nunn, whose district includes the Des Moines metro area, asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for further information: “it is important to our community to establish a clear, verifiable timeline and to confirm that ICE’s enforcement actions involving a senior public official were supported by proper documentation.”
Republican reaction to Roberts’ detention
The Iowa legislature may take action next year to address some of the issues raised by the superintendent’s situation. State Representative Charley Thomson has already initiated a House Government Oversight Committee investigation, and State Representative Austin Harris has slammed what he called “a failure in oversight that cannot be tolerated in our education system.”
If Roberts presented falsified documents, I don’t know how the school district could have known or determined that. Third parties conducted the background checks and I-9 verification.
As she had done on Saturday, Norris denounced the “hateful rhetoric” in her comments on Monday and called on everyone to tone it down. She didn’t name names, but many GOP politicians, including U.S. Representatives Ashley Hinson (IA-02) and Randy Feenstra (IA-04), rushed to condemn Roberts and claimed in social media posts that he wasn’t safe to be around children. Many conservatives (not necessarily Iowa elected officials) have used the allegations against the first Black superintendent in Des Moines to promote racist stereotypes online.
The Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the NAACP said in a statement on Sunday that they were “deeply concerned” about Dr. Roberts’ detention and had been in communication with his wife and his attorney. “We urge caution against rushing to conclusions and continue calling for transparency and full due process.”
Democratic reaction all over the map
There was no unified Democratic response to recent events. Some politicians expressed support for Roberts or condemned ICE. Senate candidate Nathan Sage posted on Friday, “Yesterday it was Jorge Elieser González Ochoa [who was tackled and arrested at work in Iowa City]. Today it’s DMPS Superintendent Ian Roberts. This is unacceptable. Iowans deserve answers and accountability from federal authorities. We cannot stay silent as members of our community are being swept away without cause.”
Congressional candidate Xavier Carrigan attended several public rallies in support of Roberts. Julie Stauch, a candidate for governor, said in a video posted to social media that “ICE does NOT belong in Iowa,” and Governor Kim Reynolds should resign.
The irony was that Reynolds’ initial statement on Friday was much more restrained than the inflammatory comments we heard from many other Republicans.
Taylor Wettach, who is one of the Democrats running in the first Congressional district, didn’t comment specifically on a case but posted, “ICE continues to engage in activities that violate due process.”
State Auditor Rob Sand, whose children attend Des Moines Public Schools, didn’t comment publicly on the situation until Sunday afternoon. He said in a statement that he understood why people were “worried, scared, and upset about the situation with Dr. Ian Roberts.” Citing his experience as a prosecutor, he said “I don’t feel it’s responsible to weigh in on matters where many important facts are still unknown.” He criticized “government figures in both parties being so quick to leap to conclusions, or ignore known facts to rile up their bases.”
Similarly, Congressional candidate Sarah Trone Garriott also waited until Sunday to comment. In a series of posts on Sunday, she said, “We need to fix our broken immigration system,” adding, “While we wait for more information to come to light, Dr. Roberts deserves due process, and I’m glad to hear he has legal counsel. We need more transparency about the allegations made against him to provide clarity in an incredibly difficult time for our community.”
Congressional candidate Jennifer Konfrst, whose grown children were educated in the district, finally posted about Roberts’ detention on Monday afternoon, acknowledging that recent events “were shocking and scary,” that she was proud her kids attended Des Moines public schools. She called for transparency, accountability, and due process. “While there is still more we don’t know about Dr. Roberts’ case and are awaiting the facts to be verified, there is too much online speculation and too many people using this as a reason to spread hate and create fear in our community.”
Some Democrats still haven’t publicly commented on the situation, including Senate candidates Zach Wahls and Josh Turek and several candidates for Congress around the state. Travis Terrell, who is running in the first district, hasn’t posted about Roberts but attended a rapid response event to what he called the “abduction” of Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa (the undocumented immigrant detained at work in Iowa City).
Iowa Senate Republicans choose Mike Klimesh as leader
On last week’s show, we talked about Jack Whitver stepping aside as Iowa Senate majority leader. Senate Republicans chose State Senator Mike Klimesh to replace him. For months, Klimesh seemed to be preparing for the role; the only question mark for me was whether the intense Senate debate over eminent domain in May might have hurt his standing with colleagues.
Klimesh is from Winneshiek County, where he was the longtime mayor of Spillville. He was first elected to the legislature in 2020, continuing a trend of less experienced Iowa lawmakers being chosen to lead their caucuses. Most recently, he has chaired the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Since leaders don’t typically chair such panels, we are likely to see a reshuffle of Senate committee leaders before the legislature convenes in January 2026.
I’ll be interested to see whether Klimesh reverses any of the institutional changes that happened during Whitver’s tenure; we covered some of those last week.
Senate Republicans didn’t release any vote tally from the leadership election. By many accounts, State Senator Mike Bousselot was also vying for the role.
Rod Blum running for Congress again in IA-02
The Republican field may be set in Iowa’s second Congressional district. Former U.S. Representative Rod Blum launched his latest campaign about ten days ago.
Blum was elected to an open seat in the 2014 wave year. It was seen as a fluke but he held the seat in 2016, with an assist from Donald Trump’s coattails. He lost to Democratic challenger Abby Finkenauer in 2018.
Blum considered a comeback bid for 2020, but the GOP establishment wanted Ashley Hinson to run against Finkenauer instead. Why were they cool to Blum? He didn’t endear himself to leadership in January 2015, when his very first vote in the House of Representatives was not for Speaker John Boehner.
He was seen as abrasive, and constituent service was never his strong suit. Also, there was an ethics investigation of him in 2018, which I tried to explain briefly on the show. Here are some links to Bleeding Heartland coverage from the time:
Rod Blum’s undisclosed, shady company used Congressional staffer for fake ad
Rod Blum’s internet business, other firms tout identical “success stories”
Highlights from the Rod Blum ethics investigation (the supporting exhibits from the Office of Congressional Ethics report in December 2018 included references to me as “this Bleeding Heartland bitch” and “this crazy blog lady, that’s stirring the pot”)
Blum has been successful in business and can largely self-fund a campaign. So I don’t count him out in a GOP primary.
Shannon Lundgren also running in IA-02
State Representative Shannon Lungren launched her own Congressional campaign last week. She’s represented part of Dubuque County in the Iowa House since 2017, and most recently has chaired the House Commerce Committee.
That is a very desirable committee for fundraising, because a lot of corporations and industries are regulated through bills that run through her committee. I was a bit surprised she launched so close to the end of a fundraising quarter (September 30). I thought she might wait until early October. I’ll be curious to see how much she raised in her first week as a Congressional candidate.
Lundgren is probably best known for floor managing the near-total abortion bans in 2018 and 2023. So she should have significant social conservative support in this race.
The other two Republicans running in IA-02 are State Senator Charlie McClintock and former State Representative Joe Mitchell. I suspect McClintock will struggle to raise the money needed to run a strong district-wide campaign.
I feel like Mitchell made a tactical error by running here. He’s never lived in northeast Iowa before a few weeks ago, and he’s not even 30 years old. I would have advised him to hold his federal government job for a few years, gain some experience, and then run for Congress in southeast Iowa someday, after Mariannette Miller-Meeks either loses or retires.
All four Republicans seeking the nomination in IA-02 endorsed Trump before the 2024 caucuses, so I’m not convinced he will offer anyone an endorsement.
On the Democratic side, we have three declared candidates: State Representative Lindsay James, Kathy Dolter, and Clint Twedt-Ball, and one who has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission but is not actively campaigning (Don Primus).
James continues to rack up high-profile endorsements and did an event last week with Kate Mulgrew, a well-known actor who is from Dubuque. I know her as Captain Kathryn Janeway on “Star Trek: Voyager,” but some of you may know her better as “Red” Reznikov on “Orange Is the New Black.”
Kyle Larsen ending campaign in IA-04
The Des Moines Register reported on Monday that Republican farmer Kyle Larsen is ending his campaign in Iowa’s fourth Congressional district. He is supporting Siouxland Chamber of Commerce leader Chris McGowan in the GOP primary.
I never saw Larsen as a serious contender for the nomination. He said he plans to advise McGowan on agricultural issues. This comment caught my attention:
“As the only candidates that are married with kids in Iowa, Chris McGowan and I share the same values on family […] His dedication to his wife and children shows me he will be loyal to the families of Iowa.”
State Representative Matt Windschitl, the former Iowa House majority leader who is also running for Congress here, got divorced last year. I don’t know the marital status of Ryan Rhodes. Christian Schlaefer is married, but he’s only 29 years old; perhaps he and his wife do not have children.
It’s been a long time since I have seen a candidate bring up marital status as an argument against a political rival. I would guess we are long past the days when being divorced could hurt a candidate’s chances.
Libertarian Thomas Laehn running for Senate
Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn told the Des Moines Register he plans to run for U.S. Senate as a Libertarian and is kicking off his campaign on October 11. He said both major parties “have been equally complicit in the corruption of our constitutional system,” and said he is running to win.
I interviewed Laehn about a possible Senate bid in the summer of 2024. I wouldn’t get carried away about a third-party candidate’s chances to win. But Laehn (who was the first Libertarian elected to a partisan office in Iowa) is very articulate. If he can raise enough money to get his message out, he could do better than the usual 1-2 percent vote share for a third-party candidate. A lot of people are dissatisfied with both parties—that’s a major theme of Rob Sand’s campaign for governor—but that doesn’t mean they would vote third party.
If the Senate race is close, siphoning away 2 to 5 percent of the vote could be important—especially since Ashley Hinson (the likely GOP nominee) is not beloved by everyone in the MAGA world.
Hinson elevating Wahls in Senate race
Four Democrats are seeking the nomination for U.S. Senate. But Hinson continues to name-check only one of them.
Hinson mentioned Zach Wahls (and no other Democratic candidate) at her first campaign event in Cedar Rapids earlier this month. She called him a “far-left” Democrat masquerading as a moderate. She also said Wahls would raise taxes, open borders, and “restore government bureaucrats who think they know your families better than you do.”
This past weekend, Hinson criticized Wahls for saying nothing about the ICE detention of the Des Moines superintendent. Josh Turek also hasn’t commented publicly on the situation, but Hinson didn’t talk about him.
The Wahls campaign said in a memo earlier this month, “Hinson singles out Zach because she knows he’s the biggest threat.” I wouldn’t jump to conclusions, because sometimes in politics, a candidate tries to elevate the opponent they would rather face in the general election.
Democrat wins county supervisor seat in Floyd County
For your “every vote counts” file: Floyd County held a special election last Tuesday, and Frank Rottinghaus won a county supervisor seat by two votes. Turnout was just under 22 percent, and Rottinghaus received 275 votes (about 39 percent) to 273 votes for the second place finisher.
I wasn’t shocked by the outcome, since Rottinghaus is the longtime county treasurer. Still, Floyd County has gotten very red over the past decade; Trump received about 62 percent of the vote there last November. So this is another solid overperformance for a Democratic candidate.
Some trivia: Rottinghaus is one of Iowa Democratic Party state chair Rita Hart’s brothers.
Thanks so much for reading or listening! I’ll be back again soon.
Do they come any nastier than Ashley Hinson? WTF is wrong with her?
Your all hours issues updates are really appreciated out here in northwest Iowa!!