From Biden to Harris; Bird, Reynolds, and Ernst at the RNC
July 22 "Capitol Week" is online
Nothing like an enormous breaking news story on Sunday to liven up your Monday evening radio show!
Before the recap, I want to flag a few upcoming events. About a dozen members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative are teaming up for a new podcast focused on Iowa politics. We taped our first episode a couple of weeks ago, and the next one should come out on Wednesday. We plan to record these podcasts every two weeks until Labor Day, then every week through the election. You can check it out here.
The last Friday of the month approaches, which means it’s time for another “Office Lounge” Zoom meeting for paid subscribers from noon to 1:00 PM Central on July 26. I’ll send out the link in a separate post later this week. These are informal discussions and a good chance to get to know some of our columnists better.
Finally, I’m holding a Bleeding Heartland event in Chicago (Hyde Park area) on Wednesday, August 14 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. I’ll keep the prepared remarks brief so there will be plenty of time for people to ask me anything about Iowa politics. Although it’s a fundraiser, donations are not required to attend. Please reach out if you’d like to receive an invitation or have a friend in Chicago who’s interested.
The audio from our latest show 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.
On to the recap! For the second straight week, I had to completely redo the format on Sunday.
Spencer Dirks and I began with Iowa Democratic reaction to President Joe Biden’s decision to stand down as a candidate for re-election.
I said during the show that I expected Iowa’s Democratic National Convention delegates to announce their support for Vice President Kamala Harris soon. In fact, the Iowa Democratic Party had sent out a news release at 6:59 pm announcing the delegation’s unanimous support for Harris. Should have checked my email one last time before we went live;
For anyone wondering whether a new ticket could have trouble qualifying for the Iowa ballot: the window for nominating general election candidates hasn’t even opened yet. Whoever the DNC nominates for president and vice president will appear on Iowa’s ballot, just like in any other election cycle;
Harris will have access to the Biden-Harris campaign funds and infrastructure (which includes a lot of staff in targeted states already);
I haven’t heard any Iowa Democrats endorse a specific person to be Harris’ running mate. There’s a general sense that a governor would be a good choice, though I’ve heard people mention Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. As it happens, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear will be in Des Moines on July 27. He was booked to headline the IDP’s big summer fundraiser weeks before the disastrous debate that led to Biden’s departure;
Iowa Republicans echoed the same messages we’ve heard from GOP leaders in other states: Biden should resign the presidency immediately, and replacing the nominee “disenfranchises” Democratic voters. I have a Bleeding Heartland post in progress about the irony of Republicans pretending to care about democracy when they’ve just lined up behind the guy who tried to stay in power after losing the 2020 election;
Several recent polls indicated that most Democrats wanted Biden to step aside, so it’s hard to argue that party elites are flouting the wishes of rank-and-file voters;
Moving to the Republican National Convention, we talked about highlights from Attorney General Brenna Bird’s prime-time speech last Tuesday. You can watch it here (it’s only four minutes long);
Governor Kim Reynolds spoke at the 2020 RNC, but wasn’t asked to do so again this year, probably because she campaigned vigorously for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis before the Iowa caucuses. Reynolds did her best in Milwaukee to show her loyalty, even wearing a sequin jacket Thursday night with “MAGA” on the front and “TRUMP” on the back;
Senator Joni Ernst is among a handful of Republicans who had prime-time speaking slots at both the 2016 and 2020 conventions, but wasn’t invited on stage this year. At Bleeding Heartland, I had more to say about the rift between Ernst and Trump, and the possible impact on the senator’s future career;
We briefly discussed how the GOP’s vice presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance, will play in Iowa. I think Trump fumbled this one badly. Vance doesn’t expand the Republican coalition in any way, and will be off-putting for some important constituencies;
July 15 was another deadline for federal candidates to report on their fundraising and spending. Yet again, Democratic challengers Christina Bohannan (in IA-01) and Lanon Baccam (IA-03) out-raised incumbents Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn;
Forecasters still see the first district as a likely Republican hold, and the third district as a lean Republican race. But both races could be competitive, and I was struck by the fact that Bohannan goes in to the general election campaign with more cash on hand than Miller-Meeks. Nunn is lucky he didn’t have a primary challenger like Miller-Meeks did;
We spent a minute on how nominating Harris could affect down-ballot Democratic candidates. It’s no surprise that all of the Democratic candidates for Iowa’s U.S. House races praised Biden’s decision not to seek re-election. The president would have been a huge drag on the ticket. At Bleeding Heartland, I wrote more about how Harris could help Democrats seeking other Iowa offices;
Iowa’s near-total abortion ban will be enforced very soon, now that the Iowa Supreme Court has rejected the plaintiffs’ request to rehear the case. It’s not clear whether Polk County District Court Judge Jeffrey Farrell will lift the injunction right away or announce a day and time when the state will be able to enforce the law. I explained the process in more depth at Bleeding Heartland;
Litigation over the abortion ban will continue in district court, but it will be difficult for plaintiffs to demonstrate that the ban is unconstitutional now that the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled the state only needs to show some “rational basis” for the policy;
We talked about how Iowa’s leading abortion providers and the Iowa Abortion Access Fund have prepared for the new legal landscape by expanding clinics in nearby states and helping Iowans schedule appointments there;
Groups that oppose the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline project have asked the Iowa Utilities Commission to reconsider the order granting the application. One small correction: I said during the show that opponents had 30 days to file those documents. The deadline was actually 20 days after the board’s order approving Summit Carbon’s plan;
It’s unlikely the Iowa Utilities Commission will reconsider their order, but groups or individuals have to exhaust their administrative remedies before they can file lawsuits challenging the approval of eminent domain, or other aspects of the pipeline project;
A couple of weeks ago, Spencer and I discussed the surprise resignation of State Senator Waylon Brown, who was the main roadblock to eminent domain legislation in the Iowa Senate. Last week, we learned why Brown stepped down soon after winning a hard-fought GOP primary. He has a new job with “the Clean Grid Alliance, a St. Paul, Minn.-based nonprofit focused on advancing renewable energy across the Midwest.”
Thank you for reading or listening! Please tell a friend who may enjoy a weekly podcast about Iowa politics.
Watch this space for the Zoom link for this Friday’s “Office Lounge” call over the lunch hour.
Longtime Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu is now part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. You can find her work at Rekha shouts and whispers. Our Sunday morning roundup links to recent posts by all of our columnists. You can sign up here, for free.
We are proud to have an alliance with Iowa Capital Dispatch.