Such a detailed analysis, Laura. We are so lucky to have you working in Iowa to put a spotlight on so much that would not otherwise be known. Thank you!
You write that Iowa districts are not gerrymandered. If not, why can’t Iowa kick a highly unpopular governor out of office? Why can’t Iowa elect Senators who are Democrats? Thank you for letting some sunlight into one very important piece of the problem. BTW look again at the district boundaries, where those likely Democrat voters are usually found, and how the boundaries might have been drawn to insure they can’t win the district.
Thanks for your questions, Linda. There are a few different issues here. Congressional district lines don't affect what happens in statewide elections for governor or U.S. senator. Iowa has trended Republican in statewide elections, but that's not related to any district lines. There are a lot of reasons but I think the biggest one relates to a national trend of white voters without a college degree becoming more of a reliable GOP voting bloc. That's most of the Iowa electorate.
I have extensively covered redistricting in Iowa (both the 2011 and 2021 versions). Iowa has a good nonpartisan process for drawing the maps. Just because a Democratic candidate loses an election doesn't mean lines were drawn to ensure Democrats can't win. Look at Abby Finkenauer, who won in 2018 and lost on the same map in 2020 (that was because of Trump's coattails, not the map).
Cindy Axne is another example. She did lose in 2022 but it was by less than 1%, and I still think she would have been re-elected if a Libertarian candidate had been on the ballot in IA-03. So it wasn't a problem with the map specifically.
I’m glad you’ve been looking at Iowa Redistricting extensively. It seemed to me the four rectangles had developed tentacles. And as a native of Bloomfield, especially glad you’re shining a light on Miller-Meeks egregious acts.
Such a detailed analysis, Laura. We are so lucky to have you working in Iowa to put a spotlight on so much that would not otherwise be known. Thank you!
Thank you for reading!
You write that Iowa districts are not gerrymandered. If not, why can’t Iowa kick a highly unpopular governor out of office? Why can’t Iowa elect Senators who are Democrats? Thank you for letting some sunlight into one very important piece of the problem. BTW look again at the district boundaries, where those likely Democrat voters are usually found, and how the boundaries might have been drawn to insure they can’t win the district.
Thanks for your questions, Linda. There are a few different issues here. Congressional district lines don't affect what happens in statewide elections for governor or U.S. senator. Iowa has trended Republican in statewide elections, but that's not related to any district lines. There are a lot of reasons but I think the biggest one relates to a national trend of white voters without a college degree becoming more of a reliable GOP voting bloc. That's most of the Iowa electorate.
I have extensively covered redistricting in Iowa (both the 2011 and 2021 versions). Iowa has a good nonpartisan process for drawing the maps. Just because a Democratic candidate loses an election doesn't mean lines were drawn to ensure Democrats can't win. Look at Abby Finkenauer, who won in 2018 and lost on the same map in 2020 (that was because of Trump's coattails, not the map).
Cindy Axne is another example. She did lose in 2022 but it was by less than 1%, and I still think she would have been re-elected if a Libertarian candidate had been on the ballot in IA-03. So it wasn't a problem with the map specifically.
I’m glad you’ve been looking at Iowa Redistricting extensively. It seemed to me the four rectangles had developed tentacles. And as a native of Bloomfield, especially glad you’re shining a light on Miller-Meeks egregious acts.
I agree with Virginia Traxler. We are so fortunate to have you. Big Namaste!
Thanks, Mary-Louise.
Outstanding. Thank you.
Outstanding analysis, like always.
What did that constituency do? Consult Missourians….?
Almost as bad as using Air Force two to campaign