Iowa caucus news, voter fraud in Sioux City, and a "Franksgiving" story
Nov. 27 "Capitol Week" is online
Dennis Hart and I are fast approaching our 150th episode of “Capitol Week.” I’m so grateful to KHOI Radio for giving us a platform since early 2021, and for listeners who have helped us spread the word about the show.
Remember, the whole “Capitol Week” archive is available for free on KHOI Community Radio’s website. Here’s the audio from our November 27 program.
I wouldn't say it was a slow news week, but the Thanksgiving break allowed Dennis and me to dig into a smaller number of topics than we’ve usually covered this year. Here’s the recap:
Bob Vander Plaats finally made his support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis official last week. We discussed the history of BVP endorsements and the importance of the social conservative bloc;
Why did Governor Kim Reynolds and Vander Plaats endorse, and why this month?
Former President Donald Trump released a video last week bashing Reynolds for supporting DeSantis. Among other things, he called her the most unpopular governor in the country. He was alluding to Morning Consult’s polling, which showed Reynolds with a disapproval number in the high 40s;
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley seems to have some momentum in the presidential race, and we talked about her potential to pull ahead of DeSantis for second place in the caucuses. Lately, super PACs supporting those candidates have spent big money on ads attacking the other competitor, rather than taking on Trump;
Vivek Ramaswamy continues to hold lots of campaign events around Iowa and even ran a “turkey trot” 5K race last week, but he isn’t getting much traction. Part of that is because he made a strategic decision earlier in the year to emulate Trump;
Dennis is looking forward to watching DeSantis debate California Governor Gavin Newsom on Fox News this Thursday. Many people see this event as possible 2028 campaign preview;
The next Republican National Committee presidential debate is set for December 6 in Alabama; as far as I know, the RNC is not organizing a pre-caucus debate in Iowa, which is a break with tradition;
I’m surprised Air Force Reserve major and Florida businessman David J. Stuckenberg got so much media coverage last week for launching yet another no-hoper presidential campaign. If Ryan Binkley and Doug Burgum are at zero percent after spending millions of dollars in Iowa, I don’t know why any Republican would caucus for Stuckenberg;
Dennis recalled that Ryan Binkley has said God told him to run for president, which is not far from the campaign pitch of Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ GOP primary challenger, David Pautsch. I wrote more about his candidacy over the weekend at Bleeding Heartland;
Reynolds continues to promise more income tax cuts next year, without releasing details. We discussed the fiscal context and prospects during the 2024 legislative session;
A federal jury convicted Kim Taylor last Tuesday on 52 counts of voter fraud, voter registration fraud, or giving false information in registering or voting. She was trying to drum up votes in Sioux City’s Vietnamese community for her husband, Jeremy Taylor, who was a GOP candidate for Congress and later for Woodbury County supervisor in 2020. I wrote more about this fascinating case at Bleeding Heartland. Jeremy Taylor was named as an unindicted co-conspirator and could still face federal charges, but that’s unclear;
We spent some time on exclusive reporting I published on Monday. For the second time in three years, Governor Reynolds refused to act on a slate of nominees approved by one of Iowa’s regional judicial nominating commissions. It happens to be the commission that covers Judicial District 2B, which includes Story County (the KHOI listening area). The sequence of events raises questions about Reynolds’ authority to reject nominees for a judgeship, and how the District 2B has been operating since another controversial selection process in 2021. There doesn’t seem to be any consensus among attorneys about whether the governor did the right thing or overstepped;
Here’s something you don’t see every day: Planned Parenthood employees in Iowa have scheduled pickets this week outside Planned Parenthood clinics. Workers who have organized under SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa have been unable to agree on a new contract;
The Des Moines Register’s Michaela Ramm published another article last week about the total collapse of patients using Iowa’s family planning program since the state excluded Planned Parenthood in 2017. I covered this story last month at Bleeding Heartland, highlighting how wrong Republican lawmakers were when they rolled out their plan to defund Planned Parenthood;
The Iowa Utilities Board has set a briefing schedule for arguments about Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline permit. Jared Strong covered this story for Iowa Capital Dispatch; we still don’t know when the board will issue a final decision on the permit;
We closed out the show with a fun bit of history I wrote about last Thursday. For several years beginning in 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt moved up the date of the Thanksgiving holiday, hoping to boost holiday sales for retailers. Many states (including Iowa, which was then solidly Republican), refused to follow the federal date for “Franksgiving” and continued to celebrate on the last Thursday of the month. Congress passed a federal law in 1941 setting Thanksgiving for the fourth Thursday, mostly ending the controversy.
Thanks for reading or listening! Hope you are feeling refreshed and staying warm after the holiday weekend.
The Iowa Writers Collaborative holiday party is happening Thursday, December 7 at the Witmer House in Des Moines, 2900 Grand Avenue, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. Anyone who is a paid subscriber to any of the newsletters below can register here. You can also bring a guest (there is a $20 fee for that to help cover our costs).
Laura reports that former president DJT says Reynolds is the most unpopular U.S. governor, citing Morning Consult's poll which shows her disapproval number in the high 40's. So would someone please explain to me - why do all the national media and many Iowa media - continue to always term Reynolds "popular Iowa governor ...........?"