Iowa Congressional races in the spotlight
Sept. 30 "Capitol Week" is online
It’s hard to believe the election is only five weeks away. If you’ve moved since the last time you voted, now would be a good time to update your voter registration. Otherwise you will need to bring proof of address as well as ID when you vote. If you plan to vote by mail, get your absentee ballot request form to your county auditor as soon as possible. I prefer voting early in person, which begins in Iowa on October 16. Whether you plan to vote early or on November 5, I summarized key Iowa deadlines and requirements here.
and I will be leading this month’s shows with campaign news, but we will continue to cover state and local government stories.The audio file for the latest “KHOI’s Capitol Week” is at the top of this message, or you can find it on podcast platforms and smart speakers. The full radio show archive (going back to February 2021) is available on KHOI’s website.
We began with some breaking news: on Monday afternoon, Governor Kim Reynolds approved a deployment of seven Iowa National Guard members and a swift water rescue team to North Carolina to help deal with the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Other topics covered on our September 30 show:
The Downballot (a great resource for election news, formerly known as Daily Kos Elections) wrote last week that “Iowa is suddenly a key House battleground for Democrats.” I explained why this is happening, even though Iowa is no longer considered a swing state at the statewide level;
The Congressional Leadership Fund, one of the biggest spenders on behalf of Republican candidates for the U.S. House, is pouring more money into both the first and third district races;
An internal poll for Lanon Baccam’s campaign showed the Democratic challenger leading IA-03 incumbent Zach Nunn and Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump across the counties in the third Congressional district;
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is looking into the shady scheme to recruit pro-Trump third party candidates for the IA-01 and IA-03 races;
We spent some time on my exclusive reporting about how IA-01 Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks has used the tools of incumbency to boost her re-election chances. I will be sharing that entire post in this space soon; for the show, I was only able to summarize: she has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on messages to constituents, with much of the spending going through her top campaign vendor. She’s also one of the most frequent speakers on the House floor and has touted some of her successful earmark requests;
Congress voted last week to keep funding the federal government through December 20, with an extra appropriation for the Secret Service. Every member of the Iowa delegation voted for the spending resolution, except for IA-04’s Randy Feenstra. Only IA-02’s Ashley Hinson bothered to explain her thought process on the funding vote;
A Republican proposal to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote became a sticking point during the federal budget negotiations. I explained why Congressional Democrats are not willing to support that legislation, which could create barriers for many voters born in the U.S.;
The continuing spending resolution didn’t extend the Farm Bill, which is already more than a year past its expiration date;
After only about three weeks of work following their summer recess, the U.S. House and Senate adjourned last week for another extended break. They’re not due to be back for votes until November 12. After the show, I heard President Joe Biden is considering calling Congress back before the election to approve more funding for federal disaster aid;
Senator Chuck Grassley wants to see more reforms in the Secret Service to address this summer’s security failures. I had to rely on Sarah Watson’s reporting about his remarks to journalists last week, because Grassley’s staff have never allowed me to participate in any of his regular conference calls with Iowa reporters;
The latest Iowa Poll by Selzer & Co for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom shows that State Auditor Rob Sand still has the highest job approval rating among state officials. Meanwhile, Reynolds’ approval rating hit its lowest point since she became governor in 2017;
I speculated about whether this poll is just statistical noise or reflects a real decline in support for Reynolds. I think the abortion ban that’s now being enforced in Iowa could be changing some minds; the survey also showed that Attorney General Brenna Bird’s approval has declined, and the Iowa Supreme Court’s approval is way down compared to a few years ago;
Iowa House Democrats released their legislative priorities last week. They were essentially the same issues Democrats campaigned on in 2022: supporting public education, reproductive rights, egalizing recreational marijuana for adults, and policies to lower costs for Iowa families;
Republicans now have a 64-36 majority in the Iowa House. I talked about what might be realistic to expect for Democratic gains;
Last Thursday I listened to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals arguments over whether Iowa should be able to enforce an immigration law creating a new state crime of “illegal reentry.” A U.S. District Court put the law on hold, saying the U.S. Justice Department and civil rights groups were likely to succeed in separate lawsuits showing the state law unconstitutionally intrudes on the federal government’s authority to set immigration policy;
The Iowa Board of Regents is reviewing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the state universities to ensure compliance with a new law. Republicans slipped DEI restrictions into this year’s education budget bill;
We made time for a fun story Arnold Garson wrote about Arabella Mansfield, the Iowan who became the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States during the 1860s. If you enjoy history, check out Arnold’s whole piece, which I published at Bleeding Heartland a few weeks ago, and consider subscribing to his free email newsletter.
Thanks for reading or listening! Spencer and I will be back next Monday to talk about lots of Iowa campaign news. On Tuesday evening, I’ll be “live-blogging” the VP debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance in Substack’s chat area. Join us there and feel free to chime in; this was fun during the Trump/Harris debate.
I’m proud to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, which has an alliance with Iowa Capital Dispatch. Click here to subscribe to our free Sunday roundup of columns from the week, and here to find our new political podcast, Iowa Down Ballot. We plan to record new podcasts weekly through the November election.
moderated the latest episode.
Thank you for all your excellent information and reporting, regarding Iowa-related political news!
However, as a former member of the Iowa Legislature, namely, the Iowa House, I want to comment upon one the recently announced "legislative priorities".
The Leadership of the Iowa House has, apparently, decided to make "legalizing recreational marijuana'" as one of their major "priorities.
In my view, such a priority only serves to undermine the political power and prestige of the entire Iowa Democratic Party, both in the 2024 General Elections, and, thereafter, going forward.
Further, in my view, such a "marijuana" priority, if actually realized through legislation, would be harmful to all Iowa children and families---by making "recreational marijuana" more accessible and available in Iowa schools and in Iowa homes.
The Leadership in the Iowa House has cited the "polls", as justification for its priority of "legalizing recreational marijuana". However, I would note, that the Iowa Republican Party has never set such a legislative priority; and that the Iowa Republican Party now firmly controls the Iowa House--and has done so, for years.
It might be helpful to the Leadership of the Iowa House to connect the following dots-----(1st dot) Iowa Republican Party never supported "legalizing recreational marijuana"....and... (2nd dot) Iowa Republican Party in control of Iowa House---for years.
There just might be a political lesson, for Iowa House Leadership, in connecting the above dots,
In any event, let the history of recent Iowa Politics---including, as indicated above, the history of Iowa Politics, as related to the Iowa House--provide empirical evidence, to answer to that question!
The decision of the Iowa House Leadership, in "setting "legalizing recreational marijuana", as a legislative priority, in my view, is harmful politically, to the entire Iowa Democratic Party--- in undermining, and weakening the "winnability" of all candidates of the Iowa Democratic Party; and harmful socially, to Iowa and all Iowans--- in making marijuana more accessible and available to Iowa children and families, both in Iowa schools and in Iowa homes.
I want the Iowa Democratic Party to win elections, again, over the Iowa Republican Party; and to begin, again, to offer Iowans a better future--- "A New, Better Iowa"--- than the Iowa Republican Party.
In my view, the Iowa Democratic Party, including, leadership in the Iowa House, needs to, again, offer legislative policy priorities based on traditional Iowa values---not "legalizing recreational marijuana"--the control of the Iowa Legislature, including, the Iowa House, lies in that "traditional Iowa values" direction!
As a lifelong Democrat, I am tired of losing elections in Iowa---and, in my view, to win elections, again, the Iowa Democratic Party needs to change its past election-losing policies---and needs to return to Iowa, and to Iowa values!
Richard Sherzan