Perry school shooting findings, Iowa campaign news roundup
Oct. 21 "Capitol Week" is online
It’s crunch time for me as I try to figure out which election-related projects I will be able to finish before November 5. I try to focus on angles other news organizations aren’t covering in depth, like Iowa Supreme Court Justice David May’s record. I also wrote about the other Iowa judges on the ballot; that piece explained why I will vote against Court of Appeals Judge Samuel Langholz and Polk County District Associate Judge Rachael Seymour.
I’m also trying to keep up with many state legislative races and hope to write a roundup of Iowa House and Senate races to watch soon.
The Iowa Down Ballot podcast (a group effort from the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative) will record a new episode on Wednesday, and it should drop on Thursday. Among other things, we’ll be talking about last night’s debate between U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan.
and I had a lot of ground to cover on the latest “KHOI’s Capitol Week.” The audio from our latest show is posted above, but I always send a detailed list of topics for those who would rather read than listen. The full radio show archive (going back to February 2021) is available on KHOI’s website.Here’s what we discussed on our October 21 show:
Last week, law enforcement officials finally released some investigative findings about the horrific mass shooting at Perry High School in January. We went over the main conclusions, a key question investigators were unable to answer, and the three people Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens singled out for their heroic actions that morning;
Early voting began on October 16, and although it’s too soon to draw big conclusions, I shared a few takeaways. I’m regularly updating a Bleeding Heartland post with absentee ballot statistics from all four Congressional districts;
In contrast to other recent elections, Iowa Republicans are pushing early voting, with several well-known politicians voting on the first day;
I reminded listeners that absentee ballots must be returned to the county auditor by 8 pm on election day (postmarks no longer matter). If you don’t trust the mail, hand-deliver your ballot to the county auditor’s office. Remember, though, that only the voter, a relative, or a household member can return a completed absentee ballot now. Republicans made it illegal for friends, neighbors, or campaign volunteers to hand-deliver other people’s completed ballots;
Congressional candidates had to report on their 3Q fundraising and spending last week, and Democratic candidates Bohannan and Lanon Baccam continue to out-raise the incumbents;
I recapped the massive spending by outside groups in the first and third Congressional district races;
The IA-01 and IA-03 campaigns continue to attract national attention, with House Speaker Mike Johnson coming to Iowa to campaign for Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn. Senator Amy Klobuchar came to Des Moines for an event with Baccam;
Last week, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported more details on the Davenport apartment Miller-Meeks now claims as her residence for voting purposes. It’s just political malpractice for Miller-Meeks to make this into some big mystery;
Iowa PBS hosted the only televised debate between the IA-02 contenders, Representative Ashley Hinson and Democrat Sarah Corkery. I shared my main takeaways. You can watch the replay here;
We talked about why the IA-02 race, which both parties targeted during the 2022 cycle, has been much lower-profile this year. Hinson only just started running a tv ad, three weeks before the election. Assuming this becomes an open seat later this decade—I expect Hinson to run for U.S. Senate—Democrats should make a play for the district;
Since I’ve been getting some questions about the two constitutional amendments on the back of the ballot, I explained what those are about. I avoid editorializing on the radio show, but I plan to vote against both proposals;
If you know one thing about Iowa Supreme Court Justice David May, it’s probably that he provided the fourth vote for allowing the state to enforce a near-total abortion ban. I wanted to share a little more about his record, so mentioned his penchant for “originalism” and the three most significant opinions he has authored in the area of criminal law. You can read much more here;
Iowa’s Revenue Estimating Conference met last week and predicted a fairly large drop in state revenues over the next two years. Their December meeting will be more important, as those revenue projections will control how much the state can spend during the next fiscal year. The revenue drop is mainly due to tax cuts Republicans enacted in 2022, which continue to phase in. I wanted to highlight a couple of other warning signs for the state budget;
Finally, plaintiffs in two lawsuits have filed new motions in federal court seeking an injunction on parts of a wide-ranging education law Republicans passed in 2023. Both lawsuits focus on provisions banning school library books and classroom materials that include a description or visual depiction of a sex act, and prohibiting instruction, promotion, or curriculum about gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K-6 (commonly known as “don’t say gay or trans”). The case brought by LGBTQ plaintiffs and Iowa Safe Schools is also challenging part of the law that requires schools to notify parents about a student’s gender identity.
Thank you for reading or listening!
Sarah Scull of Creston is the newest member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Click here to subscribe to our free Sunday morning roundup of columns from the week. We are proud to have an alliance with Iowa Capital Dispatch.