Previewing Iowa's June 4 primaries; reaction to Trump conviction

June 3 "Capitol Week" is online

Jun 04, 2024

After taking Memorial Day off, Spencer Dirks and I had two weeks of Iowa political news to unpack on Monday night’s show. We were already going to have plenty to discuss on the eve of Iowa’s June 4 primary elections. Then the jury returned its verdict in Donald Trump’s trial last Thursday, and Attorney General Brenna Bird called a press conference on short notice Friday.

It all added up to an action-packed 30 minutes.

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Here’s the audio from the June 3 program:

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Topics Spencer and I covered:

We led with Iowa political reaction to Trump’s conviction on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. The Des Moines Register published statements from Governor Kim Reynolds, Attorney General Brenna Bird, State Auditor Rob Sand, and Iowa’s whole Congressional delegation;
Iowa GOP state chair Jeff Kaufmann and Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart also released statements about the verdict. Kaufmann’s was misleading in several respects;
While many Republicans have complained that Trump’s sentencing date falls just a few days before the Republican National Convention, Trump’s own attorney suggested a sentencing date in mid- to late July and agreed to July 11;
Moving to the June 4 primaries, we briefly discussed the competitive races on the Republican side in Iowa’s first and fourth Congressional districts, and the Democratic campaign between Lanon Baccam and Melissa Vine in the third district;
The leading PAC aligned with U.S. House Republicans has reserved $2.7 million of air time in the Des Moines market for this fall. Most if not all of that money will go toward defending Representative Zach Nunn or attacking his challenger in IA-03, though some might be directed toward the IA-01 race, because a few counties represented by Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks are in the Des Moines market;
The leading PAC aligned with U.S. House Democrats has reserved just under $1.4 million in the Des Moines market. I forgot to mention on the program that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has endorsed Baccam;
Moving to the Iowa legislative primaries, I have two big-picture observations. First, Governor Reynolds has been much less involved this year than in 2022, when she actively campaigned against some House Republicans who were blocking her school voucher plan. Second, a bunch of House Republicans who have opposed several high-profile bills didn’t attract any primary challengers, which was surprising to me. I have a post in progress at Bleeding Heartland about that;
Although we didn’t have time to discuss every competitive legislative primary, we touched on about a dozen House or Senate districts where interesting races are unfolding. Doug Campbell is challenging State Senator Waylon Brown in Senate district 30, where opposition to Summit Carbon Solutions’ CO2 pipeline could be decisive. I wrote more about that race at Bleeding Heartland;
John Rosenfeld is challenging State Representative Jane Bloomingdale in House district 60 (which makes up half of Senate district 30). The CO2 pipeline is a salient issue here as well. In addition, Bloomingdale has come under attack from social conservatives because she voted against the school voucher plan and some anti-abortion bills. But in a plot twist, the governor endorsed the incumbent anyway. You can read more about this race at Bleeding Heartland;
House district 51 is an open seat covering much of Story County outside Ames and much of Marshall County outside Marshalltown. Brett Barker and Martin Chitty are competing for the GOP nomination. The winner will face Democrat Ryan Condon;
I’m fascinated by the GOP primary in House district 22, covering much of Warren County (but not Indianola). I wrote about this race last September, when it became clear the two candidates would be Samantha Fett (a former Carlisle school board member and current leader of Moms for Liberty) and Garrett Gobble, who previously represented part of Ankeny in the Iowa House before losing his 2022 re-election bid. The winner will face Democrat Rory Taylor;
Americans for Prosperity in Iowa was very active in the 2022 primaries and is backing three candidates this year: State Representative Joshua Meggers is facing a GOP challenger in House district 54, Jennifer Smith is one of two GOP candidates in Dubuque-based House district 72, and Sam Wengryn is one of two competing for the nomination in House district 24, an open seat;
Two other House GOP incumbents have primary opponents this year: Mike Sexton faces Wendy Larson in House district 7, and David Young faces Chad Brewbaker (who has previously run for the legislature as a Libertarian) in House district 28. Sexton’s seat is safe for the GOP, but House district 28 will be a target for Democrats in November;
The influential social conservative group The FAMiLY Leader has endorsed John Rosenfeld (Bloomingdale’s challenger in House district 60) and Ryan Weldon, one of two GOP candidates in House district 41, covering part of Ankeny. The winner will face first-term State Representative Molly Buck, and both parties are likely to target that race;
We had time to touch on three Democratic legislative primaries. Four Democrats hope to succeed retiring State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad in House district 34, one of Iowa’s bluest districts. Rob Johnson has several well-known endorsers, John Campbell is backed by several labor unions, and Samy El-Baroudi has knocked lots of doors;
House district 44 (covering most of Urbandale) is an open seat due to John Forbes’ decision to run for Polk County supervisor this year. The two Democratic candidates are Larry McBurney and Jason Menke;
State Senator Claire Celsi faces challenger Julie Brown in Senate district 16, covering part of the western suburbs of Des Moines;
A quick reminder: polling places will be open on June 4 from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. Voters must bring some form of ID. If you need to change your address or register for the first time, bring proof of address (e.g. a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government check) as well as your ID;
A bit of 2026 campaign news: Senator Joni Ernst confirmed last week she does intend to seek a third term, but she would be open to a position in the Trump administration;
Moving to state government news: on Friday, Attorney General Bird finally released the results from her 17-month review of victim assistance programs. I wasn’t able to attend because the AG’s office gave only about two hours notice, but you can read about it here. The biggest news: Bird is backtracking on reimbursements for emergency contraception and will resume those payments, which she halted in January 2023. However, she won’t reimburse rape victims for the cost of abortions, even though the abortion ban Republicans want to enforce ostensibly has an exception for rape;
State Auditor Rob Sand has sharply criticized Bird’s approach to reimbursements in the past and wasn’t impressed by her announcement on Friday;
The Iowa Department of Education announced last week that it has awarded $900,000 in competitive grants to support 61 new summer meal sites for kids. The state could have reached far more kids if the Reynolds administration had not rejected $29 million in federal funding for the USDA’s summer EBT program;
Seven rural Iowa school districts will receive funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to replace diesel-fueled school buses;
Since our last show, tornadoes caused horrific damage, especially in Greenfield (Adair County). So far, 2024 is the most active year for tornadoes in Iowa since 1950;
By the end of May, Iowa had seen so much rain that for the first time in four years, no part of the state was in drought;
We ran out of time trying to squeeze in one last story: a recent state audit criticized Iowa’s campaign regulator (the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board) for not doing enough to collect fines imposed. The board has discussed the problem at several meetings over the past couple of years and proposed legislation to address the issue. However, the Iowa House and Senate did not advance that bill.

Thanks for reading or listening! We’ll be back on KHOI next Monday to go over the results from the primary elections. Before then, I’ll write about some of the important races at Bleeding Heartland. To read those posts, subscribe to my other email newsletter, which is also free.