Two special events and November 20 "Capitol Week"

Another busy week in Iowa politics

photo by Yulia Davidovich, available via Shutterstock

Autumnal weather has finally arrived after an unseasonably warm October and early November. I wish you all the best with any Thanksgiving preparations and hope everyone will be able to relax with friends and loved ones this holiday weekend. We are keeping it simple for Thanksgiving dinner: immediate family at home.

I want to flag two events coming up for paid subscribers to any Iowa Writers Collaborative newsletters. (All are listed at the end of this post.) On Friday, November 24, starting at noon Central, we are holding a Zoom call with Ellen Won Steil, author of her debut suspense novel Fortune, published by the Amazon imprint Lake Union Publishing.

Ellen Won Steil grew up in Iowa in a Korean-American family. She earned her BA in journalism from Drake University and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and two young sons. She believes most good stories have at least a hint of darkness in them. For more information, visit www.ewsteil.com.

“In this explosive novel about a decades-old mystery, shocking revelations of the past and the secrets of three women will be spilled when a small Midwest town announces a DNA Lottery.”

Fortune is an Amazon Editors’ pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, and an Amazon First Reads September pick, hitting #4 in the entire Kindle Store. It’s also a #1 best-seller in several categories. If you’re looking for a good lunchtime conversation to go with your Thanksgiving leftovers, please join us this Friday.

There is also an in-person holiday gathering on Thursday, December 7 at the Witmer House in Des Moines, 2900 Grand Avenue, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. Click here for the registration form.

Now for the latest “Capitol Week.” Regular listeners will notice my voice was “off” tonight. I came down with a bad cold or flu last week and was struggling with a cough during the show. I’m feeling much better—the lingering cough sounds worse than it is. Fortunately, Dennis Hart bailed me out on several occasions!

Remember, the whole “Capitol Week” archive (nearly 150 shows now) is available for free on KHOI Community Radio’s website. Here’s the audio from our November 20 program.

Topics we covered:

• Congress averted a federal government shutdown last week, and the entire Iowa delegation voted for the continuing resolution to keep funding the government at current levels until early 2024;

• The main change with this spending bill is its “laddered” feature, with some agencies funded through January 19 and most of the government funded until February 2. It also extended the last five-year Farm Bill through September 2024;

• A new Iowa State University Poll of the GOP presidential race showed former President Donald Trump still way ahead among likely caucus-goers with 54 percent support. Former Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was a distant second with 18 percent, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley had 12 percent.

• Even worse for DeSantis, 63 percent of respondents said Governor Kim Reynolds’ endorsement made no difference, and 22 percent “said it made them less likely to support DeSantis.” Only 13 percent said they were more likely to endorse DeSantis because of the endorsement;

• We didn’t have time to discuss this in depth, but I wanted to flag one of the most interesting aspects of the ISU poll: their close look at the views of Republicans who aren’t supporting Trump this cycle. They found those leaning toward Haley or DeSantis have distinct reasons for rejecting Trump. You can (and should) read much more about this in a special report the ISU researchers wrote for Seth Masket’s newsletter;

• Trump was back in Iowa Saturday for a big rally in Fort Dodge. I watched the whole event (including the introductory speakers) online, and Dennis and I barely were able to scratch the surface. You can read more about the speech in the Des Moines Register and Iowa Capital Dispatch;

• Haley, DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy appeared at The FAMiLY Leader’s Thanksgiving Forum on Friday. You can watch the video on C-SPAN if you want to see all the newsworthy bits Dennis and I didn’t have time to summarize. One big takeaway was that Haley confirmed she would sign a six-week abortion ban if it reached her desk;

• Haley picked up dozens of endorsements from prominent Iowa Republicans last week, including many moderates. I was struck by Marlys Popma, a well-known Christian conservative and former leader of Iowa Right to Life, joining the Haley bandwagon;

• DeSantis launched a new Iowa tv ad last week featuring Governor Reynolds. I have yet to talk with anyone in either party who expects the governor’s endorsement to make a real difference in the race;

• Iowa is particularly important for DeSantis, because he’s polling so poorly in New Hampshire (he’s a bad fit for the electorate there);

• New Hampshire set its primary date for January 23, the traditional eight days after the Iowa caucuses. That’s significant because it means Iowa parties won’t need to move up their planned caucus date of January 15;

• The Nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced the dates for three general election debates in September and October 2024. Dennis and I are skeptical that three debates will occur if the nominees are President Joe Biden and Trump, as expected;

• Biden just turned 81 years old, and we briefly discussed his age as an issue;

• Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter passed away over the weekend. Of course many Iowans remember the Carters fondly, going back to the 1976 caucuses. Dennis recalled seeing Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter come in to do interviews for WSB Radio in 1988, when he was working across the hall for WSB Television in Atlanta, Georgia;

• KHOI Radio cut in for a brief fundraising pitch here. If you can spare a few bucks to support their diverse programming, please consider becoming a member/donor. KHOI is community radio, which means they have no advertising revenue. All gifts are tax deductible;

• Melissa Vine became the second declared Democratic candidate in Iowa’s third Congressional district. You can read more about her on her campaign website or in this Des Moines Register article;

• U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks has a declared GOP primary challenger. I don’t expect David Pautsch to give her any trouble; you can read more about him in this Quad-City Times article;

• We spent a couple of minutes talking about the proposed administrative rules for Iowa’s abortion ban, in case the state is ever allowed to enforce that law. I wrote about this topic in more depth at Bleeding Heartland;

• The state’s Board of Education discussed proposed administrative rules last week for Senate File 496, one of the major education bills approved during the legislative session. This rules package left a lot of questions unanswered;

• Finally, we discussed a Polk County District Court ruling last week that struck down a 2022 law authorizing warrantless searches of garbage. You can find more background and details in my Bleeding Heartland post.

Thanks for reading or listening! If you are a paid subscriber, remember to scroll to the end for this Friday’s Zoom link.

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Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center

Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup

Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines

Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Kali White VanBaale: 988: Mental Health Care in Iowa, Bondurant

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.