A decade and a half after making history as the first Black person to serve as mayor of Iowa City, Rep. Ross Wilburn made history again on Saturday, becoming the first Black person to lead a major political party in Iowa when he was elected chair of the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP).
“I’m honored by the responsibility and I’ve got faith in our party,” Wilburn said after his election by the IDP State Central Committee.
Wilburn received 64.6 percent of the committee’s votes, according to the totals announced by outgoing interim IDP Chair Mark Smith. Jodi Clemens, who ran unsuccessfully for Iowa House in District 73, which covers part of Johnson County and all of Cedar County, and worked on the 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign in Iowa, finished in second place.
Wilburn grew up in Davenport and served 12 years on the Iowa City Council, including one term as mayor. (City council members elect one of the fellow counselors to serve as mayor every two years.) He moved to Ames in 2014, to take an administrative job at Iowa State University.
In 2018, Wilburn ran for the Democratic nomination for Iowa governor. He was the last candidate to join the primary race, and his campaign made little impact. Wilburn consistently finished last in both statewide polls and in fundraising. On Election Day, he received 2 percent of the vote.
Wilburn was elected to represent Ames in the Iowa House in a special election in 2019, and was reelected in 2020.
“We must engage more Iowans and convince the working class, farmers, factory workers and our diverse constituencies that our party is on their side and will be at their side,” Wilburn said in his candidate’s speech to the IDP State Central Committee on Saturday. “I have the compassion, energy and experience to bring us together and lead our party’s rebuilding effort. Working together, we will develop aggressive and courageous plans to connect with more Iowans and hold the Republicans accountable.”
Wilburn is taking over a party that has had a series of defeats recently, and had its national reputation badly damaged last year.
Donald Trump easily carried the state in 2020, and Iowa’s U.S. House delegation went from three Democrats and one Republican to one Democrat and three Republicans in that election. Democrats also lost seats in the Iowa Legislature, strengthening Republican control of both chambers.
Wilburn said his plans for rebuilding the party include adopting a year-round approach to organizing, improving the candidate development process and adopting a strategic plan that encompasses the next three election cycles.
At the national level, Iowa’s first-in-the-nation place in the presidential selection process is no longer secure. Beyond the confusion over who won Democratic caucus, which stretched out over almost a month, concerns over the caucus not reflecting the principle of “one person, one vote,” and Iowa’s population not reflecting the make-up of the national party, have led to calls for Iowa to lose its first-place status.
Wilburn said on Saturday he will work to ensure Iowa remains first.
Jeff Kaufmann, who was reelected as chair of the Iowa Republican Party earlier this month, and former Speaker of the Iowa House Linda Upmeyer who was elected as co-chair, have also said they will work to ensure Iowa retains its position, as the state looks forward to a crush of Republicans running for president in 2024.
Iowa state law requires the caucus be held “at least eight days earlier than the scheduled date for any meeting, caucus, or primary which constitutes the first determining stage of the presidential nominating process in any other state, territory, or any other group which has the authority to select delegates in the presidential nomination,” so Iowa’s 2024 caucus will be held before other states vote. The question is whether the Democratic National Committee will recognize the results, and allow any or all of the delegates selected through the caucus process to be seated at the national convention.
“We can always make the case that Iowa should be first in the nation,” Wilburn said on Saturday.
The IDP State Central Committee also reelected June Owens as first vice chair. In 2019, Owens became the first Black woman elected to that position. As vice chair she is a member of the Democratic National Committee.
The other members of the IDP leadership elected on Saturday were Terence Halleran as second vice chair and Chris Adcock as third vice chair, while Ken Sagar and Don Ruby were reelected as treasurer and secretary, respectively.
Speaking to reporters after the vote, Wilburn began his remarks by noting the historic nature of the moment with a reference to something Vice President Kamala Harris often says.
“I will start with the words of Vice President Harris, you know, the first, but make sure that I’m not the last,” Wilburn said.
The vice president’s mother Shyamala Harris, who died in 2009, used to tell her daughters, “You may be the first to do many things. Make sure you’re not the last.”
