Who wasn’t there was almost as important as who was at the Iowa PBS forum of Republican candidates for governor on Tuesday night. Frontrunner Randy Feenstra skipped it, as he has skipped other forums where his fellow Republicans running for the nomination appear, but he still loomed over the three Republicans who did show up […]
Randy Feenstra
Posted inCommunity/News
Terry Branstad endorses Randy Feenstra for governor, The Family Leader endorses Adam Steen
Two of the five Republicans running for governor received major endorsements on Tuesday. The Family Leader, a rightwing Christian political organization that plays a prominent role in Iowa Republican politics, endorsed former Department of Administrative Services director Adam Steen. Shortly afterwards, Rep. Randy Feenstra’s campaign published an endorsement from former governor Terry Branstad, who was […]
Posted inElection Coverage
Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for governor after Julie Stauch fails to qualify for the primary ballot
Julie Stauch’s longshot campaign to win the Democratic nomination for governor came to an abrupt halt on Friday afternoon. “This afternoon I had a call from the Iowa Secretary of State’s election office telling me that my petitions did not meet the requirements during their review,” Staunch posted Friday evening on Facebook. “Two counties had […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Misinformation about fentanyl, gangs and U.S. history flies as Trump, Iowa Republicans justify Venezuela attack
Just hours after the news broke that U.S. forces had invaded Venezuela early Saturday morning to capture the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, both of Iowa’s senators and all four of its U.S. House members issued statements praising President Trump for ordering the attack. Trump was at his Florida home/members-only country club on Friday night when he […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Randy Feenstra officially launches campaign for Iowa governor
Rep. Randy Feenstra formally announced his campaign for governor Tuesday, saying he aims to “take Iowa to new heights” by working with President Donald Trump and keeping the governor’s seat Republican in 2026. Feenstra had filed the paperwork to run for governor with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board in May, and shortly after […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa groups tell congressional delegation bill would ‘gut’ Clean Water Act
Environmental and community groups from Iowa sent a letter Thursday to the state’s congressional delegation urging them to oppose a House bill that would “gut critical clean water protections.” The groups in the letter say Iowa is “on the frontlines of a drinking water emergency” and the changes the bill plans to make to the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Last-minute amendment to House budget bill targets healthcare for trans Americans; bill would take Medicaid from 86,000 Iowans
The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the tax and spending bill supported by President Trump early on Thursday morning. A last-minute change to the bill, apparently to make it more appealing to rightwing members of Congress threatening to vote no, targets transgender Americans. An amendment to the bill’s ban on Medicaid paying […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Rob Sand, the last remaining Democrat in statewide office, announces his run for governor
“A lot of politicians yap about making a place redder or bluer,” State Auditor Rob Sand said in an online video Monday morning, “I want Iowa to be better and truer.” Sand posted the video to announce his run for governor. It was widely expected that Sand would run for governor in 2026. Of course, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Bohannan and Baccam continue to outraise Miller-Meeks and Nunn, but the Republicans have more cash on hand in campaign’s final weeks
Christina Bohannan and Lanon Baccam continue to outraise their incumbent Republican opponents, according to the campaign finance reports published this week by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Bohannan, the Democratic congressional candidate in Iowa’s 1st District, raised $1,887,603 million in the three-month period ending Sept. 30, almost twice as much as two-term incumbent Rep. Mariannette […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Two Iowa Dems running for Congress are outperforming their Republican opponents and two are far behind, according to latest fundraising reports
The Democrats running in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional District outraised their Republican during the three month period that ended on June 30, according to the second-quarter campaign fundraising and spending reports published this week by the Federal Election Commission. Christina Bohannan and Lanon Baccam also raised more money than Republican incumbents Mariannette Miller-Meeks and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
As jury finds Trump guilty on 34 felony counts, chorus of Iowa Republicans denounce trial as a ‘sham’
“We should all be thankful for the careful attention that this jury paid to the evidence and the law, and their time and commitment over these past several weeks,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said during a news conference on Thursday after former president Donald Trump was convicted on “34 counts of falsifying business records […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The contender and the longshot: Two Democrats are determined to flip the House seats in Iowa’s 1st and 4th Districts
Democrats Christina Bohannan and Ryan Melton are campaigning for Congress on opposite sides of the state and in very different districts, but they have one thing in common — firsthand experience running for the U.S. House. In 2022, Bohannan challenged the Republican incumbent in Iowa’s eastern-most congressional district, the 1st, while Melton ran in the […]
