Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Peter Teahen, who ran a failed bid for the GOP nomination for congress in Iowa’s second district in 2008, has signed on to Bob Vander Plaats’s gubernatorial campaign, the Des Moines Register reports.
The Teahen endorsement is relevant for two reasons:
First, the second district GOP primary was heated and at times nasty, and with Teahen, Vander Plaats has aligned himself with the losing side. Perhaps fortunately for Vander Plaats, though, Teahen did win Linn County, which he will be in charge of for 2010, by about 2,500 votes.
Second, both Vander Plaats and Teahen supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. If Vander Plaats can keep team Huckabee united and on his side, he could have the connections to win his party’s nomination. Chief Huckabee Iowa strategist Eric Woolson helped Vander Plaats officially announce his candidacy, so anything is possible.
Team Huckabee did take a blow a few months ago when the Republican Party of Iowa elected Matt Strawn, a former supporter of Sen. John McCain, to serve as state chair. Strawn’s main opponent was former State Rep. Danny Carroll, who worked closely with Vander Plaats as Huckabee’s Iowa co-chair. But Huckabee’s coalition is still as strong as any within Iowa’s GOP base, and Vander Plaats seems poised to capitalize on it.
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