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.
State Sen. David Hartsuch, R-Bettendorf, will potentially face off against two challengers in 2010 — one in a primary and one in the general election — the Quad-City Times reported Tuesday.
Dave Thede, whose wife, state Rep. Phyllis Thede, lost to Hartsuch in the 2006, said he has changed his party affiliation to Democrat and will enter the race for Senate District 41.
Thede, who lives in Bettendorf, said he changed his affiliation Monday because the “party left me.”
“They just really don’t represent what I wanted any more, or what the voters of Scott County want,” he said.
Thede also criticized Hartsuch, saying some of his views are “archaic,” including a claim that students are falling behind in school because of sexual activity. Thede said kids are falling behind, but not because they’re having sex.
Current Republican Roby Smith of Davenport said he is planning a primary challenge of the one-term incumbent lawmaker.
Hartsuch himself is a product of a primary challenge to an incumbent. In 2006, he defeated incumbent Republican state Sen. Maggie Tinsman. At the time, Tinsman had served in the state senate for nearly 20 years and was considered a moderate voice in the Republican Party of Iowa. Hartsuch’s primary campaign focused on Tinsman’s support for abortion rights and opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The district, located in northeast Iowa, has an even partisan split with 14,000 registered Democrats and 14,000 registered Republicans, according to the Iowa Secretary of State. There are 18,000 registered as “No Party.”
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