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.
Did you hear? During Tuesday’s primary election, five-term U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley easily defeated … uhmm … write-in.
The first paragraph of a memo by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to Republican leadership:
Senator Chuck Grassley’s overwhelming Republican nomination today provides Iowans with the opportunity to reelect a leader who shares their values and continues to stand up for their best interests in Washington each and every day.
There is no doubt that Grassley, who ran unopposed, had a strong showing. Unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office have him receiving 98.08 percent of the vote, with only 1.92 percent being given to write-in candidates. But, when compared to the other unopposed federal incumbents on the ballot in Iowa, Grassley relinquished the second highest percentage to write-in candidates, after U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Des Moines.
| Primary Election Results – Iowa Federal Incumbents – June 8, 2010 | ||
| U.S. Senate, Republican | Chuck Grassley | 98.08% |
| Write-In | 1.92% | |
| 1st District, Democrat | Bruce Braley | 99.77% |
| Write-In | 0.23% | |
| 2nd District, Democrat | Dave Loebsack | 99.14% |
| Write-In | 0.86% | |
| 3rd District, Democrat | Leonard Boswell | 97.49% |
| Write-In | 2.51% | |
| 4th District, Republican | Tom Latham | 99.39% |
| Write-In | 0.61% | |
| 5th District, Republican | Steve King | 99.39% |
| Write-In | 0.61% | |
The same held true when compared to Iowa’s statewide incumbents. Only Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, who lost 3.76 percent of the vote to write-in candidates, relinquished more votes to someone who didn’t actually campaign for the position.
The memo sent by Cornyn does end by offering a scathing attack on Grassley’s Democratic challenger, Roxanne Conlin, referring to her as a hypocrite who has publicly opposed tax breaks for the wealthy while privately benefiting from millions in tax credits. But the tone of the memo, leading with the fact the Grassley earned “overwhelming” support against nobody, begs the question as to why a five-term Senator that has easily set Democratic opponents aside for the past 30 years needs national bolstering.
It is true that a small group of Iowans made noises about launching a write-in campaign against Grassley. There has also been speculation on the part of pundits, based on poll numbers, that Iowa political stalwart Grassley may be vulnerable for the first time in his career.
Whether or not such previously speculated vulnerability will lead to a Democratic take-over of Grassley’s seat remains to be seen. But what we know today for a fact is that such vulnerability exists. Cornyn confirmed it.
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