Chase Martyn

Jackie Norris named Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff

Jackie Norris, Iowa State Director for President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign, has taken the position of Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama, the Washington Post reports.
Norris worked as a scheduler in Vice President Al Gore’s office, and she and her husband, John, have been involved in Iowa Democratic politics for years.  In 2000, she was Gore’s [...]

Braley breaks from tradition, helps oust Dingell from committee chair

Michigan Congressman John Dingell lost his position as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to California Congressman Henry Waxman today, after a vote among Democrats in Congress.
The move sent shockwaves through Washington, D.C., because it upended what was a fairly stable system of determining committee chairmanships based on seniority.  Although votes in Democratic [...]

Harkin predicts Clinton as Secretary of State

Sen. Tom Harkin predicted that Sen. Hillary Clinton would be nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to the post of Secretary of State.
“I’m going to make this statement right now. I believe that Senator Clinton will be the next secretary of state,” Harkin said on a conference call with reporters.

McKinley to lead Iowa Senate Republicans

The shrunken Republican caucus in the Iowa Senate has elected State Sen. Paul McKinley of Chariton as its new Minority Leader, ousting State Sen. Ron Wieck.
McKinley ran for the post last year, but Wieck defeated him.  Shortly after his victory last year, Wieck told the Iowa Independent that he planned to contrast Republican and Democratic [...]

Murphy, McCarthy retain leadership roles

After leading Iowa House Democrats to pick up three seats this year, House Speaker Pat Murphy and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy were retained in their leadership positions by the House Democratic caucus today.
House Speaker Pro Tem Polly Butka will also remain in her position, but there are some new names among this year’s assistant majority [...]

Iowa House races decided by slim margins

Not all Democrats enjoyed an Obama-esque margin of victory Tuesday night.
Democrats in the Iowa House say they picked up one seat Tuesday night, with two more races still being tabulated.  Some of them were real squeakers.

Obama wins Iowa

Immediately after polls closed in the Hawkeye State, the Associated Press and other news outlets projected that Sen. Barack Obama had won Iowa’s seven electoral votes.
That timing makes it likely that Obama’s margin of victory over Sen. John McCain will be large.
It was also projected that U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin has retained his seat, fending [...]

Polls close in Iowa

As results come in — and we expect some, particularly absentee numbers, to come in quickly — you will see them on the map at the top of our front page.

Iowa votes: Live results

Mouse over a county to see its current election returns:

Polls close at 9PM, live results to follow

The Iowa Independent will have live county-by-county election results at the top of our front page as soon as the polls close at 9PM local time.  You’ll also find real-time commentary on the numbers over here in the blog column.
Got any news tips?  Know any election results?  Email me.