Stories

Four prominent leaders of Iowa’s social conservative movement are criticizing the Republican Party of Iowa and its leadership in the state Senate for not doing more to overturn the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, saying if the next legislative session is no better, 2010 will be “the year of the primary.”
After the last [...]

Opponents of same-sex marriage say they will continue to fight to overturn last week’s Supreme Court ruling, but they admit their chances in the short term are slim.

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.

Matt Strawn, a former congressional aide and co-owner of the Iowa Barnstormers Arena Football team, has been elected chair of the Republican Party of Iowa.
Strawn, 35, also served for a time as director of John McCain’s Iowa presidential campaign. His selection as leader of Iowa’s GOP follows a long, and occasionally ugly, few weeks of [...]

After weeks of rumors, meetings and deal making, party insiders say the race to be chair of the Republican Party of Iowa has essentially come down to two men — Danny Carroll and Matt Strawn.

Two seasoned party leaders are front-runners for the chairmanship of the Republican Party of Iowa, insiders say, but most believe the race is far from over.

Republicans have already selected new leadership in both the House and the Senate, leaving the state party chairmanship as one of the final pieces to the puzzle in determining the future of a GOP that has fallen on hard times in Iowa.

Many issues and factors influenced the outcome of the 2008 general election, both nationally and on the local level, but this year, in Iowa at least, social conservatism — especially as it pertains to issues of reproductive health and abortion — seemed to carry less sway than in campaigns past.

EXCLUSIVE: Republican attorneys challenged the absentee ballots of 50 Grinnell College students today, an act that could have an impact on the battle for control of the Iowa House of Representatives.

Eric Palmer and Danny Carroll have been running against each other for Iowa House since 2004. Carroll, former Speaker Pro Tem, bested Palmer in 2004, but Palmer won in 2006. Both elections came down to a handful of votes, and it’s likely to be just as close again this year.