Stories

Iowa and Florida both represent strong chances for Democratic pickups in the presidential race, but both states remain competitive, former Florida Sen. Bob Graham said Wednesday in Iowa City.

Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean called Iowa “one of the most important swing states in America” at the University of Iowa Friday.

The Republican Party of Iowa will hold its state convention Friday and Saturday, and with Iowa considered a battleground for both national and state races, all eyes turn to Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines to see how strong the state’s minority party truly is.

Republican officials are outwardly optimistic about their chances this November to deliver [...]

Iowa Independent’s John Deeth liveblogged Saturday’s Iowa Democratic Party State convention from HyVee Hall in Des Moines, providing updates throughout the day… and night… and into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

The Iowa Democratic Party’s state convention looks a lot less dramatic now than it did from the perspective of late April.

The primary season, after a six-week hiatus, had just kicked into high gear again with Hillary Clinton’s Pennsylvania win, yet Barack Obama had math on his side. Every delegate seat was filled at Iowa’s April [...]

With relatively few worries about re-election for the first time, Sen. Tom Harkin is turning his efforts to helping state legislative candidates. A campaign email Monday steered Harkin supporters to a “Building Blue” page, where readers can enter their email address (thus building Harkin’s list) and vote on which legislative candidates should receive up to [...]

Iowa has been back in the presidential spotlight the last few days, with Saturday’s congressional district conventions and Barack Obama endorsements by superdelegates Richard Machacek and U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley. The state’s next moment in the spotlight, the June 14 state convention, could be one of the final major battles in the nomination fight between [...]

A deal between John Edwards and “another campaign” reported to Iowa Independent Wednesday did not make John Edwards viable in the 4th Congressional District, and as a result Barack Obama gained one national convention delegate at Saturday’s congressional district conventions.

The Iowa Democratic Party reports a national delegate count of Obama 16, Clinton 9, and Edwards [...]

Abolish Superdelegates, Don’t Seat Rulebreaking States
Senator Tom Harkin told 2nd Congressional District delegates at Saturday’s convention that he’s still staying neutral in the nomination fight between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The senator also said rulebreaking states should not be counted at the national convention, and he hopes superdelegates are abolished.

Key quotes from Harkin’s speech, the [...]

Statewide National Delegate Split: Obama 16, Clinton 9, Edwards 4; Obama Gains 1 Delegate in 4th CDHarkin: Staying Neutral, Don’t Count Rulebreaking States, Abolish Superdelegates
Iowa Independent’s John Deeth is at the 2nd Congressional District Democratic Convention, with live updates throughout the day and night. At 3 p.m. a rules committee member estimated from the podium [...]