Stories

Voters will get a replay of the wild and contentious race for state House District 84, as Republican Ross Paustian will once again challenge Democratic Rep. Elesha Gayman, according to Quad-City Times reporter Ed Tibbetts.

His past donations to Democratic candidates were based on friendships, not on politics, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Christian Fong said in an e-mail to the Iowa Independent.

Rep. Elesha Gayman, D-Davenport, will support a Democratic tax reform proposal that includes eliminating federal deductibility despite media speculation that she would vote against it.
The confusion started when a survey Gayman filled out for the River Cities Reader showed her as a “no” vote on eliminating federal deductibility, which allows state residents to write off [...]

Four conservative House Democrats told IowaPolitics.com’s Lynn Campbell Wednesday that they are a “no” vote on a bill eliminating federal deductibility.
State Reps. Geri Huser, Doris Kelley, Brian Quirk and Dolores Mertz told the political Web site they do not support eliminating a portion of the tax code that allows state residents to write off [...]

The chronology of the election returns had it backward.

Early election results showed incumbent Democratic state Reps. Wes Whitead, Roger Wendt and Elesha Gayman losing their seats as the returns rolled in. A buzz of panic rippled through an Iowa City victory party: “Did we lose the House? Did we lose the House?”

But the three incumbents had won re-election (assuming Whitead holds his six-vote lead) before the polls even opened.

With control of the Iowa House hanging in the balance, candidates and interest groups from both sides of the aisle are waging a campaign that has turned decidedly negative.