Stories

The Iowa Democratic Party is pulling no punches in attacking former Gov. Terry Branstad, despite the fact that he has not officially entered the 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Many Iowa Republicans looked at Tuesday’s special election in House District 90 and saw an opportunity to demonstrate the party was beginning to reverse its fortunes. As is often the case in politics, though, things don’t always go according to plan.

Both of Iowa’s two major political parties are attempting to censor political speech by threatening litigation, instigating government investigations and other intimidation tactics, a First Amendment watchdog group that opposes many campaign finance reform measures said this week.
Jeff Patch, communications director for the Center for Competitive Politics in Virginia and a former press secretary for [...]

A comment made over the weekend by Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats has sparked a war of words between the Republican gubernatorial candidate and the state Democratic Party chair.

Democrats continue to outnumber Republicans by more than 100,000 voters in Iowa, according to figures released this week by the Iowa Secretary of State.
As of Aug. 3, there were 683,117 active Democrats compared to 577,223. The largest group of voters, however, was registered as “no party” and totaled 697,512.

“It is no secret that I’ve been personal friends with the governor for a long time,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Michael Kiernan. “For me, personally, there is going to be a huge focus on the governor’s race next year.”

The 2010 Iowa Caucuses will not matter much to national politics (given the conspicuous lack of presidential candidates scurrying around), but an important precedent could be set by their scheduled date.
January 23, the date announced for the 2010 caucuses by the Democratic and Republican parties today, is a Saturday. That means that in 2012, the presidential [...]

Iowa Rep. Steve King’s vote against a bill honoring the African American slaves who built the U.S. Capitol is an embarrassment to his constituents, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said in a statement Thursday.

While the party ranks highly in several positive categories, Iowa Republicans are viewed in a very negative light by a large segment of the public, according to the results of a poll released last week conducted for a state GOP group.
When given a list of traits and asked which party fits the description best, Iowa [...]

Tuesday night’s public hearing on Democratic tax reform bill was intentionally disrupted in an effort “designed to mock the process,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said.
“While leaders in the Iowa House and Senate approach the legislative process with openness and inclusion of the community, the Republican Party of Iowa, in partnership with Iowans for [...]