Stories

CARROLL — With rich Catholic and Democratic traditions, but growing social conservative and evangelical demographics, Carroll County, the economic hub of west-central Iowa, can be considered something of a bellwether for the Hawkeye State in today’s election.
As of last Friday, Carroll County had 14,969 registered voters: 5,310 Democrats, 3,155 Republicans, 6,499 no party voters, and [...]

The Sioux City Journal today reports that leading Republican veterans in Iowa are troubled that social conservatives have key positions in the party during an election year in which household economic matters could prove decisive.
Here Is The Journal:
Mary Lundby, former Iowa Senate Republican leader from Marion, said many GOP voters in the state are more [...]

This story is a collaborative effort between Iowa Independent and Huffington Post’s OffTheBus Project.  As part of our investigation, OffTheBus members spoke with more than a third of Iowa’s Republican county chairs. The team was coordinated by Theresa Weathers and Steven Greenberg, and interviews were conducted by Kirsten Anderson, Mariangela Anzalone, Robin Carpenter, Adam Dancy, [...]

The unfolding story surrounding U.S. Sen. Larry Craig has reinforced former Iowa Lt. Gov. Art Neu’s view that the Republican Party should focus on economic and foreign policy issues, public-sphere matters of grave seriousness, rather than banking on values-posturing that so often exposes human frailty and outright hypocrisy.

What’s more, Neu, a Carroll attorney and something [...]

In 2002, Bill Salier, an Iowa hog farmer, stunned the political world in Iowa and beyond when he won 41 percent of the vote in a Republican primary, his first run for public office.  He challenged four-term U.S. Rep. Greg Ganske for the right to run against U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa's Democratic incumbent. Ganske [...]

Everyone knows that social conservatives will come out in droves on the night of the Iowa caucuses. But a growing group of overlooked foot soldiers in this movement will also shape its outcome without even casting a vote. They can’t—they’re teenagers. But they are being trained to wage the political battles of the future for [...]

Iowa Christian Alliance (ICA) president Steve Scheffler sent an email to supporters criticizing former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain for skipping last month's candidate forum sponsored by ICA and Iowans for Tax Relief, First Read reported today.
Iowa Independent has obtained a copy of the email, which notes:
While the other [...]

The culture, more than the caucuses, is the focus of the Iowa Family Policy Center (IFPC), according to its president, Chuck Hurley. This seems to differ from other organizations such as the Iowa Christian Alliance, Concerned Women for America of Iowa, Iowa Right to Life Committee, or the Network of Iowa Christian Home School Educators [...]

Iowa GOP Executive Director Chuck Laudner announced Thursday that former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's name would be on the Ames Straw Poll ballot on Aug. 11.
In an interview with Iowa Independent, Burson Snyder, a Thompson spokeswoman, declined to comment on Laudner's decision. "As you know Senator Thompson is not a candidate yet. He’s still testing [...]

For much of the pre-caucus season, it seemed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was not really playing to win in Iowa. He made waves when he announced he was skipping the Ames Straw Poll and most commentators seemed to agree that Giuliani’s support for abortion rights would doom him in a state where social [...]