Iowa Down Ballot

Happy Independence Day! We start with a federal court ruling striking down Iowa’s SNAP food restrictions this week, so candy and soda are back on the table. Kathie and Laura break down just how confusing those old rules were, and note the SunBucks summer program will keep going with the pre-waiver food list. We also cover Cami Koons’ reporting for Iowa Capital Dispatch on USDA staffing cuts hittin...

Audio has leaked of RFK Jr. calling Libertarian candidate Rick Stewart, pushing him to drop out of the 2nd District race without ever making a concrete offer. That’s part of a bigger pattern of Republicans working to push Libertarians off the ballot, both through direct calls like this one and through legal challenges. Marco Battalia got disqualified over a name issue, and the Libertarian governor...

Kathie got caught up on Derek Wulf as Lahn’s pick for Lieutenant Governor, this time noting his Ag Committee chairmanship could ease some rural skepticism toward Lahn. Then Laura dropped the real news: court filings show close to a million dollars in foreclosure and judgment cases tied to Wulf’s farm, something his campaign chalks up to broader struggles facing family farmers. We also dug into Kim...

Zach Lahn named state rep Derek Wulf as his running mate, a cattle farmer and early Trump endorser, likely a move to shore up MAGA support after Lahn didn’t get Trump’s endorsement in the primary. Trump has since walked that back publicly, saying he got “bad info.” Rob Sand went with Dave Muhlbauer, a rural Democrat who’s held office in deep-red Crawford County. The pick sends a clear message that...

Two big results: Zach Lahn edged out Randy Feenstra in the Republican gubernatorial primary — a surprise upset fueled by a dominant Polk County performance and a late push from conservative commentator Steve Deace. On the Democratic side, Josh Turek won the U.S. Senate primary more comfortably than expected. Looking ahead, we talked about why Lahn is a trickier general election opponent for Rob Sa...

Pre-Primary Palooza: What to Watch Tuesday Night A new poll from JMC Analytics has Zach Lahn at 24%, Feenstra at 22%, and Steen at 15% — with 27% still undecided. We’re not putting too much weight in it, but it would explain why Feenstra went negative this week, hitting Lahn over a past investment in a men’s health company. Frontrunners don’t attack candidates they aren’t worried about. An outside...

We debriefed on the Gray Media/KCCI Republican gubernatorial debate, which Dave helped moderate. Four of five candidates participated — Zach Lahn, Adam Steen, Brad Sherman, and Eddie Andrews — with Randy Feenstra a no-show despite the debate being scheduled on a Saturday to accommodate him. Lahn and Steen had the strongest showings. Lahn stayed on message with his four systemic issues, while Steen...

We spent most of this episode breaking down Thursday night’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary debate between Zach Wahls and Josh Turek, moderated by our man Dave! The headline exchange was on abortion — Wahls went after Turek’s missed vote on the six-week ban, and Turek fired back that he was sick at the time due to a disability-related illness, calling the attack disgraceful. Laura dug into the con...

We made it through the Iowa legislative session — barely. The Republican leadership powered through last weekend in a marathon that didn’t wrap until Sunday evening, leaving lawmakers, staff, and reporters running on fumes. We break down what that grueling stretch actually produced. The two big finishers: a property tax reform package and the standings bill. On property taxes, the Senate looked ve...

We’re recording on a chaotic Friday afternoon as the Iowa legislature pushes past its scheduled adjournment date with no clear end in sight. The big unresolved question is property taxes — no deal yet, and we’re skeptical lawmakers can go home without getting something done. We also break down Governor Reynolds’ surprise water quality announcement, which dropped Friday morning instead of the prope...

The Iowa Legislature is officially in overtime, and we break down where things stand. A broad budget agreement is in place at roughly a 1.43% spending increase, but property taxes remain the real sticking point — the House and Senate are far apart on a hard 2% revenue cap for local governments, and a dispute over multi-residential property taxes that critics warn would drive up rents. We also dig...

Speaker Pat Grassley dropped a new property tax proposal this week — and we’ll be honest, it’s a lot. The three-pager is dense, and we’re still not sure we can answer the question every homeowner is actually asking: will my taxes go down , or just up more slowly? House bill Triples the homestead exemption for all residential owners. Hard 2% cap on local government revenue. No gas tax, no age-based...

The Iran War Is Hitting Wallets Gas is up 21% — the biggest spike since 1967 — and diesel has jumped more than $2 a gallon. We dig into how the ongoing Iran conflict is driving inflation and why Trump’s “lower energy costs” promise is looking increasingly hollow. War Powers Resolutions, 25th Amendment talk, and a declared victory that doesn’t quite feel like one round out the national picture. Iow...

We had a packed week in Iowa politics to break down on this episode with our loyal guests and collaborators Laura Belin of Bleeding Heartland and Kathie Obradovich of Iowa Capital Dispatch. We start at the Statehouse, where health advocates pushing for a tobacco tax increase arrived to find legislators already headed home for Easter — leaving us wondering whether the April 21st adjournment date is...

The Iowa Republican gubernatorial race delivered a week’s worth of drama that we could barely contain in a single episode. Dave , Laura , and Kathie break down the wild chain of events surrounding candidate Eddie Andrews and his last-minute petition filing — stolen signatures, a chaotic two-day objection hearing, procedural fumbles by the Secretary of State’s office, and allegations that the Adam...

We recorded this one ahead last Friday so Dave can spend some well-earned spring break time with his family. Last week we got into the candidate filing deadline, and we wanted to drill into some of the more marquee races such as governor and senate. The last time Iowa had an open race for governor and a senate seat was in 1968 so almost 60 years. In the senate race the prohibitive favorite on the...

The filing deadline for deadline for federal and statewide races was yesterday March 13th. We have who’s in and who’s out (as of recording time) and what that means for the races for governor, senate, congress, and state races. We spent most of our time discussing each campaign’s strengths and weaknesses as we get closer to the June 2nd primary date. Towards the back half of the show, the state’s...

Firstly, thanks to all of you that share and post and like and comment. We’re not your typical fire breathing podcast that’s just out for clicks, so it’s been awesome to see our audience grow with your help. So much to cover this week, we start out with Kristi Noem being fired (or transferred) out of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary role. We discuss the numerous blunders that led to h...

We start this week with words of support for Dave’s colleague at WHO-13 Jeriann Ritter who recently shared her battle with an aggressive form of ALS. Our political discussion begins with Governor Reynolds’ use of an Iowa State Patrol plane for travel. The plane was purchased with COVID relief funds, and the governor has said it allows for more efficient use of her time. We get into the controversy...

We start this week’s conversation with quick reaction to the US Supreme Court ruling that strikes down President Trump’s blanket tariffs. Then, we’re on to ‘Funnel Week’ discussion. Funnel week is when bills get narrowed down, and all (most) bills must have advanced through committee in the house or senate to move on. Majority Leader Mike Klimesh had a press avail to discuss bills that did or didn...

We’re less than a week away from the first funnel week in the Iowa legislature, so Kathie thought it would be fun to talk about our ‘favorite’ bills so far this session. Kathie starts us off with a bill to make it illegal for commercials to be louder than the show on streaming services, and a bill that gets rid of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division. Dave brings up the bill that was introduced t...

It was a busy week in the Iowa Legislature, and the team starts with the House education committee grilling Des Moines Public School officials on their hiring of former superintendent Ian Roberts. Republican legislators tried to blame DEI for Roberts’ hiring. Officials from the school say they were looking for someone with a history of working with a diverse school population. That conversation se...

We start this week’s discussion with a recap of President Trump’s visit to Clive on Tuesday. Trump spoke for a little over an hour, and stressed the importance of keeping republican control of congress. The President also highlighted new John Deere jobs being created in other states, while the company has downsized in Iowa in recent years. The team also discusses how to cover a president that stre...

Hope you’re staying warm and safe wherever you may be. Iowa lawmakers wrapped up their second week of work on Friday, and a bill banning carbon pipeline constructors from using eminent domain has already passed the house. We dive into the bill as well as the politics on both sides. Dave filled in to host Iowa Press on Iowa PBS this week and majority house leader Mike Klimesh was the guest, so Dave...

We spend the bulk of the show with Governor Reynolds’ penultimate condition of the state address. Protestors in the rotunda made their presence felt during the speech, and property tax reform was a big theme. We discuss the details and possible ramifications of the governor’s plan. Another focus in the speech was tackling the state’s cancer problem, so we get into the proposals and their possible...