Iowa Down Ballot

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...

The gavel drops to begin this year’s legislative session on this Monday, January 12th. We have a full breakdown of the changes in leadership to start off our discussion, as well as the incentives for the legislators to wrap up the session on time this year. Governor Reynolds and republican House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann quarreled over the governor’s veto of the eminent domain bill last year,...

We are glad to be back! Thanks to all of our subscribers, new and old, we are beginning our first post-hiatus show with a general preview of what our reporters think will be the headline stories of the new year. We all agree this 2026 election cycle may be one of the most exciting in decades with competitive primaries on both side of the aisle. With Governor Reynolds and Joni Ernst out of the race...

This will be our last episode before our Summer hiatus. We are hoping to be back with new episodes in the Fall, but we do need more financial support to defray the costs of production. If you are able, please consider a donation or paid subscription. We really enjoy doing the show, and believe that many of you find it valuable. On to the show! Christina Bohannon has officially declared her candida...

We start off with Gov. Reynolds’ veto of the eminent domain bill. We discuss the reasons for the veto, including what the governor said, and what she doesn’t want to say. Also, what kind of political ramifications might this end up unleashing between the governor and the republicans who helped pass the bill? This may also hamper the governor’s agenda, especially property tax relief, going into the...

The governor still hasn’t made a decision whether to sign the eminent domain bill, so not much to discuss concerning the state government this week. We focused mainly on the recent candidate announcement for US Senate on this week’s show (editor’s note Dave mentions at the top we’ll be discussing the governor’s race announcements as well but we spent too much time on the senate and we wanted to ge...

We start the show this week with good news for the Perry community as they continue to rebound from the Tyson plant closure. JBS USA has announced a new pork processing facility in the town, which could bring over 500 jobs; Governor Reynolds is still signing bills from the 2025 legislative session. One of those is designed to address the healthcare worker shortage in the state. We discuss what the...

Governor Kim Reynolds didn’t get to sign the bill she wanted addressing child care this legislative session so she’s decided to take steps on her own; Speaking of the governor, she was also a guest on Iowa Press this weekend and Kathie peeked at the transcript. She didn’t commit on signing or not signing the eminent domain bill and may be bailing on no state income tax; US District Judge Stephen L...

The 2025 session is in the books and we’ll focus on the last day (technically two days?). Firstly, the second day after pulling an all nighter is always worse than the first. Dave and Kathie get into the weeds on last minute negotiations and amendments that ended up in the final budget bill that officially passed before adjournment at 6:31am Thursday. The state will be over budget and we discuss h...