Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, is expected to announce his candidacy for a fourth term representing Iowa’s Fifth District Friday with events in Sioux City and Council Bluffs.
King, the subject of much speculation about a possible run against U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has not publicly said whether he will seek re-election or move to advance his political career.
But King is circulating petitions for Congress, not the Senate, a clear sign of his intentions.
He will make it official Friday, campaign sources say.
Meanwhile, expected western Iowa Democratic congressional candidates Joyce Schulte and Bob Chambers have both dropped out of the race this week. The 2006 candidates made announcements in emails to supporters and Iowa Democrats, confirmed Chambers and Carroll County Democratic Party Chairman Butch Heisterkamp.
The absence of Schulte and Chambers for now has cleared the primary field for Rob Hubler of Council Bluffs, a retired Presbyterian minister who has been campaigning for more than a year for a chance to take on King.For her part, Schulte did not return phone calls requesting comment. The Democratic nominee in the district for the past two election cycles, Schulte told Iowa Independent just weeks ago that she was collecting signatures for a third run. She said she would run again this year unless some unforeseen circumstance cut her off at the pass.
“I think you could put it down like that,” Schulte said in an interview confirming her previous intentions to run this year.
Heisterkamp said he received an email from Schulte announcing that she had other opportunities and would not run. But the reality may have had more to do with pressure from party activists looking for fresh blood to take King on. Heisterkamp told Iowa Independent that at a 5th District Democratic meeting in Denison last month, many sought to dissuade Schulte from running again.
Schulte, 65, lost the past two elections by wide margins. In 2006, a weak year for Republicans that even saw the outster of Iowa icon Jim Leach in eastern Iowa, King pulled 58 percent of the vote to Schulte’s 36 percent in the sprawling, 32-county western Iowa district.
Chambers spoke with Schulte personally about the decision Wednesday night. “She called me last night and said she was not going to run either,” he said.
For his part, Chambers, 69, cited health reasons for why he declined to run. He said he was feeling worn down but declined to elaborate on his health.
“I doubt if I ever try this again,” he said of a congressional bid.
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