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.
The Iowa Democratic Party raised 82 percent more than the Republican Party of Iowa in the first three months of 2010, according to financial disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Democrats raised $379,100 while the the GOP raised $208,187. But in terms of cash on hand, the party’s are much closer, with $177,033 for the Democrats and $161,979 for the Republicans.
Wednesday’s announcement continues a trend for the IDP. In February, Iowa Democrats announced that they had raised $2.47 million in 2009 while the Republicans raised $1.46 million.
“Here’s the untold story: Iowa Democrats are excited,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said in a prepared statement. “We have a 100,000 voter registration advantage. Forbes just highlighted Cedar Rapids and Des Moines for their progress in creating jobs and rebuilding the economy. Iowa Democrats are moving this state forward, and we will win in November.”
While the news is good for Democrats, conservative blogger Shane Vander Hart points out that individual Republican candidates, such as Jim Gibbons in the 3rd Congressional District and Rob Gettemy in the 2nd Congressional District, are posting strong fundraising numbers, which leads him to believe the IDP’s edge is less about party strength and more about a plethora of primary candidates.
Then also consider the GOP’s primary candidates with funding being interspersed among many different candidates – that’s also a factor. I would suspect that RPI’s fundraising numbers will go up after June 8.
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