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.
21 Iowa legislative candidates, including one open seat contender, can start picking out their favorite desk trinkets for the January session — they’ve got no opposition at all.
Democrats have a slight edge over Republicans in filling slots on the ballot in Iowa’s 125 state legislative races. Democrats have fielded 114 candidates, while Republicans have 108.
Iowa's Capitol Building
The two parties break nearly even on uncontested races. 10 Democrats and 11 Republicans have no opposition in the fall. The Democratic edge comes in the seven races where Democratic incumbents will face only a third party opponent and no Republican.
In Senate District 2, Republican Randy Feenstra will walk into his first term without facing an opponent in either the primary or general election (not that having a Democratic opponent would have made much difference in a Sioux County district).
With Friday’s filing deadline, the Democrat vs. Republican matchups for Iowa’s federal and state races are final — even if a candidate dies. That actually happened two years ago, when unopposed Republican Rep. Mary Lou Freeman passed away. A December 2006 special election was required to fill her seat.
There’s one asterisk on the list: In Cedar County-based House District 79, Democrat Rebecca Spears filed in March, and then announced her withdrawal from the race. However, she did not file the paperwork to withdraw by the Aug. 7 deadline, and will appear on the ballot against Republican incumbent Jeff Kaufmann. Spears failed to respond to an inquiry from Iowa Independent. Cedar County Democratic Chair Linda Carillo told Iowa Independent that Spears did not respond to repeated attempts at communication before the withdrawal deadline.
Third parties still have a week to substitute candidates, but only in districts where they’ve already filed. The Libertarians have two candidates and the Greens have one.
Complete list of candidates at the Secretary of State’s site (.pdf)
Unopposed Democrats
House District 22: Deborah Berry, D-Waterloo (won a primary challenge)
House District 24: Roger Thomas, D-Elkader
House District 25: Tom Schueller, D-Maquoketa
House District 30: Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville
House District 34: Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids
House District 38: Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids (Republican opponent dropped out)
House District 42: Geri Huser, D-Altoona (won a primary challenge)
House District 48: Donovan Olson, D-Boone
House District 78: Vicki Lensing, D-Iowa City
House District 88: Dennis Cohoon, D-Burlington
Unopposed Republicans
Senate District 2:Â Open Seat — Dave Mulder retiring, GOP nominee Randy Feenstra was also unopposed in the primary
Senate District 26: Steve Kettering, R-Lake View
Senate District 28: James Seymour, R-Woodbine
Senate District 30: Pat Ward, R-West Des Moines
Senate District 32: Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale
House District 5: Royd Chambers, R-Sheldon
House District 6: Mike May, R-Spirit Lake
House District 51: Rod Roberts, R-Carroll
House District 82: Linda Miller, R-Bettendorf
House District 97: Rich Anderson, R-Clarinda
House District 98: Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia
Candidates With Third Party Opponents Only
Senate District 4: Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg (“Grassroots For Life” opponent)
House District 15: Brian Quirk, D-New Hampton (independent opponent)
House District 46: Lisa Heddens, D-Ames (Libertarian opponent)
House District 66: Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines (Green opponent)
House District 77: Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City (independent opponent)
House District 90: John Whitaker, D-Hillsboro (“4th of July Party” opponent)
House District 93: Mary Gaskill, D-Ottumwa (independent opponent)
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter