11 Jun 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Democrats Kick Off General-Election Campaign at State Convention

By Lynn Campbell

Four days after the primary election, between 800 and 1,000 Iowa Democrats are gathering for this year's Democratic state convention in a rally-like setting at the Polk County Convention Complex.

It will be Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Roxanne Conlin's first big speech since capturing the nomination on Tuesday.

"Speaking to the delegates, formally accepting the nomination ... I think it is a big deal," said Iowa Democratic Party Executive Director Norm Sterzenbach. "It will be a big moment."

While Labor Day weekend is the traditional kickoff to the general-election campaign, the state convention sets the tone for how the summer campaign is going to go, Sterzenbach said. Iowa Democrats last week moved into a new coordinated-campaign headquarters in Des Moines, and that campaign officially opens next week.

04 Jun 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Insiders Expect Branstad Win in Primary

By Lynn Campbell

Iowa political insiders and analysts are putting their money on Terry Branstad to win the Republican Party's top-of-the-ticket race in Tuesday's primary election.

One longtime insider to GOP politics predicted this week that Branstad will win with roughly 50 percent of the vote, with Bob Vander Plaats just under 30 percent and Rod Roberts at about 16 or 17 percent. That insider said he would be "shocked" if Branstad didn't win the nomination.

But Dennis Goldford, a political-science professor at Drake University, gives the social-conservative backing behind Vander Plaats a little more credit than that. "I'd be surprised if Branstad lost the primary, but I wouldn't be shocked," he said. "It may well be that Branstad wins. I wouldn't say he got it, [that] it's done."

28 May 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Senate Candidate Conlin Attacked Over Ties to Lobbyist

By Lynn Campbell

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Fiegen used a second televised forum Thursday night to attack opponent Roxanne Conlin, this time about her connection with a Monsanto lobbyist and her job as a trial lawyer.

About halfway through the forum (sponsored by IowaPolitics.com, Mediacom, the Cedar Rapids Gazette, and the League of Women Voters of Johnson County), Fiegen was asked about flood relief -- an issue key to residents of flood-ravaged Cedar Rapids -- but instead decided to use the moment to launch the attack.

"I want to address the special interests," said Fiegen, a former state senator. "One of the things that Roxanne has run on is she's not taken any money from lobbyists. But one of her BFFs, that's best friends forever, [is] a gentleman by the name of Jerry Crawford. ... Since then, Jerry Crawford has received $150,000 as a registered federal lobbyist from Monsanto."

21 May 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Active Republican Primaries Lead Early Voting to Tilt Toward GOP

By Lynn Campbell

With a contentious primary for governor and competitive congressional primaries, Iowa Republicans have surpassed Democrats nearly three-to-one in requesting ballots to vote early in the June 8 primary election.

Nearly 15,000 Republicans statewide had requested ballots to vote early as of Friday, compared with 5,305 Democrats, according to the secretary of state's office.

14 May 2010

Commission Approves New Casino License for Lyon County

By Lynn Campbell

The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission decided Thursday that the state is ready for one more casino -- not four -- and commissioners said they don't believe the issue will be addressed again for three to five years.

Lyon County will be the home of Iowa's 18th state-regulated casino, and the 20th overall when including the state's two Native American casinos. Licenses for casinos in Tama, Wapello, and Webster counties were turned down, with commissioners citing financing problems and the likelihood of pulling business from nearby casinos in voting against those licenses.

07 May 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Miller Decides on Special Prosecutor for Campaign Probe

By Lynn Campbell

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is asking the Executive Council to appoint Des Moines attorney Larry Scalise as a special prosecutor to look into allegations of improper donations to Governor Chet Culver's campaign from Fort Dodge gambling interests.

"After careful consideration I have concluded this office has no actual conflict of interest in this case," Miller said in a May 5 prepared statement. "However, I have also concluded that there is an appearance of a conflict of interest in this matter that is sufficient to lead me to seek a special prosecutor for this action."

He said his determination was "not an easy decision." But he said he believes "the need for public confidence in the criminal-justice process outweighs any other consideration."

30 Apr 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Culver Completes Action on 2010 Bills, Hails New Weapons-Permit Law

By Lynn Campbell

Governor Chet Culver completed action Thursday on all of the 196 bills approved by the 2010 legislature and maintained that he fulfilled a campaign promise made five years ago to uphold the Second Amendment when he signed a bill making Iowa the 38th "shall issue" state regarding weapons permits.

"I'm a man of my word," Culver said in signing the weapons-permit bill in a Statehouse ceremony, surrounded by legislative leaders and both Republican and Democratic legislators.

Senate File 2379 largely takes away the discretion of county sheriffs in issuing weapons permits. It was touted by supporters as standardizing the process in all of Iowa's 99 counties and was backed by the National Rifle Association, Iowa Sportsman Federation, and Iowa Carry, Inc.

23 Apr 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Deadline Looms for Action on Budget, Traffic Fines, and Weapons Permit

By Lynn Campbell

Budget bills, an increase in traffic fines, and a bill that would take away the discretion of county sheriffs in issuing weapons permits are among key bills approved by the 2010 legislature that Governor Chet Culver must take action on before next Thursday's deadline.

By the end of this week, Culver will have already signed into law roughly 79 percent of the 196 bills approved this year, according to an IowaPolitics.com review of enrolled bills. Approximately 41 remain, including most of the budget bills, which Culver has the authority to line-item-veto.

16 Apr 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Conlin Reports Strong Fundraising in U.S. Senate Race

By Lynn Campbell

Campaign-finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show Democrat Roxanne Conlin keeping up with incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Charles Grassley in fundraising, but she still lags behind in cash-on-hand.

Conlin on Thursday touted that she raised $629,615 between January and March this year -- slightly more than the $613,627 raised by Grassley, a five-term incumbent, during the same time period.

But overall this election cycle, Grassley has raised $4.9 million while Conlin has raised $1.48 million. And at the end of March, Conlin had $1 million left in the bank, while Grassley had nearly $5.4 million.

09 Apr 2010

Iowa Politics Roundup: Vander Plaats Attacks Branstad in First Debate

By Lynn Campbell

Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats came out swinging in this year's first Republican gubernatorial debate, attacking opponent and former Governor Terry Branstad on everything from raising taxes to bringing gambling to the state to appointing two of the Supreme Court justices who wrote the decision legalizing same-sex marriage in Iowa.

"Leadership is also about being honest," Vander Plaats said Wednesday. "Governor Branstad, some of the results are: raising taxes not once but twice; increasing fees 30 times; bringing in gambling, parimutuel betting, the state lottery; growing the size of government two and a half times. Those are also results that we need to be honest with the people of Iowa about."

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