|
Bleeding Heartland
It's what plants crave.
|
2011 elections 
Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 18:00:46 PM CST
|
|
Less than a week after losing the special election in Iowa Senate district 18, Republican Cindy Golding confirmed that she may run for the Iowa Senate next year in the new district 48.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 844 words in story)
|
|
Wed Nov 09, 2011 at 06:18:03 AM CST
|
(A revealing look at absentee numbers and election-day results. - promoted by desmoinesdem)
Without a doubt, the superlative early voting effort by Democrats and allied groups is largely responsible for Democrat Liz Mathis' landslide victory over Republican Cindy Golding. Although the results are still unofficial and precinct-level demographics are not yet available, sufficient detail exists to draw some preliminary conclusions from the early reporting.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 707 words in story)
|
|
Tue Nov 08, 2011 at 21:41:13 PM CST
|
|
Any comments on today's election results are welcome in this thread. Polls closed at 9 pm in Iowa, but returns from the special election in Senate district 18 are coming in slowly. I will update this thread later as the outcome becomes clear. With six out of 40 precincts reporting, Democrat Liz Mathis leads Republican Cindy Golding by 5859 votes to 2474. UPDATE: Looks like a big win for Mathis. With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Mathis leads by 10,651 votes (58 percent) to 7,613 votes (41 percent).
SECOND UPDATE: The Linn County Auditor's office posted unofficial results here (pdf). With all 40 precincts reporting, Mathis received 13,184 votes (55.8 percent), Golding received 10,283 votes (43.5 percent), and Constitution Party candidate Jon Tack received 151 votes (0.64 percent).
Democrats have retained control of the Iowa Senate with a 26-24 majority for the 2012 legislative session. It may even be a "stronger" majority if Mathis turns out to be less conservative than her predecessor, Swati Dandekar. Iowa Senate Republicans won't be in a good mood when they elect a new minority leader on Thursday.
Nationally, Democrats have had good election results in Ohio (repealing a law that restricted collective bargaining rights) and Kentucky (holding the governor's chair). It's not yet clear whether Democrats will retain a Virginia Senate majority. I was surprised to see that Mississippi voters defeated a "personhood" ballot initiative stating that life begins at conception.
What races are you watching tonight? The incumbents on the Des Moines City Council easily won re-election. My two preferred candidates lost the Windsor Heights City Council election. Other Polk County results are here.
THIRD UPDATE: Democrats and allies are celebrating the Mathis victory with statements I've posted after the jump. The Iowa Democratic Party had lots of outside help with early GOTV from labor unions such as the Iowa State Education Association, the LGBT advocacy group One Iowa, the Planned Parenthood Voters of Iowa PAC, and the national 527 group Progressive Kick.
FOURTH UPDATE: An amazing result from Arizona tonight: voters recalled State Senate President Russell Pearce, author of the notorious "show me your papers" immigration law (which is being litigated in federal court). Apparently no state senator has ever been recalled in Arizona before. Pearce had been a leading opponent of the state's "clean elections" public financing system.
FINAL UPDATE: The official canvass showed 13,324 votes for Mathis (56.0 percent), 10,322 votes for Golding (43.4 percent), 151 votes for Tack, and nine write-in votes.
|
|
There's More...
:: (6
Comments, 737 words in story)
|
|
Tue Nov 08, 2011 at 08:58:25 AM CST
|
|
Today's forecast calls for rain and cold temperatures in Linn County as Iowa Senate district 18 voters determine whether the Senate will remain Democratic-controlled for the 2012 session or deadlocked at 25-25. The weather doesn't seem bad enough to be a significant factor, but if it does keep some voters home, that's probably good news for Democrat Liz Mathis. She continues to lead Republican Cindy Golding in early voting.
The latest absentee ballot numbers and other news clips from the special election campaign are after the jump.
UPDATE: New absentee numbers for Senate district 18 are below.
|
|
There's More...
:: (13
Comments, 1756 words in story)
|
|
|
|
Fri Nov 04, 2011 at 17:43:46 PM CDT
|
|
Democrat Liz Mathis continues to lead in both absentee ballots requested and returned for the November 8 special election in Iowa Senate district 18. After the jump I've posted details as of 5 pm on November 4.
If you haven't read it already, Bleeding Heartland user albert's precinct-level analysis of the early voting numbers is well worth your time.
Note: Senate district 18 residents can vote in person on Saturday from 8 am to 5 pm at the Linn County Auditor's office at Westdale Mall.
UPDATE: Absentee ballot numbers for Senate district 18 residents only are now after the jump.
|
|
There's More...
:: (4
Comments, 250 words in story)
|
|
Thu Nov 03, 2011 at 08:02:08 AM CDT
|
|
Iowa Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley announced yesterday that he will not seek re-election in 2012 and will step down as leader of his party's caucus when Senate Republicans meet in Des Moines on November 10. After the jump I've posted background on the drive to oust McKinley and thoughts about which Senate Republican will take his place next week.
McKinley's retirement leaves Republicans without an obvious candidate in the new Senate district 14, which should be competitive in 2012. A map of this swing district is also below.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 1026 words in story)
|
|
Thu Nov 03, 2011 at 06:47:33 AM CDT
|
(Fascinating precinct-level analysis. - promoted by desmoinesdem)
The early voting numbers appear quite promising for Democratic candidate Liz Mathis. As of 2 November, the Democrats have exceeded their 2010 general election return total, while the Republican ballot requests (thus far) fall short of 2010 early voting, with a substantially larger lag in returns.
|
|
There's More...
:: (6
Comments, 542 words in story)
|
|
Wed Nov 02, 2011 at 20:35:16 PM CDT
|
|
UPDATE: More recent absentee ballot numbers are here, and a precinct-level analysis of the early voting is here.
Democrat Liz Mathis continues to hold a significant lead in Iowa Senate district 18 early voting, judging from the latest absentee ballot numbers from the Linn County Auditor's Elections Office.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 306 words in story)
|
|
Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 06:57:01 AM CDT
|
|
UPDATE: More recent absentee ballot numbers are here, and a precinct-level analysis of the early voting is here.
Absentee ballot requests and returns continue to favor Democrat Liz Mathis over Cindy Golding, her Republican opponent in the Iowa Senate district 18 special election.
The latest numbers from the Linn County Auditor's Elections office are after the jump, along with recent comments about marriage equality by the Senate district 18 candidates.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 2542 words in story)
|
|
Fri Oct 28, 2011 at 09:53:00 AM CDT
|
|
UPDATE: More recent absentee ballot numbers are here, and a precinct-level analysis of the early voting is here.
Democrat Liz Mathis and Republican Cindy Golding debated two nights in a row this week. Highlights from their encounters are after the jump, along with updated absentee ballot numbers for the Senate district 18 special election.
|
|
There's More...
:: (1
Comments, 1323 words in story)
|
|
Fri Oct 28, 2011 at 06:24:45 AM CDT
|
|
Two men from Delaware County, Dan Zumbach and Brian Cook, have declared their intention to seek the Republican nomination in the new Iowa Senate district 48. Their plans indicate that a competitive GOP primary will determine Democrat Nate Willems' opponent whether or not Cindy Golding of Linn County follows through on her plans to run in Senate district 48 next year as well. Golding is the GOP nominee for the November 8 special election in Iowa Senate district 18.
A district map and background on Zumbach and Cook are after the jump.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 814 words in story)
|
|
Wed Oct 26, 2011 at 07:04:47 AM CDT
|
|
UPDATE: More recent absentee ballot numbers are here, and a precinct-level analysis of the early voting is here.
Two weeks before the special election in Iowa Senate district 18, the number of absentee ballots requested and returned favored Democratic candidate Liz Mathis over Republican Cindy Golding by a two to one margin. Details are after the jump, along with other recent news about the race.
|
|
There's More...
:: (3
Comments, 1315 words in story)
|
|
Fri Oct 21, 2011 at 13:53:50 PM CDT
|
|
The National Organization for Marriage has started spending money supporting Republican candidate Cindy Golding in the Iowa Senate district 18 special election. After the jump I've posted the first direct-mail piece from the group, which puts a questionable spin on Golding's comments about marriage.
For now, NOM has pledged to support Golding "with a series of mailers and other activities" before November 8. Bob Vander Plaats' FAMiLY Leader organization will also be involved with the independent expenditures. NOM spent heavily on the 2009 Iowa House district 90 special election, paying for television and radio commercials as well as direct mail. Those efforts didn't stop Democrat Curt Hanson from winning by a narrow margin.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 729 words in story)
|
|
Thu Oct 20, 2011 at 09:12:00 AM CDT
|
|
Only 20 days remain before the special election in Iowa Senate district 18. Both parties are spending heavily on the race, judging from campaign finance reports released yesterday.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 1028 words in story)
|
|
Fri Oct 14, 2011 at 08:13:26 AM CDT
|
|
State Senator Bill Dix lacked the votes to follow through on his recent attempt to replace Paul McKinley as Iowa Senate Minority Leader, but he doesn't appear ready to abandon the effort. On Wednesday State Senator Rick Bertrand publicly called for McKinley to step aside.
|
|
There's More...
:: (4
Comments, 815 words in story)
|
|
Tue Oct 11, 2011 at 13:49:11 PM CDT
|
|
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney narrowly leads while former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain has surged to second place, according to a new NBC News-Marist poll of Iowa Republicans. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is slightly ahead of both Romney and Texas Governor Rick Perry among registered Iowa voters.
|
|
There's More...
:: (3
Comments, 750 words in story)
|
|
Thu Sep 29, 2011 at 13:06:19 PM CDT
|
|
Two days ago, State Senator Bill Dix asked Senate Republicans to caucus this morning in Des Moines. He planned to call for a leadership election during that meeting, while current Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley is vacationing out of the country.
Unfortunately for Dix, he didn't have the votes.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 492 words in story)
|
|
Thu Sep 29, 2011 at 07:52:09 AM CDT
|
|
Democratic delegates in Iowa Senate district 18 nominated former television news anchor Liz Mathis last night for the November 8 special election. No other candidate sought the nomination. Republicans picked businesswoman and Linn County GOP co-chair Cindy Golding in a three-way nominating contest last week.
Both Mathis and Golding indicated yesterday that they will focus on jobs and the economy rather than social issues during the short campaign.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 762 words in story)
|
|
Thu Sep 22, 2011 at 23:29:58 PM CDT
|
|
Linn County Republican Party co-chair Cindy Golding won the GOP nomination for the November 8 special election in Iowa Senate district 18 tonight. To my surprise, Golding won enough votes on the first ballot against Mary Rathje and Matt Dummermuth.
UPDATE: Republicans will need a new candidate for the Cedar Rapids suburban swing district in 2012, even if Golding wins this year's special election. Details are at the end of this post.
|
|
There's More...
:: (3
Comments, 745 words in story)
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[Bleeding Heartland Logo]](http://www.bleedingheartland.com/upload/logo.jpg){kind=logo}
