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Bleeding Heartland
It's what plants crave.
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David Wiggins 
Mon May 06, 2013 at 07:25:00 AM CDT
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In a decision announced on Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the Iowa Department of Public Health to refuse to list a non-birthing lesbian spouse on a child's birth certificate. Details on this nearly unanimous ruling are after the jump. I was intrigued by how Governor Terry Branstad's three appointees from 2011 handled this case.
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Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 17:15:00 PM CST
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Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins kept his job Tuesday by a surprisingly large margin of 670,013 votes to 556,782. The percentage of yes and no votes on Wiggins (54.61 percent to 45.39 percent) was a mirror image of the 2010 votes on Chief Justice Marsha Ternus (55 percent no), Justice Michael Streit (54.4 percent no), and Justice David Baker (54.2 percent no). Whereas only ten of Iowa's 99 counties voted to retain three Supreme Court justices in 2010, 36 counties recorded more "yes" than "no" votes this year.
Maps are after the jump, along with some clips on the retention vote. I also list which pro-retention counties produced a plurality of votes for President Barack Obama, which "yes" counties went for Mitt Romney, and which "no Wiggins" counties went for Obama.
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Wed Nov 07, 2012 at 07:25:00 AM CST
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Supporters of LGBT equality are celebrating yesterday's votes for same-sex marriage rights in Maine, Maryland, and Washington, as well as Minnesotans rejecting a constitutional amendment designed to restrict marriage rights to heterosexuals.
The election also slammed the door on any prospect of overturning marriage equality in Iowa.
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Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 19:20:00 PM CST
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The Des Moines Register's new poll by Selzer and Co is the latest survey to give no clear sign of whether voters will retain Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins on Tuesday.
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Fri Nov 02, 2012 at 11:19:37 AM CDT
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To enter Bleeding Heartland's election prediction contest, post your guesses as comments in this thread before 7 am on November 6. Predictions submitted by e-mail will not be considered. It's ok to change your mind, as long as you post your revised predictions as an additional comment in this thread before the deadline.
No money's at stake here, just bragging rights like those enjoyed by Bleeding Heartland users ModerateIADem (twice), American007, Johannes, and tietack. This isn't "The Price is Right"; the winning answers will be closest to the final results, whether they were a little high or low. Even if you have no idea, please try to take a guess on every question.
Minor-party or independent candidates are on the ballot for some races, so the percentages of the vote for Democratic and Republican nominees need not add up to 100. You can view the complete list of candidates for federal and state offices in Iowa here (pdf).
Good luck, and remember: you can't win if you don't play.
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Mon Oct 29, 2012 at 06:35:00 AM CDT
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The second "No Wiggins" television commercial hit Iowa television screens on October 26, featuring an "Iowa mom" who happens to be Iowa's new Republican National Committeewoman. The video, transcript, and related news clips are after the jump. Bleeding Heartland covered the first "No Wiggins" ad here.
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Fri Oct 19, 2012 at 17:30:30 PM CDT
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Republican Mitt Romney leads President Barack Obama in Public Policy Polling's latest survey of likely voters in Iowa by 49 percent to 48 percent. For Romney, that's a big improvement since PPP polled Iowa in late September and a much better finding than yesterday's poll from NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist.
PPP's new poll also suggests Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins might not be retained. More details are below.
UPDATE: On October 21, PPP released a different Iowa poll conducted during the same period, which showed Obama leading Romney by 49 percent to 48 percent. I've added excerpts from that polling memo at the end of this post.
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Thu Oct 18, 2012 at 08:35:55 AM CDT
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"No Wiggins" campaign materials on display at two churches in Burlington have stirred up a local debate over whether such advocacy is an abuse of tax-exempt status or an exercise of free speech.
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Tue Oct 09, 2012 at 11:46:53 AM CDT
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It's time for another thread to discuss this year's judicial retention elections. Recent links on the campaign are after the jump, along with the first television commercial urging Iowans to vote against retaining Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins.
UPDATE: Progress Iowa cut a pro-retention video featuring "Iowa Nice Guy" Scott Siepker. I've added it at the end of this post.
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Tue Oct 02, 2012 at 07:55:30 AM CDT
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The Des Moines Register's latest Iowa poll indicates a close contest for Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, the target of an anti-retention campaign by social conservatives. In an unexpected move, former Iowa House Speaker Chris Rants publicly advocated a yes vote on Wiggins, despite Rants' opposition to same-sex marriage rights.
In related news, yesterday marked the end of the road for conservative activists trying to challenge Iowa's 50-year-old system for nominating judges.
Follow me after the jump for details.
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Tue Sep 25, 2012 at 15:25:00 PM CDT
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Just as several Republican presidential candidates got involved in the 2010 campaign against retaining three Iowa Supreme Court justices, two leading GOP contenders for the next presidential race are lending support to the "No Wiggins" campaign in Iowa this week.
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Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 09:50:00 AM CDT
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The first statewide poll on the 2012 judicial retention elections suggests that the four Iowa Supreme Justices who will be on the ballot this November have good chances of being retained. However, the pollster does not distinguish between support for retaining the justices as a group and support for Justice David Wiggins, whom opponents of same-sex marriage rights are trying to defeat.
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Tue Aug 14, 2012 at 08:52:50 AM CDT
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Bob Vander Plaats confirmed over the weekend that he will lead the campaign against retaining Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, who concurred in the 2009 Varnum v Brien decision on civil marriage rights. Earlier this month, Republican Party of Iowa Chair A.J. Spiker called on Iowans to vote against Wiggins as well.
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Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 13:05:23 PM CDT
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Last week, a group of conservative Iowa House Republicans finally made good on their promise to introduce articles of impeachment against the four remaining Iowa Supreme Court justices who concurred in the 2009 Varnum v Brien decision on marriage. The impeachment bills won't make it out of committee, let alone the Iowa House, but there may be some political fallout from the effort.
After the jump I examine the articles of impeachment, future prospects for their backers and recent news related to the 2012 judicial retention elections.
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Thu Dec 16, 2010 at 11:49:01 AM CST
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Fallout from last month's vote against retaining Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices Michael Streit and David Baker continues to make the news almost daily.
Follow me after the jump for links and analysis on the timetable for replacing Ternus, Streit and Baker, efforts to change Iowa's system for choosing judges, political pressure on the remaining justices, and how the retention vote will affect the 2012 elections.
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Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 07:08:43 AM CDT
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Today same-sex marriages become legal in Iowa, as the Iowa Supreme Court will issue a document putting its Varnum v Brien ruling into effect.
If you are planning a same-sex marriage in Iowa, One Iowa has resources for you. You can also sign up to follow One Iowa on Twitter (@oneiowa). One Iowa is organizing volunteers to be at county recorder offices during the day and attend various events this evening. If you can help, please call them at (515) 288-4019.
Equality Iowa and I'M for Iowa will be giving wedding bouquets of flowers "to couples applying for their marriage license and getting waivers to marry immediately at courthouses in Iowa City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Mason City and Davenport," according to an e-mail I received from I'M for Iowa.
Groups opposing marriage equality will also make their presence known today outside courthouses and county recorder offices. My advice is to ignore these people, not argue with them. They will be looking for any opportunity to claim they are being oppressed for their religious views.
After the jump I've posted information about other events planned for the coming week, including the annual conference for Iowa Rivers Revival and the annual dinner for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.
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Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 15:58:12 PM CDT
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I still don't have many details about President Barack Obama's upcoming appearance in Newton on Earth Day (April 22). He plans to speak about energy, and presumably his focus will be on renewable energy and the potential for "green jobs" to boost the economy. Two manufacturers in the wind energy industry have located in Newton since the former Maytag plant shut down.
I will post more details about the president's visit when they become available. Meanwhile, click "there's more" to read what else is going on around the state for the next couple of weeks.
As always, post a comment or send me an e-mail (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com) if you know of something important I've left out.
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