How Jake Chapman, Sarah Trone Garriott are appealing to voters

Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman made it official on January 31: he will seek re-election in the new Senate district 14, rather than moving to safer Republican territory nearby. His decision sets up what should be a competitive race against Democratic State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott this November.

Bleeding Heartland previously reviewed the political landscape and recent voting history of Senate district 14, a swing district mostly populated by suburban voters. As the campaign progresses, I’ll check in regularly on how Chapman and Trone Garriott are making their case.

DOUBLING DOWN ON “HARD CORE PORNOGRAPHY” IN SCHOOLS

The second-ranking Iowa Senate Republican made headlines in November when he announced he was having legislation drafted “to create a new felony offense” for educators who distribute supposedly obscene material in schools. Delivering the first speech of the year in the Iowa Senate last month, Chapman declared,

One doesn’t have to look far to see the sinister agenda occurring right before our eyes. The attack on our children is no longer hidden. Those who wish to normalize sexually deviant behavior against our children, including pedophilia and incest, are pushing this movement more than ever before.

Our children should be safe and free from this atrocious assault. Our students should be learning about science, and mathematics; they should be learning about engineering and innovation.

Instead, we have some teachers who are disguising sexually obscene material as desired subject matter and profess it as artistic and literary in value. The literature being pushed on our students should disturb all of us, and if you aren’t disturbed, I can only hope it’s because you have not actually heard or seen the content. […]

We must hold those who distribute this repulsive and criminal content to minors accountable.

Chapman’s remarks provoked outrage and ridicule, and some powerful Republicans distanced themselves from his diatribe against educators. During her Condition of the State address, Governor Kim Reynolds criticized what she called “X-rated” material in school libraries. But the governor later told Radio Iowa regarding Chapman’s remarks, “I hope he just misspoke and he’ll correct that.”

During a late January episode of the Iowa PBS program “Iowa Press,” the Des Moines Register’s Stephen Gruber-Miller asked Iowa Senate President Jack Whitver, “Is the idea of criminal penalties for teachers off the table?” Whitver responded, “Yeah, I think charging anyone with felonies for these types of things, I don’t think is a good idea.”

Chapman was undeterred. He introduced Senate File 2198 on February 3; the Register summarized its key points.

The bill would require school districts to designate an administrator to ensure no obscene material or hard-core pornography is present and available to students in school libraries. Administrators or teachers who distribute or require a student to read or view such material would face a serious misdemeanor charge, punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine up to $2,560.

Iowa’s current law on obscenity explicitly states that it doesn’t prohibit “the use of appropriate material for educational purposes” in schools, libraries and educational programs. Chapman’s bill would specify that “appropriate material” does not include obscene material or hard-core pornography.

The bill would use the existing definition of “hardcore pornography” from Iowa code, which is material that depicts “patently offensive representations” of sexual acts and lacks, as a whole, literary, scientific, political or artistic value. 

Republican Senators Brad Zaun and Jason Schultz advanced the bill from a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on February 10. Speaking at that meeting, Chapman asserted that “Parents are cut completely out of this process” of deciding which books are appropriate for public school libraries or classrooms. He said his bill “allows parents to go to a court to have that determination made.”

Chapman posted on Facebook after the subcommittee, “It is shocking to see Democrats opposing legislation that would prevent the distribution of hard core pornography to kids in school! When the news blurs out the images of these books, that should be enough to know it’s not ok in our schools.” (Others have pointed out that the sexual imagery and descriptions of sexual encounters make up only a small portion of the challenged books, which are primarily memoirs or coming-of-age stories.)

The Des Moines Register’s Ian Richardson reported that Chapman “plans to introduce an amendment that would raise the penalties teachers could face in the bill to an aggravated misdemeanor on the first offense and a class D felony on the second offense, aligning the penalties with those in Iowa code for the rental or sale of hardcore pornography.” Perhaps Whitver changed his mind; leaders don’t typically allow floor votes on GOP amendments that don’t have enough support to pass.

LATE UPDATE: Chapman’s proposal advanced from the Senate Judiciary Committee but never came to the floor. House Speaker Pat Grassley told reporters in mid-March that a majority of his caucus opposes criminal penalties for teachers or librarians.

Meanwhile, the latest Iowa Poll by Selzer & Co for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom indicated that 64 percent of Iowans oppose creating new criminal penalties for teachers and administrators who distribute supposedly obscene books. Only 27 percent of respondents supported that idea. In addition, 71 percent of respondents oppose and just 25 percent favor allowing parents to sue school districts for distributing obscene material. Ian Richardson reported,

Sizable majorities of parents with children under 18 oppose both measures, with 69% saying they oppose allowing lawsuits and 62% saying they oppose the creation of new criminal penalties.  […]

Republicans register the lowest level of opposition to both proposals among the groups sampled, but they don’t reach majority support for either. Half of Republicans oppose allowing parents to sue school districts, versus 45% who favor. A plurality of Republicans favor creating new criminal penalties, with 47% in favor and 43% opposed. 

Remember, this poll surveyed parents and Republicans across the whole state. If a majority of those groups statewide didn’t support Chapman’s proposals, it’s a safe bet the ideas are very unpopular among the residents of a suburban swing district.

“TEACHERS ARE NOT THE ENEMY”

Though Chapman clearly believes he’s got a winning issue, Trone Garriott has not shied away from this fight. In a January 12 news release, she pushed back against Republican efforts to remove controversial books from schools: “Teachers are not the enemy; they are our friends, neighbors, and community leaders. These culture wars promoted by Gov. Reynolds and Jake Chapman are hurting Iowans and have to stop.”

The Democrat added, “Talented, beloved educators and administrators in my community are resigning. It’s heartbreaking. I wish the Governor would spend some time visiting with our educators – too many are on the verge of leaving.”

Trone Garriott has echoed that message in social media posts and fundraising appeals. After Chapman’s bill was published, the Democrat responded in a written statement,

The only sinister agenda here is the damage that Jake Chapman and his Republican colleagues have inflicted on our public schools. Iowa schools have been critically underfunded for 6 years—and it’s taken a toll. Threatening educators, demonizing them is making the teacher shortage even worse. If Jake Chapman would ever show up at a school district forum or visit the schools in our community he would know that.

CHAPMAN TO SUPPORTERS: “LIBERALS ARE COMING FOR ME”

Chapman had hinted in December that he would stay in his new Senate district. Confirming that decision in a January 31 fundraising email, he bragged that he was the top target for Senate Democrats “because I stand up for YOU and YOUR freedoms and liberties. On the contrary my opponent is perhaps one of the most liberal members of the Iowa Senate!

The latest campaign finance disclosures showed the vast majority of Chapman’s contributors are political action committees or registered lobbyists. According to an analysis by Iowa Senate Democrats, just six individuals who donated to Chapman’s campaign during 2021 live in the new Senate district 14.

But Chapman has highlighted Trone Garriott’s donations from residents of coastal states: “I won’t allow my opponent or her liberal NY and CA allies to infiltrate Iowa without fighting back, but I need you help! […] Liberals are coming for me, but with your support, I won’t back down!”

Chapman’s never had to do much retail campaigning, since he previously ran in a safe Republican district. His social media feeds indicate that he attended the latest Dallas County GOP Central Committee meeting but don’t mention other recent public events or campaign activities.

TRONE GARRIOTT PRIORITIZING DIRECT VOTER CONTACTS

Chapman is deeply unpopular among Iowa Democratic activists. Trone Garriott tweeted on January 31 that 757 individuals had contributed to her campaign since December 1, when she announced plans to seek re-election in Senate district 14. She said 92 percent of those donors are Iowans; it’s not clear how many live in her new district.

Trone Garriott is already prioritizing personal contacts with voters. Despite the cold weather, she’s been out canvassing in Van Meter and Adel, the largest towns she hasn’t represented before. (About 80 percent of Senate district 14 households are located in suburbs the Democrat now represents: Waukee and the Dallas County areas of Clive and West Des Moines.)

Trone Garriott’s campaign manager Jack Ave tweeted on February 10, “Team Sarah just wrapped our third postcard event of the month! Over 30 volunteers (at home and in-person) wrote nearly 1,000 postcards tonight to voters in new SD 14.”

In addition to her campaign work, Trone Garriott attends many non-political community events. An ordained Lutheran minister, she regularly worships or preaches at churches around central Iowa and was at Grace Lutheran Church in Adel one Sunday last month.

Any comments about Chapman’s bill or this Senate race are welcome in this thread.

About the Author(s)

Laura Belin

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