Ruby Bodeker, the 2020 Democratic nominee in Iowa House district 75, is a prairie voice for working people and rural spaces and a co-host of the podcast We Live Here, Too. -promoted by Laura Belin

In the lead-up to the 2020 general election, many members of the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) — including party leadership — had high hopes for a reckoning in our state in terms of weakening the Republican trifecta control. Flipping the Iowa House seemed within reach and IDP accordingly sunk millions of dollars into select races — mostly in urban districts.

Instead, the party suffered devastatig losses up and down the ballot and now finds itself down 59 seats to 41 in the Iowa House and 32 to 18 in the state Senate. Governor Kim Reynolds is not up for re-election until 2022.