Results and Responses in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

Iowa was given the opportunity to vote out the least effective member of The House of Representatives. A man who, in his 14 years in office, has only ever sponsored ONE bill that passed. A man whose open hostility towards non-whites has even made the Republican Leadership chastise him in public. This is a man that recently used Tax Payer Dollars to fly to Austria to support a political party that was started by an honest-to-God SS Member of the Nazi Party under Hitler. Iowa was given the opportunity to stand up and say, “No. No more. No more will we support White Nationalism and KKK Support through our tax dollars.” Iowa failed. The 4th District is so filled with hate. Hatred against anyone that believes abortion may be acceptable in certain situations. Hatred against anyone that thinks the color of your skin does not determine the content of your character. Hatred against anyone that isn’t a Protestant Church Going Bible Thumping “Christian.” Hatred against anyone that thinks homosexuality isn’t the worst thing in the world. This district is filled with the farmers and factory workers that got Trump elected. And last night, they said loudly: We’re in support of racism, fascism, and the resurgence of Nazi policies. And it breaks my heart. But it won’t stop me. It will encourage me. Because the Talking Heads are right. When every person that detests racism leaves the areas where racists thrive… they’re letting the racists win. If you flee to California to escape Mid-West Racism… your voice joins hundreds and your vote (honestly) counts for less. If you stay and fight? Well, that is the other lesson of King v. Schlotten. Steve King has never had to fight for his seat. He didn’t think he’d need to fight this year. The woman running against him last year quit the race because of too many death threats. And King was okay with that. Consider that for a moment. In the 21st Century, a Federal Government Representative was “okay” with his supporters terrorizing someone to the point where they had to go into hiding. Felt like the 1960s! But someone filled her shoes. She quit to protect herself and her family. J.D. Schlotten gave King a hell of a run. King, for the first time in a long time, didn’t win by a “vast majority”. So that’s something at least.

IOWA ELECTION RESULTS
United States House of Representatives
District 1: The district was flipped from Red to Blue when Finkenauer beat Blum.
District 2: The incumbent retained the seat, keeping the district Blue as Loebsack fended off the challenge from Peters.
District 3: Cindy Axne flipped the District Blue by beating David Young. An excellent victory as David Young was a desperate foolish crony to the dual passions of killing all health care options and doing whatever the NRA paid him to do.
District 4: You broke my heart, guys. The racist incumbent Steve King held on to his seat beating the Democrat Challenger by 3%

Governor
Proving once again that Iowans passionately do not give a shit about the Disabled, the Mentally Ill, the Judiciary, or Education… Governor Kim Reynolds held on to the Governor’s seat fending off a strong challenge by Democrat Fred Hubbell. This is disappointing as Fred ran on a strong “We have to fix healthcare platform” and Reynolds ran on a strong “Fred Hubbell voted for Clinton” platform. I’m embarrassed that Iowans were so easily lead by “fear of liberals” that they would reward the “I’m only running negative ads” campaign over the “Lets have the hard discussions” campaign.

State Senate
16 Incumbents won their races; those 16 incumbents being 8 Republicans and 8 Democrats. Meaning (as far as Waves and Flips) only 2 races had an incumbent lose. And in one race, the incumbent was a Republican losing to a Democrat; in the other a Democrat losing to a Republican. So no change. Republicans still control State Senate.

State House
Frustratingly, Peter did not win. We knew he wouldn’t, but there’s always hope. Similarly, most Democrats got pounded in these races. In 100 races, 87 Incumbents won. Apparently, despite health care, school funding, the judiciary, and the alleged ‘immigration and crime’ problems… Iowans wanted to keep the status quo. Republicans maintain control of the State House. (SO yes, a continuation of Republican Controlled Governor, House, and Senate… full Red… because that’s worked out so well over the last many years!)

Auditor
In a surprise (and contentious) battle, Democrat Rob Sand won the State Auditor position. This is interesting because he does not hold a CPA. His incumbent rival ran a strong negative ad campaign suggesting that Rob Sand’s lack of CPA certification would prevent him from being able to do the very job he was running for. Several CPAs in the State disagreed with her characterization and pointed out that Sand had led prosecution into corruption cases which is also an important job of the Auditor. When Wife asked me who to vote for I said the following:
The State Auditor audits and goes after corruption, like what we saw in Tiny Town when the County Government hadn’t paid proper tax in years. If you think there isn’t a lot of corruption going on, vote for the Republican who can focus on Audits and find corruption if it exists. If you thing that there is a lot of corruption going on, vote for the Democrat who has experience fighting against that corruption.

At the end of the day? The fairest estimation would be to say that Iowa was a mixed bag. Young went down, but King stayed up. There were some party switches in races; but largely Iowa voted to “stay the course.” And Kim Reynolds won by claiming Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton would be victorious if Hubbell was put in the Governor’s Office. All in all, Iowa remains Red through most of her soul… Republicans in charge in most of the important Executive and Legislative branches.

Last updated November 07, 2018