With early voting already underway and the November election only two weeks out, Iowa House and Senate races are gaining momentum for several districts in the Quad-Cities region.
As they run for office, Democrats eyeing the House and Senate point to a Republican trifecta control of the two legislative chambers and the governor’s office as leading a hard-right shift in policy from what’s long been a moderate center in state politics. And as House and Senate Republicans ask voters for another term in office, they reference the state’s low unemployment numbers, recent tax cuts and a budget surplus as progress toward a healthy, growing economy.
Republicans are playing defense in most of the seats up for reelection this year. Meanwhile, incumbent Democratic Reps. Phyllis Thede, Cindy Winckler and Monica Kurth face no challenger, and neither does Democratic Sen. Jim Lykam. In the Senate, only one Republican challenger is running for a now-Democratic district currently represented by Sen. Rita Hart, D-Wheatland, who is running for lieutenant governor.
People are also reading…
The trend in the Quad-Cities region reflects a larger play by the Iowa Democratic Party, which is fielding candidates in 95 House districts across the state. While ranking Democrats have said the House is within grasp, flipping control from the Republican Party would require shifting 10 seats from red to blue.
Also in play is the question of whether federal and other statewide races will have remarkable influence on local Iowa races when voters head to the polls next month. Where Democrats around the country are banking on a blue wave, some political analysts question if such a movement will hit Iowa during this year’s midterms, when voter turnout is typically lower than in presidential election years.
Chris Larimer, a political science professor with the University of Northern Iowa, says there are several factors that have the potential to have trickle-down influence over elections. But gauging the outcome and influence is a difficult task in local elections where voters typically have a closer connection to candidates, he said. And in terms of wave years for Democrats, Larimer says registration has not moved significantly enough to show for sure that one is on the horizon.
Here’s a closer glance at some of the contested races for this cycle:
HOUSE DISTRICT 92
Republican Rep. Ross Paustian faces Democrat Jean Simpson in a contest over a competitive district that has flipped between the two political parties over the last several years.
In 2016, Paustian handily won a two-way race against a Democrat by 12 percentage points. But four years before that, Paustian lost his seat to former Democratic Rep. Frank Wood, previously a state senator, by five points.
Enter Democratic challenger Simpson, a retired social worker who has never before held office. She says she wants to increase funding for education, restore collective bargaining rights for public workers, and put Medicaid back under state control. And she describes herself as a “fiscal hawk,” saying she’ll be able to work across the aisle to make those things happen.
“I don’t look for a Republican idea or a Democrat idea or an independent idea, I look for the best idea,” she said.
As he seeks another term, Paustian points to the state of the economy as evidence things are going well in Iowa. He counts the removal of collective bargaining rights for public employees, the biggest tax cut in state history and conservative budgeting as contributors to steady growth.
“We cut taxes and we appropriated money where we thought was necessary for the state and still now we have a surplus,” Paustian said, referencing $127 million more than expected revenue in the state coffers.
The district is entirely within Scott County, and includes northern Davenport, Blue Grass, Eldridge, New Liberty and the county’s rural stretches to the northwest of the Quad-Cities.
HOUSE DISTRICT 94
Coming off a first term in the Statehouse is GOP Rep. Gary Mohr, a former Bettendorf alderman, faces Democratic challenger Joan Marttila, a first-time office-seeker and retired audiologist.
As he seeks reelection, Mohr points to the passage of a law concerning school access for children who live on the Rock Island Arsenal among his proudest legislative achievements. The students previously attended Moline schools, but now have the option of choosing Iowa schools. He views himself as a representative who understands the needs of the district, saying he wants to build on past efforts to advocate for those needs in Des Moines.
“They’ve got to understand what we have here in Eastern Iowa,” Mohr said of fellow lawmakers. “We’re a critical part of this state.”
Marttila views one-party Republican control in Des Moines as having contributed to policies that are bad for the everyday Iowan. To that end, she points to heightened abortion restrictions, removal of collective bargaining rights for public sector workers and the state’s most recent tax cut, which she says “does very little” for the average family.
If elected, Marttila says she would work to expand mental health, return Medicaid from private to public control, and look to reform the state’s tax system to ensure working families are being treated fairly.
The district, which includes eastern Bettendorf, Riverdale, and northern Davenport, has remained comfortably in Republican hands for years. No Democrat has sought the seat since 2012, when then-Rep. Lauren Miller, a Republican, handily won against Democratic challenger Maria Bribriesco, who captured 44 percent of the vote.
HOUSE DISTRICT 97
As he seeks reelection, Republican Rep. Norlin Mommsen faces two challengers: Tim McClimon, a Democrat from Dewitt and Libertarian David Melchert Jr. of Grand Mound.
Spanning across Scott and Clinton counties, the district includes the towns LeClaire, Camanche and DeWitt. It has been a Republican stronghold for more than a decade, although several challenges for the seat have emerged over the years.
Mommsen, who is running for a third consecutive term, says he wants to continue to focus on agricultural issues if he is elected again.
A retired probation officer and first-time office-seeker, McClimon says Medicaid privatization is “a mess,” K-12 education spending should be higher, and collective bargaining rights should be restored. He also points to the state’s massive tax cuts as election year politics, saying Republicans “jumped too soon” to put those in place.
“I don’t think our state is doing as well financially as some people would like you to believe,” he said.
Melchert, the Libertarian, also ran for the seat under a three-way matchup in 2016. He captured 7 percent of the vote in that contest.
Three seats unopposed
The incumbents in House District 89, 90, and 93 do not face a challenger this year.
In House District 89, Democrat Monica Kurth has held the seat since a special election in January 2017, after Jim Lykam won a special election to represent Iowa Senate District 45. Kurth is a retired educator and counselor. The district includes parts of Davenport.
House District 90 incumbent Cindy Winckler, a Democrat, is a retired teacher and education consultant. She is seeking her 10th term representing a district that includes parts of Davenport, Blue Grass and Buffalo.
House District 93 incumbent Democrat Phyllis Thede also is running unopposed. The district includes parts of Davenport and Bettendorf.
Senate District 47
Republican Sen. Roby Smith faces Democratic challenger Marie Gleason, a political newcomer, to retain control over a district he has held since 2010.
Smith, a Davenport small business owner who also has stake in the Quad-Cities River Bandits, is seeking a third term, and points to education as a priority if he’s reelected. He took his campaign to the airwaves early this month to tout the state’s spending plan and tax cuts, saying he’ll “always put Iowa’s taxpayers and working families first.”
Gleason is a Bettendorf resident and human resources project manager with Deere & Company. As a state senator, she says she would like to focus on improving health care for Iowans and improve K-12 public education by “supporting that in the way that it needs to be.”
The district, which includes much of Davenport, Bettendorf, Panorama Park and Riverdale, went for Smith in the 2014 election by a margin of 12 percentage points.
Senate District 49
In a largely rural district, two candidates are squaring off for the open seat left behind by Democratic Sen. Hart, who is leaving the post to run as lieutenant governor alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell.
For the Democrats is Patti Robinson, a former Medicaid case director with Clinton County. Robinson dropped an earlier bid for a Clinton County board to run for Hart’s seat. As she runs for office, she points to the privatization of Medicaid as a chief concern, saying the state should revert to a publicly managed system. She also says her background and longtime residence of Clinton make her a good fit to represent the people of the district.
For the Republicans is Chris Cournoyer, the board president of Pleasant Valley School District and website development business owner. She has already taken to the airwaves to promote her candidacy, with ads on television and radio. Cournoyer says she wants to get more funding for school districts in the budgeting process and get better mental health services.
The district’s boundary lines include northern Scott County and all of Clinton County, and it has swung between Democratic and Republican control over the years. In the 2014 election, Hart defeated Republican challenger Brian Schmidt in a close race with 52 percent of the vote.
In Senate District 45, incumbent Democrat Jim Lykam is running unopposed. Lykam won the seat in a special election in December of 2016. From 2003 to 2016, he represented Iowa House District 89.