SD 18 Democrats make Mathis official

Spent Wednesday evening with the good Democratic delegates of Senate District 18. They gathered at Hiawatha City Hall to officially nominate Liz Mathis as their candidate in the Senate District 18 special election Nov. 8. The seat was vacated by Swati Dandekar, D-Marion, who is taking a seat on the Iowa Utilities Board.

(Obligatory stakes graph) The stakes are high. If Democrats hold the seat, they keep a 24-26 majority in the Senate. If they lose, we've got a 25-25 tie and tons of momentum for Republicans heading into 2012. Stakes. High.

But if there was a mountain of political pressure bearing down on these assembled Democrats, it was not exactly visible or palatable. It seemed like a fairly normal, low-key party gathering, with refreshments, cookies even.

And for all the complaints about undemocratic Democrats locking down their process to make sure that Mathis and only Mathis would be nominated, it did not seem like her candidacy was being inflicted on anyone with a heavy hand. I did not see any union enforcers patrolling the perimeter. The floor was opened for nominations, and left open long enough for anyone who wanted to float another name to do so. Mathis was the only one.

I've received some mail about this perceived travesty of transparency. But really, as long as neither party seems to care much that the Legislature still isn't subject to Iowa's open meetings laws or that multi-billion dollar budget bills get negotiated by top leaders only behind closed doors or that it's still incredibly difficult for Iowans to call out government officials who violate meetings/records laws, it's tough to get worked up about the inside baseball of party district conventions.

There are real, meaty transparency issues out there. And neither party seems to care much. Maybe you'd like to keep bickering about small potatoes (actually, I'm certain some of you will) but I'm not all that interested. Sorry. But I would like to hear what the candidates think about those issues. They will be asked before it's over.

Still, unlike their GOP counterparts, assembled Democrats did not ask Mathis any questions after her smoothly delivered but short two-and-a-half-minute speech. Yeah, I know she's the only candidate, but didn't any of these folks want to know where she stands on a few issues before they voted? I also think putting her through some paces in front of a friendly audience would help prepare her for the road ahead. But no dice. I think it was a mistake.

"I feel really invigorated by this," Mathis said. "I'm ready to work for you."

So basically, there was really no drama or much theater. It took longer for Democrats to nominate and elect new delegates than it did to put Mathis on the ballot.

But she did take about five minutes worth of questions from media types afterward. Here's a sampling:

Do you support putting gay marriage on the ballot?

"You know, I think there have been a lot of voices from New York and Des Moines and Washington D.C. that are coming in and trying to make marriage the issue of this campaign and this district. I have to say, the people of District 18 are concerned about jobs, and business growth and they're concerned about education. And those are the things constituents are concerned about.

"As most Iowans, I support the judges' approval and the judges upholding of the constitutional right. And I believe that people need to be focusing on business and jobs and education. I uphold the judges' decision."

What is your plan for job growth?

"What's my plan? I plan on talking to, first of all, I have that appointment with MEDCO (Marion Economic Development Co.) and we're going to talk about what's important to the people of Marion. I'll go around to all of the cities and find out what they're thinking about their growth and their business growth, where they are in their plans and future planning. And then we'll go from there. I need to find out what they want and where they want to go in terms of legislation. And I need to hear that, I need to carry that voice to the Legislature."

At last week's GOP convention, your opponent, Cindy Golding seemed to suggest that you have too many ties to downtown Cedar Rapids. What do you make of that?

"Golly, I think that would be one of the arguments that would work in favor of me. Because we don't have silos up between the cities. We don't have silos up between the counties. And I can only imagine that there are a lot of people in Marion and Robins and Hiawatha who have jobs everywhere, in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, all over the county. And to say that that's that way is rather limiting. I think it's rather parochial."