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Also, Planned Parenthood’s PAC announces $250K donation in Iowa Statehouse races
DES MOINES — Republican candidates once again were the big winners in the Iowa State Fair Straw Poll, conducted by the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.
Republicans won the unscientific vote of fairgoers for president and all four of Iowa’s congressional districts, according to results published Monday by the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said the State Fair Straw Poll is designed to engage Iowa voters, to promote voter registration and encourage Iowans to vote in elections.
“Voting is important in ensuring Iowans’ voices are heard and I encourage every eligible Iowan to register to vote,” Pate said in a news release.
More than 3,200 votes were cast at the Iowa Secretary of State’s booth over the 11 days of the Iowa State Fair, Pate’s office said. The clean Republican sweep included:
- Former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, 57.4 percent to 36 percent.
- Mariannette Miller-Meeks over Christina Bohannan in the 1st Congressional District, 61 percent to 32.9 percent.
- Ashley Hinson over Sarah Corkery in the 2nd Congressional District, 66.7 percent to 33.3 percent.
- Zach Nunn over Lanon Baccam in the 3rd Congressional District, 58.6 percent to 37.2 percent.
- Randy Feenstra over Ryan Melton in the 4th Congressional District, 63.7 percent to 30.2 percent.
Libertarian candidates Nicholas Gluba in the 1st District and Charles Aldrich in the 4th District both earned just more than 6 percent of the straw poll vote.
Pate, a Republican, said that while the State Fair Straw Poll is not scientific, it has been a “fairly accurate” predictor of upcoming elections in Iowa.
“We saw a large number of fairgoers participate in this year’s straw poll, and we hope to see that reflected in upcoming elections,” Pate said.
Planned Parenthood investing in Iowa elections
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa PAC, a political arm of the women’s reproductive health care services provider that offers abortion services, said it will spend $250,000 in Iowa campaigns for this fall’s election.
That is more than double what it spent during the 2022 elections in Iowa, the PAC said in a news release.
The funding will be used to support volunteer door-knocking and phone-bank programs and a “robust” digital ad series as the group works to elect “a pro-reproductive freedom majority at the statehouse,” according to a news release.
A new state law — passed by statehouse Republicans in 2023 and recently cleared by the Iowa Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision — bans abortions in Iowa after cardiac activity can be detected, which typically is around the sixth week of pregnancy, often before a woman is aware of the pregnancy.
“Make no mistake — abortion is on the ballot in Iowa,” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa PAC Director of Public Affairs Mazie Stilwell said in a news release. “The legislators who voted to put themselves in the exam rooms of their constituents will be held accountable come November.
“Iowans deserve elected leaders who will restore and protect their rights and freedom. We should control our bodies and futures, but that’s not the reality we are living in. The only way to change this reality is at the ballot box.”
Conservation group endorses Corkery
The Sierra Club, a conservation advocacy group, endorsed Democratic candidate Sarah Corkery in Eastern Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District race, the group said in a news release.
“We are confident that (Corkery) will work to protect Iowa families’ health, air and water, and build a clean energy economy that works for all Iowans,” Sierra Club Iowa Chapter Political Chair EJ Gallagher said in a news release.
The group said it will contact voters and speak publicly in support of Corkery, who is challenging Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson of Marion.
U.S. House Democrats announces Iowa ad buys
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of U.S. House Democrats, announced it is making more than $2.5 million in new ad reservations in Iowa ahead of the November election.
The ad buys are part of a total $27 million in new ad reservations announced the DCCC as part of an “offensive push to maximize an energized and enthusiastic electorate” in districts Democrats believe they can gain ground, including “red-leaning districts with vulnerable Republicans” in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
The largest Iowa ad reservation was for $1.55 million in the Des Moines media market, located in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Democrat Lanon Baccam is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican. Election forecasters have rated the race as leaning Republican.
The DCCC also has made advertising buys for $534,000 in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City media market, and $438,000 in the Davenport media market. Democrat Christina Bohannan of Iowa City is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in southeast Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.
The money announced Monday is DCCC’s second round of advertising buys, following $28 million in ad reservations made in June.
“This election is a clear choice between Republican extremism and their unpopular agenda to give tax breaks to the ultrawealthy and pass a nationwide abortion ban versus House Democrats’ forward-looking agenda of lowering costs and protecting reproductive freedom for all,” DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said in a statement.
Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau
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