Democrat Martin O’Malley to visit Cedar County

DES MOINES - Cedar County Democrats are eager to get the 2016 presidential campaign underway.

'It stirs up the excitement and gets people motivated,” says Cedar County Democratic Chairman Larry Hogden.

So when he heard that former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley was going to be speaking next door in Scott County, he invited him to the Cedar County Democrats' off-year caucus.

So O'Malley will speak to the local party at 10 a.m. March 21 in the courthouse basement in Tipton.

'We'd like to see people get into it,” Hogden said about the slow-developing Democratic campaign. 'It's not too early to talk to people about their plans and how they'll get the country moving forward.”

O'Malley, whose travel plans include New Hampshire, South Carolina and Kansas, will be making his fifth trip to Iowa since the 2012 election.

He'll speak at the Scott County Democratic Party's annual Red, White and Blue Dinner March 20 and the Pottawattamie County Democrats Annual Fundraiser March 21.

O'Malley will be back April 10 to speak at the Polk County Annual Spring Awards Dinner in Des Moines.

Hogden says there is interest in an O'Malley presidential campaign among some Cedar County Democrats, but he thinks there's even more interest in seeing an open, competitive caucus.

'We want to encourage an open caucus, to get a number of candidates so we have a good debate of the issues,” Hogden said.

Nearly 100 people recently heard Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speak in Tipton. 'A nice turnout on a Saturday afternoon,” Hogden said.

There's also interest in Hillary Clinton.

'Some are wildly in favor of her,” he said. 'Others have some skepticism and wonder if she does get in, what comes with that.”

Overall, Hogden said, people want alternatives.

'Generally, that's the case every four years,” he said, 'especially when it's an open seat.”

For more on O'Malley, visit http://martinomalley.com/.