Iowa Democrats caucus to raise money, organize before likely Biden-Trump rematch

IOWA CITY — While Democratic caucuses were more subdued than past years, party members who gathered Monday night in Iowa City said the stakes are higher than ever if Democrats want to regain ground lost to Republicans in Iowa.

"If you want to make Iowa purple again, it starts right here, right now, by making Johnson County as blue as its ever been,“ state Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said to about 50 people from eight precincts who caucused at City High.

Missing from past Democratic caucuses were lines out the door, shouted speeches from fervent supporters and weird caucus math that caused some caucusgoers to need to realign under other more viable presidential candidates.

Some of that excitement would have been missing anyway this year since President Joe Biden almost certainly will be the Democratic nominee, but the National Democratic Party yanked Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status so Iowa Democrats will instead vote by presidential preference cards to be tallied by March 5.

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Iowa City Democrats who turned out Monday were the die-hards who usually stick around to do party business after the clamor of previous caucuses, Weiner said. Folks like Dave Ulrick, 82, who has been involved in Iowa City politics since 1982.

“Beating Trump is No. 1,” Ulrick said of his priorities this election cycle. “We have to make sure people understand our president is doing good things and the bad things that are happening aren’t his fault and he’s trying to resolve them.”

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., held a news conference in Des Moines ahead of the Iowa caucuses to counter Republican talking points and to highlight Biden’s accomplishments.

Pritzker, acting as a surrogate for the Biden-Harris campaign, said there is no difference between Trump, Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley, saying the top three Republican presidential candidates looking to challenge Biden are all the same but just in different packaging.

“Tonight's contest is simply a question of whether you like your MAGA Trump agenda wrapped in the original packaging or with high heels or lifts in their boots,” Pritzker told reporters.

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Johnson County Democrats have knocked on nearly 3,000 doors since last fall and registered 700 new Democrats, Weiner said. Ulrick hopes that will translate into Democrats winning back a few more seats in the Iowa House and Senate.

Althea Downing-Scherer, 17, came to City High to help her mom sign in voters. “I’m looking forward to voting for the first time because that’s exciting to be able to do,” said the City High senior.

Ellen Wrede, 32, a librarian from Iowa City, was crocheting ocher-colored slippers during the Democratic Precinct 17 caucus at City High.

"I'm here a little bit out of civic duty and curiosity to see what the process is," Wrede said, adding she thinks most in her precinct feel similarly about key issues, including heading off climate change and stopping gun violence and what she sees as attacks on education.

"There's so much that's hard to stomach these days," she said.

As the toe of the bootie came together under Wrede's crochet hooks, the precinct nominated and voted for Central Committee members and delegates to the March 23 Johnson County Democratic Convention.

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Chair Nancy Porter, a retired teacher, called out people by name to encourage them to nominate themselves. With only 15 people in the meeting and 10 delegates needed, there was an awkward pause until Ed Flaherty pointed to Ulrick, who raised his hand.

Mike Carberry, a former Johnson County supervisor, joked to Mitch Lingo, an Iowa City school board member, about Flaherty roughing up Democrats who don’t do his bidding.

“He says he’s a peace activist,” Carberry said Flaherty, a Veterans for Peace member.

Tom Barton of The Gazette’ Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.

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