116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Capitol Notebook: Special election date set for Central Iowa statehouse seat
Also in the notebook, Iowa DIAL says it has complied with federal long-term care survey requirements
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
DES MOINES — A special election will be held in December in Central Iowa to fill a statehouse seat vacated by the recent death of a state legislator.
Former Iowa Sen. Claire Celsi, a Democrat from Des Moines, died this week at the age of 59. Celsi had been in hospice care after dealing with an undisclosed illness.
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday set a special election date for Tuesday, Dec. 30, to fill the Iowa Senate seat vacated with Celsi’s death.
Celsi represented Iowa Senate District 16, which covers parts of West Des Moines, Clive and Windsor Heights.
Local political party leaders will meet in the coming weeks to nominate candidates for the special election.
It will be the sixth special election during the current, two-year meeting of the Iowa General Assembly. Three special elections have been needed following the deaths of state legislators, and three have been needed after legislators resigned to pursue other government positions.
Republican Rep. Martin Graber of Fort Madison died after a sudden heart attack in January and Republican Sen. Rocky De Witt died in June after battling pancreatic cancer.
And statehouse seats have been vacated recently after Republican Sen. Chris Cournoyer of LeClaire became lieutenant governor, Democratic Rep. Sami Scheetz of Cedar Rapids was appointed to the Linn County Board of Supervisors, and Republican Rep. Mike Sexton of Rockwell City was appointed to a post in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Four of those special elections have taken place; Democrats have won three of them, including by flipping the seats previously held by Republicans Cournoyer and De Witt.
The special election to fill Sexton’s seat has been set for Dec. 9.
Iowa compliant with federal long-term care survey requirements, state agency says
Iowa’s state licensing and oversight agency said it has met federal survey requirements for long-term care facilities.
The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, or DIAL, has met requirements set by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, for the state budget year that ended Sept. 30, the state agency said.
According to DIAL, the state met each of CMS’ requirements of state oversight agencies, including to:
- conduct at least 5 percent of all standard nursing home surveys during off-hours;
- investigate “immediate jeopardy” complaints within two business days;
- accurately report survey data and results to CMS;
- and conduct recertification surveys for each home in fewer than 16 months since the last completed survey.
DIAL’s average number of months between consecutive surveys was 11.3 months, the agency said.
“Meeting these rigorous federal standards demonstrates the dedication of our survey staff to ensuring Iowans receive safe, high-quality care in licensed facilities,” DIAL Director Larry Johnson, Jr., said in a press release. “The department remains focused on consistent, thorough, and fair oversight to uphold public trust.”
Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau
Get the latest Iowa politics and government coverage each morning in the On Iowa Politics newsletter.
Daily Newsletters