>> [MUSIC] Big 2026 political races are still taking shape.

>> We'll catch you up on some political news on this reporter's roundtable edition of Iowa Press.

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>> [MUSIC] This is the Friday, August 22nd edition of Iowa Press.

[MUSIC] Here is Kay Henderson.

>> Hey, you've been watching the girls state softball tournament and Iowa Public Television's great coverage of the Iowa State Fair.

We are back from hiatus, and we're here to update you the election, the 2026 election is 14 months away, but you probably might not notice given all the activity that's going on in the state of Iowa.

We've assembled a group of reporters who are covering politics statewide to share what they're reporting is telling us about the 2026 campaign.

They are Brianne Pfannenstiel.

She is the chief politics reporter.

And you see her work in the Des Moines Register, Katarina Sostaric is covering the legislature.

She's covering statewide politics, and you can hear her work on Iowa Public Radio.

Tom Barton is based in Cedar Rapids and comes to Des Moines to cover the Iowa Legislature.

You can also hear him on the Iowa Politics Iowa on Iowa Politics podcast.

He works for the Cedar Rapids Gazette and Stephen Gruber-Miller is a politics reporter who's covering the legislature and political candidates for the Des Moines Register.

Okay, folks, let's start with stuff that's happened in the U.S. Senate race this month.

Stephen, tell us what's going on.

>> Well, it feels like the only thing I've been doing this summer is writing about political candidates announcing their campaigns.

But so the most recent entrant to the Senate race is State Representative Josh Turek of Council Bluffs.

He's a Democrat.

He got in and then a little less than a week later, state Representative J.D.

Scholten of Sioux City announced that he was dropping out and endorsing Turek.

So that leaves us with four Democrats running.

We've also got State Senator Zach Wahls of Coralville, Nathan Sage, a former Chamber of Commerce director, and Jackie Norris, the Des Moines school board member.

>> So what are we hearing about how these candidates are connecting with people?

Brianne.

>> Well, at this point, you know, they're really trying to introduce themselves to folks.

You know, these are people who have a presence in Iowa politics.

Activists might know them, but they're circles.

Really beyond that might be quite small.

And so they're getting out to, you know, candidate meet and greets.

They're traveling the state.

They're going to party functions and kind of introducing themselves as much as they can.

And I think they're probably spending a lot of time raising money.

This is a really important piece of of any political campaign.

And they're going to need enough resources to kind of carry forward, especially in what looks to be a pretty crowded field.

>> One of the things that occurs to me is that these folks may be younger than some of the people who are currently serving in the United States Senate.

Tom, is that a factor here?

>> I think so, and I think you have candidates like Josh Turek who have a really compelling background to tell former gold medalist Paralympian who had, I think, what was it like a dozen surgeries before he was the age of, of 12 because of spina bifida?

That and he's running a campaign ad on that because of his father being exposed to Agent Orange and talking about how, you know, he's relied on Iowa Medicaid and he's relied on Snap and these public assistance programs that, you know, are facing cuts under the reconciliation bill, the big beautiful bill being passed by Congress that Senator Joni Ernst and other members of Iowa's congressional delegation have have supported.

And so you're seeing him get some some national attention for that political ad.

And, you know, the fact that he is a little bit younger, I think he's able to maybe appeal to segments of the electorate of voters who maybe have been tuned out, haven't been involved in politics, trying to bring them in and get them interested in this race.

>> Katarina Nathan Sage is the candidate who's been in officially the longest.

But you and I have covered a guy in the legislature in JD Scholten who's been on the campaign trail in two previous elections.

What about his withdrawal Yeah, Scholten had run in the fourth Congressional District previously, and you know, he's obviously ran up his name recognition and made connections in an area of the state that is not very friendly to Democrats.

>> So that's something that, you know, I think maybe could have been helpful had he stuck with his Senate campaign.

But he dropped out and endorsed Josh Turek.

And, you know, there they are together in the they serve together in the Iowa House of Representatives.

And they're friends.

And so I guess he just decided that was the better choice for him.

>> And it's interesting because like Katarina is saying, JD Scholten, I mean, Iowa Democrats know who he is for the most part.

I think largely that's also true of Zach Walz.

Many Democrats know who he is.

Josh Turek, maybe a little bit less so and so perhaps having Scholten will help him with that or you know, perhaps somebody with more name recognition like Zach Walz has, has a little leg up when they're getting started here.

>> Katarina, one thing that happened earlier this month is the governor appointed group, the Iowa Department of Government Efficiency Task Force, met, and they reviewed 45 different proposals.

But there were a couple that really sort of gained attention.

Share.

>> Right.

So they kind of floated these 45 recommendations that are not official recommendations yet from the task force, but the one that probably got the most attention was the recommendation to end the public pension system for state employees, commonly known as Ipers.

There are some other types of pension plans, too, but that's the main one.

And and that's just a real political hot potato.

So it was interesting that they even floated that the one of the members of the task force was saying that basically he thought maybe state employee benefits were too generous and not in line with the private sector.

And in order to make the state government more efficient and cost effective, they should kind of maybe drop that back to more of a 401(k) style program for new state hires to, I guess, save money.

And then the other big one was proposal to pay teachers based on their performance.

And that was also pretty controversial.

It would be very complicated.

And it's a big deal if that's something that, you know, ends up being proposed in the next legislative session.

>> And and I'm weird enough and old enough that I covered Terry Branstad trying to do that at the start of his second run as governor in the 20 tens Steven, pushback from an interesting cohort of legislators.

>> Yeah, as you would expect, Democrats were opposed to these changes from the from the start.

But we had comments from top Republicans in the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate saying that they don't expect to make any changes to Ipers.

They recognize that people are concerned about this program changing It's obviously, you know, Democrats have made this argument as well.

The the benefits of Vipers are one of the ways that you can attract people to work for state government, where the pay might not compete with the private sector.

And I think Republicans have shown that this is not an issue.

They really want to touch, especially when next year will be an election year.

>> Tom, do you think it may be revived, or is that the death knell?

>> I think it's it's pretty much the death knell.

I mean, I think Republican leaders were, you know, pretty clear with their statements.

You know, Iowa House speaker Pat Grassley saying, you know, look, the House Republican Caucus has no interest in this Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitaker, saying that, you know, this is not something that he's hearing from members of his caucus.

You know, Senate Republicans, you know, haven't talked to him about that, and he doesn't see this getting traction during the legislative session.

And we've heard other Republican leaders say that, you know, this is not going to happen.

So I would be surprised if this goes anywhere.

>> And I interviewed the governor at the state fair, and she basically said, I appointed this group of people.

They're independent.

I didn't tell them to recommend this.

I don't have essentially, I don't have fingerprints on this.

So it does seem as if it's not going to happen.

>> Well, and as you mentioned, you know, when this issue came up during Terry Branstad's second administration, you know, in 2018 when Reynolds was running for the first time, this was kind of an issue, and she was asked about it and she said that she would protect Ipers.

>> It does come at an interesting time, though, to Stevens Point.

This is before an election year.

So even though all of these Republicans have have essentially shut down the possibility of changing ipers right now, they've still handed Democrats something of of, you know, a live round of ammunition to be able to go to voters and say, Republicans want to want to cut your ipers they want to touch this really popular program that you enjoy.

So I think we're still going to be seeing a lot of messaging from Democrats on this issue, even as Republicans try to shut it down.

>> And, you know, for people say, oh, it's about state employees.

Well, it's about teachers.

It's about some police officers and others in local government, too.

And I think the figure is something like 400,000 people are currently in the system.

So that's another factor here.

Brianne, this week, the Iowa Democratic Party decided that they would conduct a survey.

It'll they'll collect this information.

It'll be all collected by November 15th.

And the survey basically says, should our caucuses go first in 2028?

Tell us about it.

>> Yeah.

So there's been a lot of conversation, obviously, about the caucuses and Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart put out this survey yesterday, and she's inviting anyone in Iowa who has participated in the Democratic caucuses or who thinks they might participate in the caucuses, to share some feedback about what they want.

She's she's really looking for some some unity and some buy in as they move forward on whatever their plan is.

And so basically it asks people, do you want us to go first?

Do you care if we agree with the Democratic National Committee on this?

Do you care if maybe this ends up in lawsuits?

Potentially.

So there's some really hot button issues in here that she's asking Democrats to weigh in on.

And this is this is coming before the DNC starts meeting.

They're going to gather in Minneapolis next week to start the process of talking about the 2028 calendar.

It's going to go all the way through November.

Excuse me, December.

And so Rita Hart is is looking for a plan.

Basically.

What are Democrats going to do.

Are we going to make a push to go rogue and go first?

Are we going to defy the DNC?

And it seems if we're if we're reading into some of what what she said and longtime DNC member Scott Brennan said a former party chair, he said full steam ahead and the DNC.

So if we're reading into to what they're saying, it seems like they're leaning toward making a push to to regain some footing in the early presidential nominating calendar, regardless of what national Democrats have to say.

>> Tom, what's your assessment of how this will play in places like Iowa City?

>> I think in places like Iowa City, I think that they're more focused and concerned on the upcoming 2026 election, and I think they're more focused on that first district congressional race.

And trying to unseat Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Try and flip that seat.

They've, you know, tried to do that for the last couple of campaign cycles.

They've come close but haven't been successful.

And they see her as particularly vulnerable, given her vote again for the one big beautiful bill and the changes that would make to Medicaid and Snap and what that would mean for rural hospitals, nursing homes, rural communities in Iowa.

So I think in places like Iowa City, the focus right now is on the candidates and these campaigns.

And I don't think that they're necessarily thinking about the Iowa caucuses or 2028.

>> Well, one of the things that I've heard from people who are critics of the caucus is that it takes too much attention away from local campaigns and local candidates.

Caterina, you were on the news conference at which Rita Hart and Scott Brennan, the aforementioned Iowa Democratic Party chair and former chair, spoke this week.

What was your assessment of how they plan to address those concerns?

>> Yeah, that was actually one of the questions on the survey as well.

It sounded like to Brianne's point, it sounded like they want they want to push for having the caucuses, you know, be early again in the nominating process.

Chair Rita Hart was saying that, you know, she thought having in 2024, when the Republicans still had the first in the nation caucuses and the Democrats did not, she said that she thought that hurt the state party and state party's chances of winning and hurt the National Party's chances of winning.

When you had all this attention and money coming into Iowa on the Republican side, nothing to match it on the Democratic side.

And so it sounded like she was kind of making the argument that not having the caucuses hurts candidates winning elections in the state.

>> And Rita Hart has also made the point that, you know, when Democrats start winning elections again, that's when the National Party will begin to take Iowa seriously as as a place where they should still campaign.

And for now, Iowa Democrats have a few encouraging signs of national figures wanting to come here.

We just had a visit at the Iowa State Fair from Arizona, Senator Ruben Gallego, who is raising a lot of questions about whether he might be interested in running for president earlier this year, former Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was here.

Senator Bernie Sanders will be in Davenport.

This weekend.

This weekend.

And Elizabeth Warren, who formerly ran for president, will be in Omaha, just across the river.

So if you're an Iowa Democrat wanting to draw attention from the National Party, use that to mobilize and excite your people.

There are some opportunities for that happening.

>> Does the DNC, though, seem amenable to this kind of discussion?

Brianne.

>> I think there's there's probably some underlying animosity between Iowa Democrats and the DNC at this point.

Again, if you're if you're reading into some of the signs that Scott Brennan was removed from the Rules and Bylaws Committee, this is the powerful committee that sets the presidential nominating calendar.

Iowa has had a spot on this for many election cycles.

And and he was removed from this.

So if you're reading into that, it seems like a pretty clear signal that Iowa's influence is waning at the DNC, that there's not a whole lot of interest in elevating Iowa into that top tier spot.

There are other states who are already vying to to become the new Iowa as as some national reporting has put it.

But I don't think Iowa is ready to to just give up at this point.

I think there are a lot of people who are frustrated that New Hampshire, you know, defied their rules last time and was rewarded for it.

And so if New Hampshire can do it, then why not Iowa?

But I do think there is a an attention to the concerns that that Tom mentioned of not wanting to lose sight of 2026.

Rita Hart put it very clearly that you cannot have 2028 without winning in 2026, that the two are very linked and that unless you get some seats in 2026, that the national Democrats are not going to take Iowa seriously.

>> Well, Tom, it's easier to win a campaign when you're not running against an incumbent.

And Kim Reynolds announced in April that she would not seek reelection And Democrats have someone that appears to be able to raise some money.

>> Yeah, that's right.

You have Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand's, who was running and who is generating some buzz.

Both nationally with national press as well as among Republican leaders in the state.

So Rob sand, the only Democrat in statewide elected office in Iowa, has been doing a 100 tour stop, doing town halls across the state.

And he's talking of politics that don't adhere to the two major parties.

And that seems to resonate with many of the Iowans who are showing up at his town halls.

You know, he starts out the town hall talking about his faith and asking for a show of hands.

You know, who's a Democrat, who's a Republican, who's an independent.

And at least from the town halls that I've been to, you know, most of the people there are Democrats.

But you also do have a fair number, a good showing of Republicans and independents who are raising their hands and are showing up and saying that, you know, they they like his messaging about the political system being broken and, you know, getting away from, you know, just Republicans and Democrats and focusing more on.

Accountability and transparency.

And, you know, he talks about his faith.

He quotes the Bible.

He asks people to sing some verses of America the Beautiful.

He's a gun owner.

He goes deer hunting.

And so Republicans are paying attention to that.

And you have influential Republican leaders in the state like Bob Vander Plaats with the Christian conservative Family Leader organization calling sand a, quote, compelling Democrat and speaking to a group of suburban Des Moines Republicans saying, you know, church goer gun toter, state auditor, taxpayers watchdog sounds a little bit like us, right?

And so you know, and then you got the Wall Street Journal coming out with an article recently saying that, you know, sand is a Democrat who Republicans fear in red state America.

>> We also on the Republican side have Congressman Randy Feenstra, who at the Iowa State Fair talked with reporters and said, I believe my exploratory committee will be ending soon and I'll have an announcement in September.

But his presence in the race and his, you know, fundraising, he's raised a substantial amount of cash so far, hasn't really kept others from joining the race.

Brian.

>> That right?

That's right.

It's really been growing to Steven's point.

It feels like all we're doing these days is writing about new candidates.

But you know, this week we had Adam Stein, who is now the former director of administrative services under Kim Reynolds.

He resigned that post to join the governor's race.

He made his announcement at a church this week and seems to really be looking to kind of occupy that Christian conservative lane.

We've got two other declared candidates, State Representative Eddie Andrews and former legislator Brad Sherman.

And then, of course, we're waiting on Feenstra.

We're waiting on State Senator Mike to make his decision.

So even though Feenstra appears to be the frontrunner, he's a sitting congressman, as you mentioned, he's raised a pretty substantial amount of money already.

It really hasn't deterred people from getting into the race.

We saw Zach Nunn think about it and say no, and then think about it again and say no.

But but really this this is a growing field and it's going to be interesting to see how people kind of differentiate themselves and whether these, you know, the not Randy Feenstra's of the world are able to compete with him as far as messaging and name I.D.

>> Well, and covering Randy Feenstra over the years, he's always been one of the speakers at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, and he's attended the Bob Vander Plaats events, the Family Leader events.

And then you have three pastors.

So it seems like they're in a lane.

And Randy Feenstra has occupied that lane at various points, too.

So how how does this shake out?

>> That's a great question, because I think you've got Randy Feenstra is a little bit of the establishment, right?

As as a sitting congressman, I think, you know, by default you are the establishment.

But he's also got a foot in, you know, kind of being from the fourth district, you know, kind of those conservative credentials.

He's a Christian conservative as well.

So he he is really trying to kind of straddle all of these lanes that these other individuals are kind of taking up, you know, a smaller section of the electorate.

And so it'll be interesting to see, you know, whether whether that still appeals to, you know, Donald Trump's Iowa, frankly, this is this is a MAGA electorate, particularly particularly in a Republican primary.

>> Speaking of MAGA, Trump's campaign manager for the last caucus cycle, has now ascended to a leadership position in the Iowa House.

Katerina.

>> Yes, Bobby Kauffman, representative Bobby Kaufmann he was recently chosen to be the new House majority leader because Matt Windschitl is running for Congress in the fourth district, and he well, he.

Where do we start with him?

But he got very upset about the governor vetoing the bill.

That would have basically restricted eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

He's been a long fighter against the pipeline.

He doesn't like it.

The summit pipeline.

And now he's been elevated to the position of House majority leader.

And I believe he said in an interview with you before he was the majority leader, that because Governor Kim Reynolds vetoed that bill, he would work against and kill every single bill she comes up with.

And typically, House leadership has to work closely with the governor's office and with the Senate leadership to make everything happen during the legislative session.

So just I am just very curious to see how that plays out in the upcoming session.

>> Well, and this this beef with Reynolds has not stopped Kaufman's 66 other House Republican colleagues, or at least a majority of them, from choosing him as their majority leader, so they are comfortable with elevating somebody who has this kind of fight with the governor currently.

>> And Brian, doesn't that tell us something about the resonance of the pipeline issue in Iowa politics?

>> Absolutely.

I think Governor Reynolds veto of that bill, this has been simmering for a very long time and really exploded with that veto.

I was at a forum hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, and they they said that they had been talking to their members, and they really distilled a lot of concerns down to the four top issues that everyone was talking about.

And the very first question was about the pipeline.

And so I think we're seeing this become a defining issue of the Republican gubernatorial primary race, where people will have to weigh in on this one way or the other.

And it's an interesting one because you've got the base on one side.

The voters really appear to be opposed to the pipeline to eminent domain use for it in particular.

And on the other side, you've got a very powerful ethanol biofuels industry where the money is.

And so how are candidates going to either pick a side or try and straddle that?

And it's a difficult issue, because I think a lot of the voters that I'm hearing from are going to want these candidates to pick a side and be very clear on where they stand.

>> Steven, other states are convening their legislators, legislators, and they are redrawing congressional district lines.

Will that happen in Iowa?

>> It doesn't appear likely.

You can never say never, but there are a few reasons in Iowa that that we might not see any redistricting fights until the next census.

In 2030.

And one of those is that Republicans currently hold all four of Iowa's congressional seats.

So there's not the political incentive to redraw the lines that some of these other states might face.

Iowa has had a system where a nonpartisan agency draws the lines and legislators up, vote them up or down.

For many decades.

So lawmakers can't make changes to these unless they overhaul the entire system.

So it would be politically a very fraught move.

And there's not a lot of upside for them.

I'll add to that, the Iowa House Republicans Facebook page posted on August 8th, quote.

We celebrate our unbeatable system.

While other states struggle with redistricting chaos.

That does not sound like a party that wants to revisit this issue in Iowa.

>> Tom.

>> Yeah.

>> We have about 15 seconds left.

Do you agree?

>> I completely agree.

You know, there are safeguards that are built into the redistricting process to prevent Political calculations or motivations from being a factor.

Right.

It talks about how, you know, you have to be compact, contiguous.

You know, you have to have even population or representation among districts.

You can't split counties.

So for all of those reasons, it's going to make it incredibly difficult to carve up the map and carve up the state to make it even more beneficial for Republicans, for Republicans, than it already is.

>> So speaking of splitting, we have to.

We are out of time.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your reporting.

You can watch every episode of Iowa Press at iowapbs.org.

Thanks for watching today.

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