01-13-26 - A long day at the Capitol. Condition of the State, eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines, and property taxes. Follow @iowastartingline for more.

does the moth not yearn for the flame

First the corn sweats. Then it comes for you in every gas station parking lot.

WHITVER TO RETIRE - Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Grimes, will not run for reelection. He said he’ll continue to see as Leader until Senate Republicans meet to select a new leader in the “near future.” Here’s the full release:

In response to the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered all flags at half-staff immediately until Sunday in conjunction with President Donald Trump’s flag order.

UPDATE: It’s private now.

NUNN TOWN HALL - IA-03 US Rep. Zach Nunn to hold a town hall at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Jefferson. This after calling them a “taxpayer-funded protest event." It’s being held at Gravitate Coworking (204 E State St, Jefferson, IA 50129) www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2025/09/04/c...

DVIP+RVAP LEADERSHIP CHANGE - DVIP & RVAP have chosen Alta Medea and Delaney Dixon to lead the organization that serves those impacted by domestic and sexual violence for Cedar, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Johnson, Lee, Van Buren, and Washington counties.

HINSON 4 SENATE - Republican US Rep. Ashley Hinson to run for US Sen. Joni Ernst’s seat. Ernst announced today that she would not run for reelection.

👀👀👀

ERNST TO RETIRE - Today, US SEN. Joni Ernst announced she will not run for reelection in 2026. Full video from twitter:

Source pointed out Iowa rarely has an open US Senate seat. This would be the third in the last half century, providing retirement report is true: 🗳️2026 - ??? 🗳️2014 - Tom Harkin retires. Ernst wins. (D➡️R) 🗳️1974 - Harold Hughes retires. Culver* wins. (D➡️D)

What a way to start the day! @zacharyos.bsky.social and I spoke to the woman of the hour, State Senator-elect Catelin Drey, and Iowa Senate Dem leader @janice4iowa.bsky.social about how they pulled off a big win in a Trump+11 district. laurabelin.substack.com/p/iowa-senat...

We're getting started in 15. Join me and Bleeding Heartland's Laura Belin to talk about last night's special election results... with special guest... Senator-elect Catelin Drey. Toss some bags with us at 8 a.m. open.substack.com/live-stream/...

ISL shoutout!

There’s literally not another two people that I want to hear from right now about this special election: - Catelin Drey, the winning Democrat - AND Laura Belin of Bleeding Heartland. Join me tomorrow at 8 a.m. CT to walk through what happened tonight. open.substack.com/live-stream/...?

Jackson Street is where folks are at tonight for those in Sioux City. (I’m in the clubhouse at the X’s game).

That's 8 a.m. Central time, Wednesday, August 27.

I may be too much of an optimist but I am so happy every time I see dems overperforming (v 2024) in these Iowa special elections. It gives me real hope that we can turn the ship around in Iowa and nationally.

Wish I was at Buffalo Alice’s right now.

DREY BREAKS SUPERMAJORITY - Democrat Catelin Drey wins special election for Sioux City seat in Iowa Senate. That puts the Iowa Senate’s split is 33-17. Tonight, Republicans lost their supermajority in the Iowa Senate.

Join me tomorrow morning. The great @laurarbelin.bsky.social and I will be breaking down the results of tonight's special election in Sioux City for Iowa Senate District 1: 🔵 Catelin Drey 🔴 Christopher Prosch We'll go live at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning on my Substack. Link in the bio.

Frmr UI prof @drlmmurillo.bsky.social writes Iowa anti-DEI crusade isn’t preventing division, but rather preventing thinking that might expose uncomfortable truths. “They don’t have any real solutions, which is why they don’t want you asking questions in the first place.”

Hear about the D day invasion of crop dusters and other fun stuff here from me with @zacharyos.bsky.social cornholechampions.substack.com/p/the-common...

Today Iowa Starting Line's @zacharyos.bsky.social and @amierivers.bsky.social spoke to me about their series in progress investigating cancer in Iowa. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ttN...

same energy www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/h...

TUREK 4 IOWA - Paralympic gold medalist and State Rep. Josh Turek has entered™️ the 2026 race to unseat US Sen. Joni Ernst. It's been an open secret that Turek was running. He joins a crowded Democratic primary. Let's talk about three things that make his bid interesting:

GALLEGO IN IOWA - This week, Arizona Sen. @gallego.senate.gov passed out doughnuts and coffee to meatpackers in Marshalltown. He went wandering around the State Fair. And today, he took the stage in Davenport for a town hall. Here are some moments: 1/10

"I just want one person to be like a dog with a bone and keep harping on this," Don Carpenter of Cascade on Iowa's pesticide problem. His frustration captures something bigger about policy vs. public health. Subscribe to The Hot Spot. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFif...

@zacharyos.bsky.social @amierivers.bsky.social and @iowastartingline.com doing a nice job with this cancer series, with some help from @dcwiertny.bsky.social iowastartingline.com/cancer-in-io...

34% more college grads LEAVE Iowa than stay. The 2023 class alone = $17.6 billion in lost income. We're literally educating people for other states. What's driving the brain drain? We dig into a new report on this week's Cornhole Champions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nket...

17 pounds of pesticides per person per year in Iowa. That's not a typo. We lead the nation in pesticide use AND cancer rates. The science is starting to connect some uncomfortable dots 🧬 #IowaHealth

fb might have a point

NORRIS 4 US SENATE - This morning, a Des Moines School Board member joined the race to take on US Sen. Joni Ernst. Democrat Jackie Norris has worked as a teacher but most notably was chief of staff to Michelle Obama in the White House.

'OH HEY THERE' - In addition to going for 99 counties for the gov's race, Auditor Rob Sand's campaign manager told me he's been to 8 of the last 10 Hinterlands. The festival has grown a lot in that time. And this year, organizers made a promo w/ Sand playing 'tour guide.'

Longtime TV news director Dave Busiek: “The video on the Fox News website runs three minutes and 38 seconds. In that time, I counted 26 jump cut edits. [...] the interview is at least 24 minutes long, but we only hear 3:38 of it" davebusiek.substack.com/p/undercover...

As Whirlpool workers in Amana face mass layoffs, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union is urging state lawmakers to intervene. State Rep J.D. Scholten and congressional candidate Christina Bohannan backed the union's call to throw support behind workers.

📺📻 Iowa's GOP delegation just voted to slash PBS/NPR funding by up to 18%. They call it stopping "propaganda," but it's our rural stations that will get hit hardest by these cuts. The communities they claim to represent lose the most.

💰 Q2 numbers drop: 📉 Incumbent US Sen. Joni Ernst: $720K 📈 Newcomer Nathan Sage: $709K A virtual unknown almost outraised a sitting senator. What does this tell us about 2026?

I couldn’t escape Justice

me: confidently starts friend's Hot Ones challenge-themed party also me 7 wings deep: sweating profusely "i'm little nautious... can i get in that beer crate" turns out writing about spicy iowa politics ≠ handling actual spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rare sight in 2025: Republicans and Democrats standing together. When AG Brenna Bird tried to compel a sheriff to apologize for saying he'll uphold the Constitution, Winneshiek County residents - both parties - defended their elected sheriff. And she dropped the suit.

#ThumbnailThursday: I tried my hand at the podcast art on this week's Cornhole Champions... I think it shows. Summer PTO is important. But I'll be happy when Avery gets back.

🚨 Iowa has the 2nd highest cancer rate in the US. We're the ONLY one where cancer rates are RISING. Join our investigation as we unpack why: ☢️ 3/4 homes have dangerous radon 🚿 Thousands of contaminated wells 🚜 Heavy pesticide use statewide This affects every Iowa family.

LLM stands for large legume mcrib. Few know this.

Who gets to be funny? open.substack.com/pub/lyz/p/wh...

👀 www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinio...

It’s not a conspiracy. Wealthy, well-connected men rape women and children and get away with it. Every day. Because the wealthy well-connected men are in charge of our justice system and they don’t care about women or children. But “mEn In WoMEns sPOrTs”

When news is embarrassing, throw it out with the Friday trash... there's a pattern: 👉Gov. Reynolds announcing no reelection? Friday. 👉Removing housing protections for trans Iowans? Friday. 👉 And this week, AG Brenna Bird drops her lawsuit to defund the Winneshiek Sheriff