Look on the bright side, Iowa Senate Democrats. It’s not 1927.
In that general assembly, Republicans held a 49-1 majority in the Senate. The Democratic caucus was named Lloyd Ellis, a minister from Moulton who represented the third district, including Appanoose and Davis counties in southern Iowa.
The bad news was Ellis likely felt lonely in caucus meetings. The good news is he did not face any fight for his leadership position.
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That can’t be said of the 16 Democrats who currently serve in the Iowa Senate. They recently voted to remove Sen, Zach Wahls, D-Coralvillle, as Democratic leader. It was a surprising move, given that Wahls is considered a young rising star in his party.
Wahls was abruptly tossed out of leadership after he abruptly fired two longtime caucus staff members, Debbie Kattenhorn and Eric Bakker. He delivered the news to Democratic senators via a Friday email. A few days later, the caucus met and voted to make Sen. Pam Jochum, a 30-year legislative veteran, the new Democratic leader.
On the midst of this mess, former Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal lost his job as a labor union lobbyist after becoming entangled in the leadership shuffle.
Wahls now sees how blindsiding his colleagues was a mistake.
“It’s clear to me, I should have been more intentional in bringing people along with the vision for change that I had. No doubt about that,” Wahls told me in an interview this past week.
“At the end of the day, the decision to bring in a new staff that supported my vision was the right one. And I stand by that decision. And of course, I should have gone about handling the decision better,” Wahls said.
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That vision, Wahls said, included putting a greater emphasis on constituent service, helping individuals navigate state government and providing other assistance, among other changes. It’s work, he argued, well suited for a minority party that wants to rebuild relationships with Iowans.
He had hoped to hire a chief of staff, Kaity Patchett, who worked as district director for former U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, and move caucus communication director Jason Noble into the leader’s office. Now, both Kattenhorn and Bakker are back on the job. Patchett, who held her position for about five minutes, was let go. Noble remains communications director for the caucus.
“You know, look, as a caucus, we need to be more focused on constituent service, telling those stories, in engaging constituents in a proactive way, rather than just a reactive way. Be more involved by facilitating community discussions, you know, roundtable events, listening posts, those sorts of things are really, really important. And not just for people who are in competitive seats, but for people who are in safe, Democratic seats,” Wahls said.
“Because when you listen to Iowans, and you ask like, what do you want to see from your elected officials? That's what they want to see,” Wahls said. “They want to see proactive policy ideas, they want to see you engaged in the community, they want to see you listening to and serving your constituents. And as leader, I was really focused on trying to align what we've heard from Iowans, our staff expectations and our senators’ expectations, because I think that's what our constituents are asking for. And obviously, that's a pretty significant change from what I think we're currently doing.”
In a voicemail, Jochum said the firings were not the only factor.
“Zach had the full support of our caucus in 2020. We truly believe that we were behind him, we were passing the torch of leadership to another generation, and we were ready and willing to help him in any way we could to be successful, and to have a very bright political future,” Jochum said.
“Having said that, we still do you still think he has a very bright political future, and just needs to take some time off right now. The decision the Senate made, the senators made, was not based on any single event. What I will say is that there were a lot of transparency issues, decisions that have been made behind closed doors that had been festering for well over a year, and they came to a head. Again, we want Zach to be successful. And we hope he has a very bright future,” Jochum said.
Leadership shake-ups are not uncommon. What they do have in common is they usually mean something’s wrong. It’s a distraction Democrats did not need.
When you’ve got a caucus that can’t fill a Capitol meeting room, the smallest since 1971, it’s hard to argue the status quo is working. I understand senators’ loyalty to two skilled, experienced and highly competent staff members. But if you select a leader and then handcuff their ability to hire their team and lead in a different direction, who would want the job? You’re a leader who can’t lead.
But I’m on the outside looking in. There were other factors, as Jochum suggests, I don’t know about.
Democrats, historically, have been in dire straits before, with single-digit minorities throughout the 1920s and in the 1940s and early 1950s. In all cases they eventually rallied to hold majorities.
But Democrats’ position now seems more dire. They lost the governor’s office in 2010 and Tom Harkin’s U.S. Senate seat in 2014, leaving them with no high-profile leadership. In 2016 the Trump wave jolted Iowa’s political demographics, with white working-class voters following Donald Trump into the Republican Party.
A better, bolder message might help. Maybe Democrats will notice pro-ethanol pandering has gained them few votes in rural Iowa. But maybe vowing to protect property rights in the face of carbon pipeline projects and clean up the state’s environment would work better. Why are small town voters siding with Republicans who don’t care about their school districts and would rather give hundreds of millions of dollars to suburbanites sending their kids to private schools?
On Friday, a deadlocked Iowa Supreme Court handed the abortion debate back to the Legislature. Republicans had hoped the court would simply erase a permanent injunction against a six-week abortion ban passed in 2018 and put the law back into effect. Now if they want to restrict abortion, GOP lawmakers will have to pass new legislation. And it is sure to be unpopular legislation. Advantage Democrats.
In 1929, lonely Lloyd was no longer in the Senate, but the Democratic caucus doubled to two senators. Six Democrats served in the Senate in 1931. In 1932, Democrats captured the majority with 26 seats.
If only the good Rev. Ellis were around now to explain how miracles happen.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
In that general assembly, Republicans held a 49-1 majority in the Senate. The Democratic caucus was named Lloyd Ellis, a minister from Moulton who represented the third district, including Appanoose and Davis counties in southern Iowa.
The bad news was Ellis likely felt lonely in caucus meetings. The good news is he did not face any fight for his leadership position.
Advertisement
That can’t be said of the 16 Democrats who currently serve in the Iowa Senate. They recently voted to remove Sen, Zach Wahls, D-Coralvillle, as Democratic leader. It was a surprising move, given that Wahls is considered a young rising star in his party.
Wahls was abruptly tossed out of leadership after he abruptly fired two longtime caucus staff members, Debbie Kattenhorn and Eric Bakker. He delivered the news to Democratic senators via a Friday email. A few days later, the caucus met and voted to make Sen. Pam Jochum, a 30-year legislative veteran, the new Democratic leader.
On the midst of this mess, former Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal lost his job as a labor union lobbyist after becoming entangled in the leadership shuffle.
Wahls now sees how blindsiding his colleagues was a mistake.
“It’s clear to me, I should have been more intentional in bringing people along with the vision for change that I had. No doubt about that,” Wahls told me in an interview this past week.
“At the end of the day, the decision to bring in a new staff that supported my vision was the right one. And I stand by that decision. And of course, I should have gone about handling the decision better,” Wahls said.
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That vision, Wahls said, included putting a greater emphasis on constituent service, helping individuals navigate state government and providing other assistance, among other changes. It’s work, he argued, well suited for a minority party that wants to rebuild relationships with Iowans.
He had hoped to hire a chief of staff, Kaity Patchett, who worked as district director for former U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, and move caucus communication director Jason Noble into the leader’s office. Now, both Kattenhorn and Bakker are back on the job. Patchett, who held her position for about five minutes, was let go. Noble remains communications director for the caucus.
“You know, look, as a caucus, we need to be more focused on constituent service, telling those stories, in engaging constituents in a proactive way, rather than just a reactive way. Be more involved by facilitating community discussions, you know, roundtable events, listening posts, those sorts of things are really, really important. And not just for people who are in competitive seats, but for people who are in safe, Democratic seats,” Wahls said.
“Because when you listen to Iowans, and you ask like, what do you want to see from your elected officials? That's what they want to see,” Wahls said. “They want to see proactive policy ideas, they want to see you engaged in the community, they want to see you listening to and serving your constituents. And as leader, I was really focused on trying to align what we've heard from Iowans, our staff expectations and our senators’ expectations, because I think that's what our constituents are asking for. And obviously, that's a pretty significant change from what I think we're currently doing.”
In a voicemail, Jochum said the firings were not the only factor.
“Zach had the full support of our caucus in 2020. We truly believe that we were behind him, we were passing the torch of leadership to another generation, and we were ready and willing to help him in any way we could to be successful, and to have a very bright political future,” Jochum said.
“Having said that, we still do you still think he has a very bright political future, and just needs to take some time off right now. The decision the Senate made, the senators made, was not based on any single event. What I will say is that there were a lot of transparency issues, decisions that have been made behind closed doors that had been festering for well over a year, and they came to a head. Again, we want Zach to be successful. And we hope he has a very bright future,” Jochum said.
Leadership shake-ups are not uncommon. What they do have in common is they usually mean something’s wrong. It’s a distraction Democrats did not need.
When you’ve got a caucus that can’t fill a Capitol meeting room, the smallest since 1971, it’s hard to argue the status quo is working. I understand senators’ loyalty to two skilled, experienced and highly competent staff members. But if you select a leader and then handcuff their ability to hire their team and lead in a different direction, who would want the job? You’re a leader who can’t lead.
But I’m on the outside looking in. There were other factors, as Jochum suggests, I don’t know about.
Democrats, historically, have been in dire straits before, with single-digit minorities throughout the 1920s and in the 1940s and early 1950s. In all cases they eventually rallied to hold majorities.
But Democrats’ position now seems more dire. They lost the governor’s office in 2010 and Tom Harkin’s U.S. Senate seat in 2014, leaving them with no high-profile leadership. In 2016 the Trump wave jolted Iowa’s political demographics, with white working-class voters following Donald Trump into the Republican Party.
A better, bolder message might help. Maybe Democrats will notice pro-ethanol pandering has gained them few votes in rural Iowa. But maybe vowing to protect property rights in the face of carbon pipeline projects and clean up the state’s environment would work better. Why are small town voters siding with Republicans who don’t care about their school districts and would rather give hundreds of millions of dollars to suburbanites sending their kids to private schools?
On Friday, a deadlocked Iowa Supreme Court handed the abortion debate back to the Legislature. Republicans had hoped the court would simply erase a permanent injunction against a six-week abortion ban passed in 2018 and put the law back into effect. Now if they want to restrict abortion, GOP lawmakers will have to pass new legislation. And it is sure to be unpopular legislation. Advantage Democrats.
In 1929, lonely Lloyd was no longer in the Senate, but the Democratic caucus doubled to two senators. Six Democrats served in the Senate in 1931. In 1932, Democrats captured the majority with 26 seats.
If only the good Rev. Ellis were around now to explain how miracles happen.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Democrats make a change, but Wahls stands by his vision
Former Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, D-Coralville. (The Gazette) Look on the bright side, Iowa Senate Democrats. It’s not 1927. …
www.thegazette.com
