Traitors one and all:
Iowa Republicans laid out their policy agenda and criticized President Joe Biden during their state convention on Saturday, promising to work to elect Donald Trump in November.
The convention, held at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, is the last stop in the biennial state party-building process, where party members elected delegates to the national convention, finalized a state platform and elected members to the Republican National Committee.
Republican officials called for voters to unify around Trump and elect Republicans to Congress to install a Republican trifecta at the federal level.
"Every action I take from now until November, I'm going to ask myself one question," Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann told the more than 1,000 delegates gathered in the convention hall. "How does this help to put Donald Trump back in the White House? That's all that matters."
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds touted the conservative policy agenda carried out by the Republican-led state Legislature, including recent tax cuts, a school choice program and higher scrutiny on foreign owners of farmland.
She said Biden's administration has led to a crisis at the southern border, saying the record number of unlawful border crossings can "only be described as intentional."
Reynolds signed a bill into law this year giving state officials the authority to arrest people who are in the country illegally if they've previously been denied entry. A Department of Justice official has said the federal government would sue if state officials try to enforce the law.
"The Biden administration and the Department of Justice are threatening to sue me and to sue the state of Iowa for — get this — punishing people who are breaking the law," Reynolds said. "You can't make it up ... if he would do his job, we would not have to deal with it."
Iowa was the site of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, which kicked off the national Republican presidential primary. Trump won the caucuses handily and cruised to victory in the later primaries, becoming the party's presumptive nominee.
Kaufmann said Republicans should now support Trump to prevent a second term for Biden, whether or not they supported him in the caucus process.
Reynolds, who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the caucus, threw her support behind the former president at Saturday's convention. She endorsed Trump in March, when it became clear he would be the party's nominee.
“While we may have been on different sides, I can tell you without a doubt, without hesitation, that we share a common goal, and that is ending Joe Biden's political career,” Reynolds said. "That's why I'm proud to endorse President Trump. He is a fighter, he is a leader."
Trump won Iowa in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, and he maintains a solid lead over Biden in a potential 2024 matchup, according to a March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. Trump faces numerous civil and criminal legal cases, including a trial which started last month in New York over hush money payments.
At the convention on Saturday, Republicans elected their delegates to the national convention, which will take place in July in Milwaukee. They also reelected Steve Scheffler and Tamara Scott as members of the Republican National Committee.
Iowa Democrats held their district conventions on Saturday, and will hold their state convention on June 15. In a statement, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Republicans would be pushing an unpopular political agenda.
"Their platform is sure to strip away women's rights even further and reallocate public dollars that belong to public schools to well-off families that are enrolled in private schools," Hart said. "These policies are dangerous for women, bad for our children's educational future, unpopular among likely voters and will show just how badly a change of leadership is needed here in Iowa."
Speaking at the convention, candidates posing a primary challenge to Republican members of Congress challenged the incumbents' conservative bona fides and argued they would be a better representative for their districts.
Kevin Virgil, a Republican running in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, argued incumbent Republican Randy Feenstra was not conservative enough for the deep red district and that his votes supported “big donors.”
“You need to have legislators that respect the Constitution, and I’m sad to say that the 4th District does not have that right now,” Virgil said.
Virgil said Feenstra had voted to expand tax credits for carbon capture pipelines, including the proposed Summit pipeline through Iowa. The pipelines, and the potential use of eminent domain to take land for their construction, are opposed by a large majority of Republicans.
McCullough/Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau)
Feenstra was not at the convention, but in a letter he submitted to be read, he said he had worked to boost Iowa agriculture and prevent China from buying farmland. Feenstra underwent a surgery on Thursday and was told to limit his travel, according to a social media post.
While Feenstra’s written remarks did not address Virgil, he took out an ad in the newspaper-style convention guide criticizing Virgil for spending much of his life in New York before running for Congress in Iowa.
“It’s time to send Kevin Virgil back where he belongs,” the ad read. “We don’t need any more woke outsiders telling Iowans what to do.”
David Pautsch, a Republican running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s southeast 1st District, said Iowa's Republican representatives were not conservative enough, and he would be an independent conservative voice.
"There's coming a time when you're just going to have to decide that the majority is less important than the message," he said. "That principle is more important than power."
Without directly addressing Pautsch, Miller-Meeks argued she was the only Republican who could win in the tossup 1st District. She noted that voters slightly favor a Democrat in that district on a generic ballot, based on polling from March.
“I spent over a decade of my treasure, my talent and my time to flip this district,” Miller-Meeks said. “... I am not going to let this district go back to (Democrats) no matter what I do, I will defend it and keep it in Republican hands.”
The party platform initially presented at the state convention did not include a plank included in the party's 2022 platform calling for laws that legalize same-sex marriage to be repealed.
District conventions had proposed that plank, delegates said, but the plank was removed by the platform committee before the state convention. Convention delegates proposed an amendment to the platform to reinstate the plank opposing same-sex marriage. The amendment was approved and added to the platform.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Iowa since a 2009 state Supreme Court decision, and has been legal federally since 2015.
The 2022 Respect for Marriage Act enshrined those protections under federal law. That law was supported by some of Iowa's Republicans in Congress, while others opposed it.
www.thegazette.com
Iowa Republicans laid out their policy agenda and criticized President Joe Biden during their state convention on Saturday, promising to work to elect Donald Trump in November.
The convention, held at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, is the last stop in the biennial state party-building process, where party members elected delegates to the national convention, finalized a state platform and elected members to the Republican National Committee.
Republican officials called for voters to unify around Trump and elect Republicans to Congress to install a Republican trifecta at the federal level.
"Every action I take from now until November, I'm going to ask myself one question," Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann told the more than 1,000 delegates gathered in the convention hall. "How does this help to put Donald Trump back in the White House? That's all that matters."
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds touted the conservative policy agenda carried out by the Republican-led state Legislature, including recent tax cuts, a school choice program and higher scrutiny on foreign owners of farmland.
She said Biden's administration has led to a crisis at the southern border, saying the record number of unlawful border crossings can "only be described as intentional."
Reynolds signed a bill into law this year giving state officials the authority to arrest people who are in the country illegally if they've previously been denied entry. A Department of Justice official has said the federal government would sue if state officials try to enforce the law.
"The Biden administration and the Department of Justice are threatening to sue me and to sue the state of Iowa for — get this — punishing people who are breaking the law," Reynolds said. "You can't make it up ... if he would do his job, we would not have to deal with it."
Iowa was the site of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, which kicked off the national Republican presidential primary. Trump won the caucuses handily and cruised to victory in the later primaries, becoming the party's presumptive nominee.
Kaufmann said Republicans should now support Trump to prevent a second term for Biden, whether or not they supported him in the caucus process.
Reynolds, who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the caucus, threw her support behind the former president at Saturday's convention. She endorsed Trump in March, when it became clear he would be the party's nominee.
“While we may have been on different sides, I can tell you without a doubt, without hesitation, that we share a common goal, and that is ending Joe Biden's political career,” Reynolds said. "That's why I'm proud to endorse President Trump. He is a fighter, he is a leader."
Trump won Iowa in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, and he maintains a solid lead over Biden in a potential 2024 matchup, according to a March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. Trump faces numerous civil and criminal legal cases, including a trial which started last month in New York over hush money payments.
At the convention on Saturday, Republicans elected their delegates to the national convention, which will take place in July in Milwaukee. They also reelected Steve Scheffler and Tamara Scott as members of the Republican National Committee.
Iowa Democrats held their district conventions on Saturday, and will hold their state convention on June 15. In a statement, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Republicans would be pushing an unpopular political agenda.
"Their platform is sure to strip away women's rights even further and reallocate public dollars that belong to public schools to well-off families that are enrolled in private schools," Hart said. "These policies are dangerous for women, bad for our children's educational future, unpopular among likely voters and will show just how badly a change of leadership is needed here in Iowa."
GOP primary candidates challenge incumbents
Speaking at the convention, candidates posing a primary challenge to Republican members of Congress challenged the incumbents' conservative bona fides and argued they would be a better representative for their districts.
Kevin Virgil, a Republican running in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, argued incumbent Republican Randy Feenstra was not conservative enough for the deep red district and that his votes supported “big donors.”
“You need to have legislators that respect the Constitution, and I’m sad to say that the 4th District does not have that right now,” Virgil said.
Virgil said Feenstra had voted to expand tax credits for carbon capture pipelines, including the proposed Summit pipeline through Iowa. The pipelines, and the potential use of eminent domain to take land for their construction, are opposed by a large majority of Republicans.
McCullough/Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau)
Feenstra was not at the convention, but in a letter he submitted to be read, he said he had worked to boost Iowa agriculture and prevent China from buying farmland. Feenstra underwent a surgery on Thursday and was told to limit his travel, according to a social media post.
While Feenstra’s written remarks did not address Virgil, he took out an ad in the newspaper-style convention guide criticizing Virgil for spending much of his life in New York before running for Congress in Iowa.
“It’s time to send Kevin Virgil back where he belongs,” the ad read. “We don’t need any more woke outsiders telling Iowans what to do.”
David Pautsch, a Republican running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s southeast 1st District, said Iowa's Republican representatives were not conservative enough, and he would be an independent conservative voice.
"There's coming a time when you're just going to have to decide that the majority is less important than the message," he said. "That principle is more important than power."
Without directly addressing Pautsch, Miller-Meeks argued she was the only Republican who could win in the tossup 1st District. She noted that voters slightly favor a Democrat in that district on a generic ballot, based on polling from March.
“I spent over a decade of my treasure, my talent and my time to flip this district,” Miller-Meeks said. “... I am not going to let this district go back to (Democrats) no matter what I do, I will defend it and keep it in Republican hands.”
Same-sex marriage plank added to platform
The party platform initially presented at the state convention did not include a plank included in the party's 2022 platform calling for laws that legalize same-sex marriage to be repealed.
District conventions had proposed that plank, delegates said, but the plank was removed by the platform committee before the state convention. Convention delegates proposed an amendment to the platform to reinstate the plank opposing same-sex marriage. The amendment was approved and added to the platform.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Iowa since a 2009 state Supreme Court decision, and has been legal federally since 2015.
The 2022 Respect for Marriage Act enshrined those protections under federal law. That law was supported by some of Iowa's Republicans in Congress, while others opposed it.
Iowa Republicans call to rally around Trump at state convention
Iowa Republicans laid out their policy agenda and criticized President Joe Biden during their state convention on Saturday, promising to work to elect Donald Trump in November.
www.thegazette.com
